Agenda item

61.1     The Committee considered a report introduced by Paul Punter who drew the Committee’s attention to the following points:

KPIs

1)    Lower performance figures were expected for the next quarter with various projects requiring resources including GMP rectification, the McCloud judgement changes, i-Connect onboarding and supporting the helpdesk.

2)    The McCloud data is not complete on the system but the team is making good progress and all data except for 1 active employer is with Heywoods at present.

3)    Automation of some calculations through robotics will go live soon which will ease the strain on resources.

4)    PAT performance numbers are 81% which is lower that the target at 95% with the impact of completing the BHCCwork now being felt. It was highlighted the performance data includes a widening of reportable indicators to include aggregations and the volume of work completed by PAT has significantly increased. Performance is not expected to be at target level until the end of the next quarter at earliest.

5)    6.7% increase in pension benefits this year will be implemented to benefits in the coming weeks which will impact liabilities.

6)    The BHCC April 23 i-Connect file went onto the system this week, some work required to assess joiners and leavers.

7)    A couple of large projects will finish in the next couple of months and at that point should see a positive shift in numbers.

Helpdesk

8)    PAT have been helping to cover the helpdesk in  the short term (only 2 FTE remaining in the team) as 2 staff members have left, the staff TUPE consultation is ongoing, and the helpdesk will transfer into the East Sussex team from SCC on 1 April 2024. Bank staff are not covered by the TUPE process so are unlikely to accept offers to transfer to East Sussex as like for like pay is less. As a result PAT are recruiting 3 new staff to join the Help Desk. PAT have resolved a huge number of enquiries via email while phone service was prioritised by the helpdesk and matters are now back under control.

Staff                

9)    Focus on recruitment to fully staff the Helpdesk. Working on recruiting apprenticeships and building up a staff base that way to develop and retain staff effectively. It is very difficult to find experienced pension administrators, particularly with LGPS experience.

10)Officers noted the support the board and committee have expressed to the Fund for additional resource to help with the backlog and KPI strains and reassured members that new staff will be onboarded in March and that workloads will be more manageable when some of the transactional work is processed by robotics. Staff will be responsible for checking the automated work.

Projects          

11)GMP: expecting data back from Mercers in February 202, some decisions will be required depending on what is received. Such decisions will be taken forward through Pension Administration Working Group. This project has been time consuming and once completed will result in more capacity for the team.

12)The Member Self Service (MSS) project has been rescheduled to launch in later in the year, as part of the user acceptance testing the Fund will involve the Trade Union representative on the Pension Board and then pilot the service with ESCC staff.

61.2     Committee members were given assurance that despite the challenges, statutory requirements are being met and will remain the focus.

61.3     The Committee noted and welcomed officer’s transparency of the work received and completed during the reported period. It was noted that the team have received an unusually high volume of work which could not be completed within the expected timeframes but that this will improve over the next few months.

61.4     The Committee RESOLVED to note the updates.