The Board considered a report which provided an update on administration performance issues for the period 1^st October 2020 to 31^st December 2020.

The report sought to make Board members aware of the main areas of administration performance and any topical issues relevant to the reporting period.

Staffing

The report contained a table of joiners and leavers for the administration service during the period. As expected, now that the majority of vacant posts had been filled, there were very few movements during Quarter 3.

In terms of sickness absence, levels had increased significantly compared with the first two Quarters, much of it was directly related to increases in long-term absence of three members of staff.  Two had since returned  but one was likely to remain absent for the longer term.

With regard to staff wellbeing, J Bailey gave details of measures the Authority had introduced to ease pressures during the current lockdown including reduced hours for the Customer Centre and generally more flexible working hours.

Case Work Performance

Members were informed that the reporting of performance had been updated so that like-for-like periods could be compared.  A table within the report showed the casework volumes for the last two quarters compared with the previous quarter and also compared with the corresponding quarter for the prior year.

Overall volumes of casework processed had been pretty consistent with Quarter 2 as staff had adapted to working from home again.

Performance within the service standards had dipped slightly when compared to Quarter 2 but remained comparable with the same period the previous year despite an increase in case volumes processed.

Statutory Disclosure Reporting

The Board had previously requested additional information about reporting performance against statutory disclosure requirements.  It was noted that Appendix A showed the Quarter 3 report for most of the areas covered under the various disclosure regulations.  In general the data showed 100% compliance in terms of areas that SYPA could control.  Officers would continue to develop the reporting to cover all areas.

Employer Performance

Members were reminded that there had been some concern that Covid-19 would impact the ability of some employers to deliver the monthly data submissions.  However, this had not been the case and submissions had continued to be provided.  A table within the report showed the current position of monthly returns received in respect of the last three months.

Individual Query Employer Reporting

At the last Board meeting members requested that the reporting be updated to reflect the actual performance of key employers for each quarter so that trends could be more effectively monitored.  Appendix B to the report broadly showed the performance in recent quarters for the employers or payroll providers with the highest volume of queries.  It was noted that further development work was needed with the employer query system to provide more accurate reporting.

Customer Satisfaction

A table within the report showed overall satisfaction levels from respondents to the survey issued to members who had retired in August, September and October 2020.

The percentage of members who were in the green category remained above 90% as per previous surveys.  Analysis of the 6% of respondents who were dissatisfied had highlighted that better communication was expected when delays occur obtaining information from employers.

With regard to the Customer Centre, an electronic survey had been issued to 2,986 members who had phoned the Customer Centre during September and October 2020.  Over 90% of respondents had been ‘very satisfied’ or ‘satisfied’.

A separate survey carried out on members who had used the Live Chat facility during August, September and October 2020 showed that, again, over 90% of respondents had been ‘very satisfied’ or ‘satisfied’.

Of the 7% that were dissatisfied, members who left comments reported logging in issues with the online portal.  As well as improving instructions a training session was also offered but this had not generated any interest.

In answer to a question from N Gregory, J Bailey confirmed that the training had been publicised through the newsletter and in future also by email.

N Gregory queried whether there was anything employers could do to assist. At a recent meeting it had been apparent that financial security was important for staff wellbeing but that people didn’t think about pensions until they were close to retirement.

J Bailey commented that the Authority was always open to speak to members to raise awareness of the Scheme subject to there being sufficient interest. On the issue of employers supporting online registration, a flyer was being produced for employers to put on their intranet and circulate to staff on the importance of registering for the portal.  This was due to go out in the next employer newsletter which would be sent out in the next few days.

Efforts were ongoing to encourage all scheme members to sign up to use the online portal.  Appendix C to the report showed the number of members who had registered for the portal since January 2019.

In answer to a question from C Scott, J Bailey confirmed that employers were surveyed annually; this was due in Q4 and the results would be reported to the Board in due course.

Annual Benefit Statements

At the last meeting, officers had agreed to update members on the ‘lessons learnt’ review of the 2020 Annual Benefit Statement exercise.  The summary report of the review was attached at Appendix D to the report.  The Board would be updated at the next meeting in April on the progress made against the actions completed ahead of the 2021 exercise to provide assurance.

J Bailey confirmed that the employer newsletter would be circulated to the Board.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.