Agenda item

The item was introduced by Lisa Eglesfield (Pensions Administration Service Manager).

Regarding the Matthews project, 144 retained firefighters had been identified as being in scope to be offered the opportunity to buy back periods of pensionable service in the scheme. Of those, 57 had expressed an interest in the purchasing service. Thirty of those were pensioners, 18 were deferred members and nine were active firefighters. Work was still ongoing to identify any further cases, but the passage of time and changes to the payroll system meant this was proving difficult. Nine people had been sent their calculation and options about the Matthews project and three had replied to confirm they wished to purchase service. Their details would be passed on to the West Yorkshire Pension Fund. The team had been working with colleagues in Finance to develop recording methods for contributions owed. Responding to a question from the Chair, Lisa Eglesfield said the Fund would need to report a breach if it was believed there were additional people who may be in scope, but it had not been possible to identify them.

The data collection needed to complete the age discrimination remedy had been finalised. The data had been calculated using the government actuary departments calculator to calculate tax and contribution rates for members. This would allow members to see the cost of the scheme options that were being offered to them. However the figures were subject to change depending on fluctuation in interest rates and were therefore being held by Warwickshire in case they needed updating before they were used by West Yorkshire Pension Fund.

The first compensation payment under the McCloud scheme had been made, relating to a refund of pension contributions following an member retiring and converting service from the 2015 scheme into the 2006 scheme. There had been no further requests for payments to be made through McCloud.

Lisa Eglesfield told members the reporting of a breach of annual benefit statements to the regulator had not yet taken place. At the time the report was written it had been anticipated the breach would have been reported before the Board meeting, but this had not been the case.

Most of the incorrectly paid contributions caused by temporary promotions had now been refunded. The updated information had been issued to the West Yorkshire Pension Fund for these members. However Helen Scargill (Client Relationship Manager, West Yorkshire Pension Fund) said there may be a potential impact in terms of the age discrimination legacy, as any information prior to 1 April 2022 held by the West Yorkshire Pension Fund may not be correct.

Helen Scargill drew members’ attention to the West Yorkshire Pension Fund’s July client report. Each of the KPIs were being met except for setting up of deferred benefits, although this was not meeting its percentage target due to the low numbers involved. Work had begun on green rated breaches relating to immediate choice payments, but progress had been slow. However the system had been set up to process these payments.

Members were told the deadline for producing pension savings statements was 6 October. This was being given priority, and officers were having to manually go through the statements.

Responding to a question from the Chair, Helen Scargill said there were no outstanding issues with the HMRC calculator for the annual allowance adjustments and this had now been resolved.

Regarding training for members, Helen Scargill said the West Yorkshire Pension Fund’s representative for fire, had done some training courses and taken 59 bookings from members. Further training sessions would be taking place in September and October.

The West Yorkshire Pension Fund website had been updated and relaunched on 1 July. One of the new sections gave more information on assumed pensionable pay and absences, and what options were available to members.

An IT issue had been found where earnings and contributions for some members could not be found. This could not be remedied internally and it had been reported to the IT provider, Civica. However a solution had not yet been found.

Helen Scargill suggested that future meetings could have a separate agenda item relating to pensions dashboards. She added the West Yorkshire Pension Fund had agreed an ISP provider for its dashboard and this had gone live on 1 August. Feedback regarding the dashboard had been positive.

Members noted the contents of the report.