Agenda item

A report for the committee’s ongoing oversight of:

·        Scheme, Regulatory, Legal and Fund Update

·        Risk Register

·        Administration KPI update – 1 March 2023 to 30 June 2023

a)    Key business plan items – Aggregation Backlogs / i-Connect & Controls / Resourcing. Plus, general progress on the business plan. 

b)    Outsourcing updates

c)     Integrated payroll system update (Action log item)

·       Audit update

a)    SWAP Audit 2022/23

b)    Clearglass audit - update

c)     SWAP KPI audit

Jennifer Devine, Head of Wiltshire Pension Fund, supported by other officers presented the Headlines and Monitoring report. The report included that outsourced projects were going well; however, the Hymans contract had been slightly problematic as they had not input as much resource as promised, however it was believed that this would improve. Work on the pensioner payroll reconciliation was progressing well and all overpayments had now been dealt with, with work to begin on underpayments, with confidence this would finish on time.

Recruitment had gone well, with James Franklin (Pensions Administration Lead) and Matt Allen (Employer Funding & Risk Lead) now employed into two key roles.

The Stewardship Report had been submitted with the Fund set to receive notification of whether signatory status had been maintained later in the year. Additionally, the Fund had also been shortlisted for awards later this year in September.

An update was provided in relation to Business Plan Priority updates, with it noted that though areas had been marked red, they were working towards being orange with the newly recruited officers able to progress work. It was outlined that work needed to be done on training and staff morale as these areas were not particularly good following staff restructures.

A lot of work had been completed with iConnect and controls, however there was still a lot to do, with a further role to be put up for recruitment in September to support the Pensions Administrations Lead. Clarity was provided that though some employers had been onboarded to iConnect, this had now been paused to sort control issues.

Regarding the aggregation backlog, though there had been an issue with the Hymans contract, the service improvements team in house had closed off a lot of old cases.

The Committee discussed the report with comments received on but not limited to that the Hymans contract was for a fixed price of a certain number of cases, rather than working hours, how recruitment had been difficult for Pension Funds generally. Additional clarity was provided on aggregations and the benefit of such a working method.

Further clarity was provided on “phantom cases” and how they might arise as well as the impact that such cases might have on workflow. Additionally, it was noted that the KPI Audit had been accepted by SWAP and their intention was to start on the work this month having initially delayed due to resourcing and staffing issues. It was also stated that officers had been involved and consulted in relation to the Evolve Project.

The officer stated that in relation to operational resilience, it was believed that a good staffing structure was now in place with all officers now mapped to it. Furthermore, to change the amber rating to green, staff training would have to be completed and morale improved.

Assurance was provided to Members that McCloud work was on the radar of the Fund and had not been forgotten, though it was not a top priority, hence the red rating. Further clarity was sought on target dates, with it noted that many were set for the end of the scheme year and would likely carry over into the next scheme year.

Discussion took place in relation to targets and “tolerable performance” with it suggested that if a performance was set as “tolerable”, it would suggest that anything less would be unacceptable. It was suggested that it would be positive to include previous target figures with an arrow to demonstrate the direction of travel.

In relation to backlog, it was stated that 500 cases had been discovered, with clarity provided by the officer that there would still be more cases to discover, therefore meaning that this would be a moving target. It would therefore only be possible to have a definitive number of cases once all the work had been completed.

At the conclusion of debate, it was,

Resolved:

The Committee:

a) Approved the risk register recommendations made by the Board and the officer assessment of risk as presented in the April version of the risk register:

b) Noted progress in the SWAP Audit actions log, including updated target dates.