Agenda item

This paper sets out a summary of the performance of Surrey County Council (SCC) in providing a pension administration service to the Fund.

Eleanor Dennis (Head of Pensions) presented the report and gave a summary of the performance for SCC in providing a pension administration service to the Fund. The Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) as detailed in Appendix 1 of this report covered the period October 2021 to January 2022 inclusive, remained steady.

SCC had continued to provide a satisfactory pension administration service to the Fund in most areas with some improvement in performance for this last full quarter of work processed, despite this being the exiting period.

The processing of deaths over the last 3 months had remained steady with most death cases processed within the agreed service level agreement of 5 days.

The processing of refunds remained steady but improved overall to meeting our set KPI’s in January 2022.The processing of transfers saw some improvements most notably the processing of transfers ins rising from 41% in October 2021 to 80% in January 2022. With a 3% fall in transfer outs.

The poor performance in October and November was a result of resources at SCC being diverted to focus on another Fund’s exit. Overall SCC had remained committed to providing a satisfactory service in the months prior to the Fund’s exit from their services in January 2022

The Chair asked for further clarification to be provided on the reasons for the poor performance in the processing of deferred retirement benefits and if any complaints had been received from Fund Members as a result of this. In response Eleanor Dennis (Head of Pensions) noted in addition to resources at SCC being diverted to focus on another Fund’s exit, SCC were also in the process of a restructure, therefore felt there may have been issues relating to low staff morale.  It was noted that no complaints had been received in relation to SCC to date. However, the Council had received some complaints around response times with the new provider. Officers were working closely with LPPA to manage and resolve these complaints.

Councillor Rowan Ree expressed concern about the complaints received for the new provider. He enquired if these were being addressed and if Officers were satisfied with the service currently being provided by LPPA. Eleanor Dennis (Head of Pensions) noted that work was being carried out to improve portal understanding amongst Fund Members. It was noted that LPPA were in the process of providing useful YouTube videos to improve members’ understanding  and usability of the information available on the portal. Officers were confident that the Council had chosen the right provider. Officers confirmed that regular meetings were being held between Officers and LPPA to address any initial start-up challenges, including response times as a result of switching to a new provider.

Councillor Helen Rowbottom queried when the performance data would be available to the for the new provider. Eleanor Dennis (Head of Pensions) noted that the performance with LPPA was monitored on a quarterly basis, and this would be presented to the Committee at the next meeting.

RESOLVED:

That the Pension Fund Committee noted the contents of this report.