Issue - meetings

Vicky Jenks (Pensions Administration Delivery Lead) introduced the report which outlined key developments affecting pensions administration and the performance of the Pensions Administration Service (PAS). She provided an update on the progress of the Member Self Service (MSS) initiative. The Fund had ceased posting paper payslips. Efforts had been made to encourage more members to sign up to MSS and provide an email address to receive e-payslips. There had been a mixed success rate. Many pensioners had signed up, but there was more work to be done to find out why others had not responded.

In response to Councillor Hammersley, Vicky Jenks advised that paper payslips could be provided to pensioners on request. Other than this, paper payslips would not be posted. Since drafting of the report, the number of requests to sign up to MSS had increased to around 3,500 pensioners. It would be necessary to find out why others had not responded. A reminder would be circulated within the next Pension Newsletter.

Andy Felton (Director of Finance) stated that the Fund had a legal obligation to notify pensioners of any changes to their pension – for example, when there had been an annual uplift. However, there was no statutory obligation to send paper payslips.

In response to Councillor Kettle, Vicky Jenks advised that the key performance indicator (KPI) for ‘letter detailing transfer in quote’ was below other performance metrics as there had been an increased number of requests. As people changed jobs more frequently, more transfer-in quotes had been requested. Also, the process depended on information provided by other parties which could cause delays. There was a need to improve performance in this area whilst recognising that other duties were treated as higher priorities.

Vicky Jenks advised that if the target response time was extended from 10 days to 20 days, the KPI score would be much improved. The target of 10 days had been set around three years ago, since then the number of requests had significantly increased.

Andy Felton stated that this prompted two options – either to amend the target response time or for the Pension Fund to provide for increased resources to deal with the higher number of requests being received. A report outlining these options could be presented to the Committee at a future meeting.

Councillor Kettle moved that the recommendation be accepted and was seconded by Councillor Tromans. This was supported unanimously by the Committee.

Resolved:

That the Staff and Pensions Committee notes the content of the report.