Mr Paul Audu, Interim Head of Pensions and Treasury said the report provided an update on Pension Administration and the performance of the scheme for the quarter up to June 2024. He said the Annual Benefit Statements had been despatched a few days later than the deadline due to a technical issue. He said the data cleanse was on-going, and an updated report would be presented to the Board and Committee in November 2024.

In response to comments and questions from members the following was noted:

• Members of the Committee had no questions for Mr Audu in relation to this report.

The Pensions Committee RESOLVED to:

1. Note the contents of this report;
2. Note the employer admissions in the pipeline;
3. Note the late despatch of Annual Benefit Statements due to a technical hitch; and
4. Note the progress and ongoing effort to improve the quality of the pensions data.

Mr Paul Audu, Interim Head of Pensions and Treasury said the report provided an update on Pension Administration and the performance of the scheme for the quarter up to June 2024.

In response to comments and questions from members the following was noted:

·       Referring to the table at paragraph 3.1 of the report, Mr Thompson asked what action had been taken in relation to ‘frozen’ members and the 30% of undecided members? Mr Audu said ‘frozen' members, had to decide whether they wanted to leave their pension with LBTH LGPS or move it elsewhere. In respect to the undecided members, efforts are made by officers to encourage them to become full members.

·       In reference to paragraph 3.2, and the delay in despatching the Annual Benefit Statements on time, the Board asked if the delay affected those who receive their statements via post, online or both? Mr Audu said there had been a technical hitch, whereby the system was locked. However, he worked with IT Officers to resolve this as soon as possible. There had been a delay of 2 days.

·       The Board asked for an update in respect to staffing numbers and the number of vacancies in the team. Mr Audu informed members a new team member had joined and another was expected to join by the end of the week. He said he would continue to make effects to recruit to the other unfilled positions by the end of the year.

The Pensions Board RESOLVED to NOTE and AGREE the recommendations being made to the Pensions Committee for its meeting on 30^th September that:

The Pensions Committee is recommended to:

1.    Note the contents of this report;

2.    Note the employer admissions in the pipeline;

3.    Note the late despatch of Annual Benefit Statements due to a technical hitch; and

4.    Note the progress and ongoing effort to improve the quality of the pensions data.