A report was submitted which provided an update on the administration performance and issues for the period from 1 April 2021 to 30 June 2021.

Members noted that the content of the report was continually reviewed to ensure that it was appropriate to support the scrutiny of the administration service and included information not provided previously.

Staffing

The report contained a table which provided a summary of the joiners and leavers for the administration service during the period.

During the quarter, the Support and Engagement team manager had left SYPA.  The role had been widely advertised within the pension press, and interviews would be held w/c 19 July 2021.  In the short term, some operational impact with the employers would be encountered until recruitment to the position was made.

Over the last 12 month period, a total of 25 training sessions had been provided to the employers, with representation from approximately 300 employers.

Sickness absence figures remained consistent with 2020/21, with one member of staff on long term sickness absence.  No COVID-19 related absences had been recorded during the period.

Case Work Programme

The reporting of performance had been updated in order that Members could more easily compare the like-for-like periods.

Members noted that the dashboard had not previously been updated to reflect the changes made to the death process.  This had increased to 88% for retirement and death.  Measures would be taken to improve the performance figures.

At the last Board meeting a request had been made by Members for clarification of the outstanding cases and the normally expected volumes.  Members were referred to the additional table within the report which showed the number of cases that were outside of SYPA’s KPI.  Additional resource would be devoted to aggregation during the current quarter.

Statutory Disclosure Reporting

The statutory disclosure reporting table indicated that SYPA was 100% compliant in terms of the areas within its control.

The feedback received from customers in relation to the survey, related to the work being undertaken to understand more about the high volumes of cases which were on hold for a long duration.  The position was pending whilst awaiting information from third parties.

Employer Performance

It was noted that the employers continued to provide the monthly returns in a timely manner.  There were only 5 out of the 33 Scheme Members that had outstanding monthly returns, and all 5 were new employers to the fund.

Individual Query Employer Reporting

Members were referred to Appendix B within the report which showed the performance in recent quarters for the employers or payroll providers with the highest volumes of queries.  The trend analysis indicated an increase in the volume of outstanding queries for cases that were listed by RMBC payroll services.  Members noted a substantial increase in the number of queries raised, as result of having caught up with the monthly data files.  SYPA continued to meet with RMBC payroll services on a fortnightly basis, to provide resources with a view to resolving the cases over the next 3 month period.

It was noted that the processing work for the monthly returns had been completed which had enabled the Annual Benefit Statements to be released, and production had commenced.

Contribution Payments

It was noted that the number of employers that had not yet signed up to

Direct Debit were predominately service contract providers with multiple employer contracts.  The issue of the small contract caterer paying late had now been resolved, and BACs payments had been received on time since April 2021. 

Customer Satisfaction

The overall satisfaction levels remained high.  An internal project had been established to consider ways to improve the information received from the employers and how the information could be provided within a timely manner.

Customer Centre

Members were referred to the electronic survey that had been issued to 3,293 members who had contacted the Customer Centre by telephone during February, March and April 2021.

The feedback from the Live Chat facility showed a 95% satisfaction rate.

From October 2020, customer satisfaction levels were monitored with email responses by embedding ‘click face’ surveys into the email signatures.  The email had been rated poorly by 20% of respondents, which was a lower level of satisfaction, but represented 8 responses from 1,560 emails that had been issued.

Online Portal

Members were referred to the exercise that had been undertaken to encourage all Scheme Members to sign up to use the online portal.  It was anticipated that the numbers would increase as individuals accessed their statements.

Annual Benefit Statements

Production of the Annual Benefit Statements had now commenced.

C Scott stated that overall, the Board was reassured of the good performance undertaken.  On behalf of the Board, she expressed her thanks to the Administrative Team.

G Warwick echoed C Scott’s sentiments.  On behalf of the Board, he wished to pass on his thanks to all of the SYPA staff for their tremendous efforts and achievements that had been made during the COVID-19 pandemic.

J Bailey appreciated the comments made.  G Graham and himself had been frustrated that the pandemic had slowed progress on  some of the development projects but the Administration Team had worked extremely hard to maintain the level of service to the Scheme Members throughout the pandemic.

RESOLVED – That Members:-

i)          Commented on the content of the revised administration update and indicated any areas where they would like to receive further detail.

ii)         Highlighted any areas of administration where further assistance may be required.