Agenda item

This paper resets out a summary of the performance of the Local Pension Partnership Administration (LPPA) in providing a pension administration service to the Hammersmith & Fulham Fund.

Eleanor Dennis (Head of Pensions) presented the report and gave a summary of the performance in all key areas of the Local Pension Partnership Administration (LPPA) in providing a pension administration service to the Council’s Pension Fund. There had been a significant improvement in the performance of the pension administration service provided in Quarter 1 by LPPA. It was hoped that by Q2 LPPA delivered on its promise to meet SLA targets on all task areas. As well as further progress towards improving the quality and ensuring that cases were processed accurately as well as efficiently. Eleanor Dennis thanked the Committee for their support which had been beneficial to the improved service provided by LPPA during this period.

Councillor Adrian Pascu-Tulbure asked for further information to be provided on the survey’s and if there were any communication plans with members. Eleanor Dennis explained that surveys were carried on the helpdesk and retirement areas. There was a commitment from LPPA to develop and improve on the quality of the surveys to achieve a higher response rate and enhance engagement with members.

Councillor Florian Chevoppe-Verdier noted that he was pleased to note that there was improvement in the performance in all areas. He asked if Officers had any insight on what had led to these improvements. In response Eleanor Dennis explained that it would be difficult to pinpoint the exact reasons. There seemed to be a multiple approach to tackle these issues. LPPA were aware that the Committee were not satisfied with the current performance. Feedback from the Committee had also helped to highlight any issues with LPPA and help improve the service delivery. They had also invested in a significant number of resources to mitigate any issues and improve service delivery.

Councillor Florian Chevoppe-Verdier noted that he was in favour of improving web accessibility for users. He enquired if there was any scope for LPPA to ensure their digital services and website were compliant of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) particularly around colour schemes. Eleanor Dennis noted that she would discuss this with LPPA at her regular monthly meetings.

Action: Eleanor Dennis

The Chair enquired what measures were in place to maintain the pressure  with LPPA and ensure performance would be maintained going forward. Eleanor Dennis noted that she felt cautious in terms of their ability to sustain the improved KPI performance without intervention. There were still a number of challenges faced by LPPA regarding resources (especially within the bereavement team) and increased legislation.

Eleanor Dennis was continuingly challenging LPPA to meet their SLA targets in Q1 and to provide accurate reporting metrics to enable LPPA’s progress to be monitored effectively. However, there was not enough indicators for Q2 to ensure that there would be no dips in performance.

Councillor Laura Janes asked for further clarification to be provided around the work carried out by the Pensions Administration Team to ensure LPPA were achieving their KPI’s. Eleanor Dennis explained the duties carried by her Team to assist LPPA with missing pieces of evidence and contact information particularly with bereavement cases. Officers continued to work with LPPA to improve the service and quality experienced by the stakeholders including members and beneficiaries. However, this took a significant amount of the Teams resources on a regular basis. She noted that this could be progressed by continuing to have high level discussions with LPPA relating to the Council’s expectations and highlighting the areas that needed refining to deliver minimum errors.

Councillor Laura Janes enquired if there was any scope to keep a log of time spent by the Pension Administration Team to support LPPA. Eleanor Dennis said that she would explore options on how this could be quantified.

RESOLVED:

That the Committee noted the update.