Issue - meetings

Liz Firmstone, Finance Service Manager (Transformation) presented the report to the Board highlighting the key developments in the administration of the pension fund and updates following matters arising from previous Board meetings. 

In relation to the update on training it was confirmed that any request for any training needs can be logged through the administration team.  Training logs for all members are now up to date and are being maintained.

It was confirmed that the administration update report presented at future Board meetings will include a summary of any internal audit reports.

The Board was pleased to hear that 94% of annual benefit statements have now been issued. Those outstanding include those with no contact for members.  It was confirmed that a tracing agency will now be used, and a further update will reflect this at the next meeting.  It was confirmed that there are 344 which have not been issued because data issues remain outstanding, but work is in progress to work with employers to rectify this.

The Board acknowledged that it may not be possible to find everyone who the fund has lost contact with.  The hope is that they will get in touch with the fund when they reach retirement.

An update was provided in relation to WCC payroll; reports are now being used to improve the quality of data and monthly monitoring is now in place to ensure that issues are quickly resolved.

With reference to the current membership of the Board - The vacancy for a member representative remains open.  If the post remains unfilled then the administrating authority will need to refer to the terms of reference and potentially update them. The Chair confirmed that this matter is now urgent, and consideration needs to be given after the summer as to how to move forward.  The Board members agreed that they would like to see the 3-and-3-member split remain and hope that the next round of recruitment is successful. 

It was confirmed that there are two vacant posts within the Administration team, and one in the Investment team, with two of these currently filled by interim officers.  Once filled the extra capacity will have a positive impact on managing workloads and enable further improvements in the administration of the fund.

Actions in response to the audit report were presented to the Board, who noted that out of 54 actions, 27 are now complete.  Nine actions are due to be completed by the end of March 2020.  The Chair and the Board congratulated the officer team on the obvious hard work being done and the progress made so far.

The Chair thanked officers for the comprehensive report – the Board found it extremely useful and were pleased to see positive reports.  The administration practice is moving closer to industry best practice.