Issue - meetings

10.1       The Committee considered a report providing an update on matters relating to Pensions Administration activities.

10.2       The Committee welcomed the report and noted the improved Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) since previous years. The discussion covered the following areas:

·         The Committee noted the current recruitment problems within the industry. Paul Punter, Head of Pensions Administration updated the Committee that the unchanged 9 vacancies mentioned in the report were due to a focus on the existing team, ensuring that all new staff were offered an East Sussex County Council (ESCC) contract and pay at the appropriate level. This project was recently completed, and work had commenced to update job descriptions for vacancies within the team, seeking both internal and external candidates. A number of job descriptions had been approved by Human Resources.

·         The Committee discussed the telephone helpdesk noting that currently, there were no mechanism for officers to arrange a call-back if unable to answer the phone. Officers were looking into improving the technology used, including adopting the use of robotics in the telephone service. It would be particularly useful for callers to be informed of their number in the queue to limit people ending the call before reaching the call handler. Information were still being handled manually by the call handler, but it was noted that this was a wider organisational issue.

·         The telephone survey results were incomplete, and an amended version would be circulated to the Committee following the meeting.

·         The Committee discussed the ABSs and the risk that Brighton and Hove City Council (B&HCC) would not be onboarded in time, meaning scheme members of the employer would not receive their ABSs. The risk remained amber but would be amended and reported to the Pensions Regulator if B&HCC were unable to provide complete and timely data for this year’s statutory letters. Following the Chair of the Pension Committee’s letter to the employer, a response had been received indicating that senior management of the employer organisation were supportive and understanding of the situation.

·         Paul Punter updated the Committee that the GMP rectification project was held up due to the April 2022 pension increases. An extract of the pensioners data was required, and it was likely that the project would miss the implementation date, with the rectification now likely to be implemented end of December. As long as implemented ahead of the next pension increase it was unlikely that the delay would cause any significant issues.

10.3     The Committee RESOLVED to note the report.