Agenda item

Administration Report

Minutes:

Yvonne Thompson-Hoyte, Interim Pension Fund Manager, presented the report on pensions administration to the Committee. It was highlighted that, since the previous report in February 2021, 318 additional members had signed up for the online self-service portal allowing individuals to see up to date information relating to their pension benefits. Further to this it was noted that the largest uptake in signing up to the self-service portal was amongst Active members at 43%; uptake amongst Deferred members and Pensioners was at 21% and 20% respectively. This discrepancy was not uncommon and was attributed primarily to the age gap between active members and deferred or collecting members; although it was also suggested that, typically once an individual is receiving their regular pension payments, their interest in the administration of their pensions may reduce which could explain the lower levels of self-service uptake. It was suggested that, unless there was a key service that could only be delivered through the self-service portal, user uptake would remain relatively low. Further to this, it was highlighted that existing self-service accounts could not be transferred to the new administrator upon the transfer of administration services later in the year; this meant that a drive to encourage individuals to sign up to a new self-service portal, with the new pensions administrator, would be required in the near future. Clare Scott, Independent Pensions Adviser, highlighted that a national project would commence in the coming years requiring all pension providers to submit their data on members’ benefits to a central dashboard, allowing any individual to log in to their dashboard and see all of their pension information in one place. Officers mentioned that the new pensions administrator, Hampshire County Council (HCC), were minded to stop sending physical pension payslips in the near future once the transfer of administration services to HCC had completed, and to only have payslips viewable through the online self-service portal unless paper copies were explicitly requested.

 

Results of the address tracing exercise were presented showing that of the original 3521 records only 143 remained unresolved. This represented a success rate of 96% and was considered an excellent result. Work will now begin to implement the updated information on the administration system.

 

Members’ attention was drawn to administrator performance and it was noted that this had fallen off over the past year, substantiating the reasons for the impending transfer of administration to HCC. However, it was highlighted that officers continued to work with the current administrator to maintain performance whilst the transfer takes place. A particular area of concern for officers was the payment of death grants, this was echoed by Members, it was noted that officers had since received an updated report from the administrator outlining performance up to the end of May 2021, this appeared to show improved performance in some areas but concerns still remained regarding consistency. Officers went on to note that Hillingdon’s own KPI’s were somewhat stricter than the regulatory KPI’s which could allay some concerns around performance. Members were encouraged by the forthcoming transfer of administration services to HCC.

 

With regard to the implementation of the McCloud Remedy, the Committee were informed that this would be implemented after the transfer of administration services to HCC had completed.

 

Committee were advised that the revised Pension Board terms of reference, to include reference to SAB guidance, were agreed by the Pensions Board in April 2021. These had now been passed to Democratic Services to seek formal approval at the July full Council meeting.

 

RESOLVED That the Pensions Committee noted the contents of the report.

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