Agenda item

The Committee noted the update.

Mrs K Williams noted the following key points from the report:

-          A6 and A7 in the business plan 2022/23 update in paragraph 1.01 outlined the review of the policies and strategies and also the pensioner existence checking. It was highlighted that both of these actions were underway but were running slightly behind schedule due to conflicting priorities and increased workloads.

-          The refresh of the Communication Strategy had been behind schedule due to the vacant Communications Officer position. However, this position was now filled and good progress was now being made.

-          Two key areas causing large increases in workloads were the backdated pay award for 2021/22 and number of eligible deferred members taking their benefits. Both of these issues are impacting the Fund’s ability to complete business as usual work within regulatory deadlines and internally agreed service standards.

-          The backdated pay award for 2021/22 was agreed and paid in March 2022. However, it resulted in a full recalculation of benefits for many members who had left the scheme during 2021/22. For 2022/23, due to the value of the pay award the impact was much more significant and resulted in a high volume of requested recalculations. There were already over 1,100 requests for the 2022/23 award which was a lot of additional work compared to 2021/22. The team are unable to do the recalculations in bulk due to the individual circumstances of each member. Therefore, all recalculations are done on an individual basis.

-          The team run a monthly report to identify the number of eligible deferred members approaching age 60 that may wish to take their pension benefits. The figures are increasing each month, both those on the report who all need to be written to, and those then choosing to take their benefits following that initial correspondence. The Administration Manager is investigating any possible trends to ensure the team is resourced appropriately going forward. The outstanding cases chart in appendix 3 showed outstanding cases had decreased from over 10,000 in 2018 to 5,000 at current date. The team were continuing to look for efficiencies through more automated processes.  Mrs K Williams is also considering the future team structure including a potential project team to ensure business as usual services do not deteriorate

-          Despite the current vacancies, the number of cases completed for the last quarter was 8,552 compared to 7,731 in the same reporting period last year.

-          The number of incoming cases was 9,171 compared to 9,210 for the same period last year.  However the 9,210 cases included a backlog of new starters from a particular employer and also a significant TUPE transfer) and therefore, these numbers were not a true reflection of the team’s normal workload last year.

-          Appendix 4 outlined the performance of the team against the target key performance indicators. Team members responsible for processing retirement cases were also responsible for the estimate calculations and the surviving partner benefit calculations, and therefore the two points relating to pay awards and increases in deferred retirements will impact those key performance indicators.

-          There was a positive response following the recent adverts for vacancies. The team were in the process of interviewing fourteen candidates and hoped to fill the five vacant positions. Mrs K Williams confirmed she would identify whether any suitable candidates not appointed to the five vacant positions could potentially provide support for the extra work the team had, subject to a business case being approved.  Mrs McWilliam suggested that the Fund’s urgency delegations could be used if necessary to approve additional temporary positions.  

-          The longer term plan was to potentially create a project team to protect the team members dealing with core business as usual tasks, so that the everyday work would not be affected by areas such as pay awards or the pensions dashboard. She also noted that a lot of the team were above the age of 55 and this was a key risk which is noted in the risk register.

-          The team had lost key members of staff in recent months and therefore Mrs K Williams wanted to be very open with the team about resource planning, progression and opportunities.

Mrs K Williams highlighted the new logo and branding shown on page 553. She explained that website and accessibility regulations had been taken into account in the new design. The intention is to go live with the new branding in April 2023. This would be shared at the AJCM with employers on 13 December 2022. Cllr Swash commented that the new logo looked professional.

            Cllr Wedlake recognised the difficulty with recruitment and retention,and thanked the team for their hard work despite these staffing issues.

            Mrs McWilliam said that all of the branding work had been completed internally and involved the recently recruited Communications Officer. This showed the value of having additional expertise within the team.

RESOLVED:

The Committee noted the update.