Issue - meetings

25.       

26.       

27.       

28.       

28.1.      The Board considered a report containing a draft response by the ESPF to the Local Government Pension Scheme (England & Wales) – Consultation on changes to the transitional arrangements to the 2015 schemes: McCloud.

28.2.      IC advised the Board not to underestimate the scale of the administrative task required to gather information on some 16,500 active, deferred or pensioner members in the ESPF affected by the Government’s proposals to remedy the McCloud judgement, especially as employer’s information on employees between 31 March 2012 and 1 April 2014 may be patchy.

28.3.      The Chair said that communication to members and employers will be key. He said he was relieved that the Government had not proposed that individuals employed during the period had been given the choice of whether to use the transitional protection, as providing enough information for members to make an informed choice would have been extremely difficult.

28.4.      The Chair asked what would happen next.

28.5.      Michelle King (MK) advised that the first steps will be to undertake a baseline exercise to understand the extent of the ESPF exposure to the effects of the McCloud judgement by looking at the profile of the 16,500 members. Once that has been achieved, workstreams can be developed; resources allocated to the project; and communications to employers developed, as they are likely to require assistance from the Administering Authority.  David Kellond (DK) added that the piece of work would be undertaken in a systemic fashion and prioritise those members who retired after 1 April 2014 and those close to retirement, and work back from there. MK recommended a McCloud Working Group is established comprising officers, Pension Board and Pension Committee members to oversee the task. The Working Group would be led by the new Head of Pensions.

28.6.      Lynda Walker (LW) agreed that communicating the Government’s proposals relating to the transitional arrangements and their effect on members was important to avoid spending time dealing with queries that could otherwise be answered upfront.

28.7.      The Board RESOLVED to:

1) endorse the draft response to the Consultation on the proposals for transitional arrangements; and

2) agree with the proposal to commence the McCloud Working Group and nominate Lynda Walker and Stephen Osborn as Board representatives.