Issue - meetings

42.1     The Committee considered a report providing an update on pension administration services provided by Orbis Business Operations.

42.2     The Committee RESOLVED to:

1) note the report; and

2) note the intention to engage with other local authority pension teams on the implications of the Brewster judgement.

1.       

2.       

3.       

4.       

5.       

6.       

7.       

8.       

9.       

10.       

11.       

12.       

13.       

14.       

15.       

16.       

17.       

18.       

19.       

20.       

21.       

22.       

23.       

24.       

25.       

26.       

27.       

28.       

29.       

30.       

31.       

32.       

33.       

34.       

35.       

36.       

37.       

38.       

39.       

40.       

40.1.      The Board considered a report about the Business Operations Team.

40.2.      The Chair asked how ESPF is performing against the national key performance indicators for pension administration. JB said that there were no definitive  national indicators, though CIPFA used a set of indicators which were issued by the Local Government Association (LGA) a number of years ago. 

40.3.      JB explained that the feedback results of the staff survey were 70% positive out of 140 responses. He added the caveat that some of the complaints or negative responses were in areas outside of the Business Operations Team’s control, for example, scheme members requesting that ESPF disinvest from fossil fuels. This survey was part of a wider Business Operations survey and next year  would seek to  target just  pension administration issues rather than investment concerns.

40.4.      JB said that it would be difficult  to identify the potential numbers of partners eligible for survivor benefits under the ESPF scheme, following the Brewster court decision but they would produce a report of cases for internal investigation. AE asked whether there are legal issues determining whether someone was a surviving co-habiting partner. JB said that there are defined eligibility criteria including co-habitation for two years, financial interdependency and that the partner had been free to marry the deceased person. The difficulty now arises for the surviving partner in providing supporting documents as many will have been destroyed since the 2008-2014 time period. BC observed that this exercise would likely bring a lot of additional administrative costs.

40.5.      The Board RESOLVED to:

1) note the report; and

2) request an update on the number of scheme members effected by the Brewster court decision and the cost it will have on the ESPF; and

3) request an example of how Business Operations key performance indicators is performing relative to the national key performance indicators.