Apologies for absence were received from G Warwick and in his absence R Fennessy chaired the meeting

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and introduced two new members to the board. K. Richardson and R. Nurennabi

G. Graham advised that the Authority had been nominated for four awards. Two in the Pensions for Purpose awards and two in the LAPF awards.

None.

Review of Border to Coast position, Organisational Resilience and Sustainability and any discussion resulting from Head of Pensions report on the current Pensions Administration system in use at the Authority.

G. Graham is now a Governor at Barnsley College who are an employer in the Fund and declared this for the record.

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the meeting of the Board held on 4^th August 2022 be agreed as a true record.

J Bailey presented an update on administration performance and issues for the period from July 2022 to September 2022. The case work performance was unavailable for distribution with the report and on this occasion was provided separately.

Main Points:

Staffing - The Authority has been successful in recruiting to existing vacancies,

including a key appointment of a Benefits Team Manager following the incumbent obtaining a promotion externally.

The organisational resilience report recently presented to the Staffing Appointments and Appeals Committee will result in a number of new vacancies over time which will be reported in future updates.

Sickness Absence - sickness absence has increased significantly for both short-term and long-term absence this quarter. Absence for Covid related illness is no longer reported separately, but records suggest over 50% of the short-term absences were Covid related, with a spike in July.

The incidence of long-term absence mainly represents two staff on long-term absence, both are now on phased returns and are being managed and supported in line with the Attendance Management arrangements, so a reduction is expected in Quarter 3.

Employer Performance – No concerns in respect to employers submitting their Monthly Data Returns.

Employer individual query reporting - ongoing dialogue between SYPA and Rotherham MBC payroll services in relation to the volumes of outstanding queries for employers for whom they provide a payroll support service and Rotherham MBC attended the last Board meeting to report on their improvement plans. There has been an increase in clearance rate, although not to the extent that had been planned, and additional resources are being allocated.

Members sought reassurance both that other employers receiving services from Rotherham were aware of these issues and about potential consequences by the end of the financial year if the situation had not been resolved.

J. Bailey advised that other employers had been briefed by Rotherham MBC but he will also write to them and provide reassurance.

The overall position is being kept under review and if necessary, further action could be taken in January if the situation is not acceptable and currently there were only 10 outstanding queries for the 30 other employers served by Rotherham Members were assured that a further review will be conducted at the end of December to allow the additional resources assigned to take effect.

If the position reached at that point is unacceptable, it will be for the Board to discuss what the next step would be and they may be asked to attend the next Board meeting.

R Nurrenabi noted a perception of employers of a deterioration in service for employers. J Bailey acknowledged this and noted that there had been a lack of understanding with some staff regarding monthly data submissions. Staff training has addressed the matter.

Contribution Payments – No issues to advise the Board on.

Scheme Member Engagement - The percentage of members satisfied has dropped below 90% so some further analysis was carried out to identify the root causes. There were 11 members who were dissatisfied and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

J. Bailey delivered a report to update members on the latest iteration of the Data Quality Improvement Plan and the data scoring likely to be provided to the Pensions Regulator.

Incremental progress has been made in this area. As the figure approaches the 100% accuracy mark, it becomes more difficult to make significant improvements. The Authority currently stands at 97%.

SYPA will need to be connected to the Pensions Dashboard which is a national initiative designed to allow all individuals to access a summary of all their pension scheme arrangements in one place. The staging deadline for the LGPS is 30 September 2024.

The Pensions Administration Standards Association has published detailed guidance in relation to data accuracy. SYPA has a Data Integrity tool developed in-house and plans to further develop this over the next few months to measure the quality of the data held.

This will form part of the future reporting of the Data Quality Improvement Plan.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

J. Bailey presented a report to update members on the latest available record of reported beaches and provide details of complaints and appeals for the period from 1 July 2022 to 30 September 2022.

Cyber Security Incidents - There were three incidents in the quarter, two of which were the common issue of phishing emails. Fortunately, the relevant members of staff identified the emails as such and these were reported to ICT in line with our incident reporting process.

The third incident was a result of a member of staff accidentally clicking on a

notification purporting to be from an anti-virus provider.

An additional course for staff has been identified and will be added to the mandatory training.

The Authority has had its security tested by a third party and achieved  accreditation under theCyber Essentials Plus scheme.

Complaints – Four complaints received in the Quarter, this is a reduction from those received in recent quarters. Two were outside of SYPA control as they were a result of either delays from third-party providers, regulatory requirements or actions not taken by the member.

Of the two complaints directly attributable to SYPA, one was from a member

who was unhappy with the delay in processing his aggregation. This is a known issue.

The second was a member who experienced a delay with the payment of their retirement benefits which was compounded by SYPA after an initial employer delay. This was a training issue with an individual member of staff who did not correctly assign a workflow task and has been addressed.

Formal Appeals - Three formal appeals determined at Stage One of the IDRP process. The first was a member who had initially been incorrectly provided with a transfer value quotation even though she was above the age limit to transfer and wanted this to be honoured. SYPA systems have since been updated to prevent a transfer being calculated in these circumstances but the member was compensated for the error.

The second case related to a member who had been overquoted on an estimate of

benefits because of the Final Pay estimate given by the employer. This was primarily

an error on the part of the employer but it would have been prudent for SYPA to have

identified this when checking the case so the member was given a modest compensation award.

The final case related to a member who had been overquoted on an estimate of

benefits because the service history was showing full-time and not part-time service.

This had been corrected by the employer but SYPA had not updated the records in a

timely manner so, a modest compensation award was given. Arrangements have been put in place to ensure any service history corrections are actioned much sooner than happened in this case.

Future reports to include information regarding compliments received by the Authority for balance of reporting.

RESOLVED

a. Note the breaches summary and comment on any further reporting

requirements or actions

b. Note the outcome of complaints and appeals  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

J. Bailey provided a report to provide members with the opportunity to comment on the content of scheme communications and provide suggestions for improvement.

In line with the Communication Strategy, SYPA issues newsletters to all current and past scheme members at least annually and the newsletters for active members and for pensioners are currently being drafted.

SYPA also communicates quarterly with employers in the fund.

Some changes to the format of the newsletter has been made in response to member feedback. Particularly around having white text on black background. This has been altered.

A separate communication is being prepared to advise members of the 50/50 scheme. This is in response to data suggesting members are considering opting out entirely due to the cost of living.

Also, the usual message around the CPI pensions uplift has been removed. This is due to the Government not yet confirming the increase.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

J. Stone presented a report to provide members with an update on current position of compliance with the Pensions Regulator Code of Practice.

Significant progress has been made in strengthening the Authority’s Governance structure.

The anticipated new Single Code had not yet been published but it does contain a greater emphasis on cyber security and as outlined elsewhere on the agenda SYPA are already taking steps to address this.

In response to a query it was stated that SYPA does gather information regarding a Register of Interest for members of the board, but it is currently not published in a particularly accessible way and work is being undertaken to try to address this.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

J. Bailey delivered a report to seek the Board’s views on the Funding Strategy Statement and associated policies as part of a wider consultation with stakeholders.

A draft new FSS will shortly be issued to employers for formal consultation.

The main substantive change is a proposal to move to Pass Through arrangements for contractors, which has already been discussed by the Board. Beyond this significant work has been undertaken to make the document more comprehensible and user friendly.

In response to a query confirmation was given in the FSS that individual academies within multi academy trusts, can retain their individual contribution rates if they wish to do so, although the default position is for multi academy trusts to have pooled rates.

The consultation period is usually 6 weeks, but this can be extended in certain circumstances.

G. Graham advised the Board it was the intention to take the final version to the Authority meeting in December.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted and members would pass any comments directly to officers.

J. Stone presented a report to provide members with an update on current Authority governance related activity. To update Members on the actions being taken in response to audit findings by both internal audit and external audit during the current financial year and in previous financial years. Finally, to provide members with an update on recent decisions made by the Authority.

Considerable activity has taken place to enhance the Authority’s governance

arrangements since May 2022. This has included monitoring and managing elected and Board members’ knowledge and skills to ensure mandatory training compliance and expertise across the organisation.

A software system has been identified and a business case is to be presented to SMT in January with the intention of embedding and enhancing risk management arrangements and providing relevant tools and guidance for managers to be responsible for risk identified in their teams. Also to implement a second layer of assurance across the business at middle management roles level providing a tier of escalation to SMT.

Work is underway to transition the Monitoring Officer role from an external to an internal function.

A full review of the Constitution will take place. This activity will include engagement with Members of the Authority, the Director and SMT, the Independent Adviser, Auditors and Monitoring Officer to review the document and ensure a current version is ready for approval by the Authority at the first meeting of the 2023/24 municipal year in June 2023.

SYPA is also looking at the option of retaining a solicitor for help with legal matters. This process will continue throughout November.

Training sessions have been delivered to all members to increase knowledge and skills.

In response to a query J Stone indicated that there would be some involvement of Board members in the review of the Constitution, however it was emphasised that this was an exercise to ensure that the document was legally compliant and proportionate and thus of a more technical nature.

RESOLVED –

a.    That the report be noted.

b.    That members be provided with copies of the recent confidential reports on the Annual Review of Border to Coast and Organisational Resilience and Sustainability.

J. Stone delivered a report provide members with an update on current information governance activity and to report a reportable data breach to the Information Commissioners Office.

Considerable activity has commenced to enhance LPB members’ knowledge and skills in addition to that of the wider SYPA Authority members. In June 2022 a full training needs analysis activity was undertaken by all members and the following results recorded. Only two members of the LPB had fully completed the mandatory training requirements and one member of the Authority. LGPS on-line modules should be completed within the first six months of joining SYPA.

The training needs analysis report showed an overall knowledge of 50.05% for

Authority members and 40.21% for LPB members. The areas identified for urgent

support of training were, investment, actuarial and funding matters also

administration/funding matters.

Members continue to work with the new governance team, supported by a hybrid

training model of on-line, face to face and Teams facilities to ensure training is

supported and completed timely.

Current position shows 7 of 12 Authority members have completed all six training

modules and 5 of 10 LPB members are fully compliant. One LPB member is currently

not compliant in completing the initial 3 modules identified for completion by the end of September 2022.

The remaining three modules are scheduled for delivery on 10 November 2022 and

06 December 2022 to ensure all members are fully compliant by December 2022.

Moving forward, the intention is to review training and development needs of

individual members on an annual basis.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

J. Stone delivered a report to provide members with an update on current information governance activity and to report on a data breach that has been reported to the Information Commissioners Office (ICO), along with the actions taken.

A data breach occurred on 19 September 2022, a bank holiday when the office was closed. The external letter box was tampered with post stolen and thrown outside the building. The documentation retrieved identified 17 scheme members documentation was tampered. Through CCTV footage it is evident that the assailant’s intentions were to seek cash, and therefore the documentation was discarded. It is not known whether any further post was taken from site.

Investigation revealed documentation such as birth certificates, passport numbers and marriage certificates were damaged but not removed from site.

All internal protocols were followed and reported to the Data Protection Officer. The incident was low risk and pertained to a small number of data subjects, the decision was taken by the DPO, Corporate Manager–Governance and the Governance and Risk Officer to report the incident to the ICO. No communication or recommendations have been received by the ICO to date.

All 17 subjects have been informed of the breach and assurance provided that documentation was retrieved. Each data subject has been informed any damaged documentation will be replaced and/or costs reimbursed by the Authority. The external letter box was immediately taken out of use and post is now only accepted during office hours when it can be handed to a member of staff.

J. Bailey said SYPA does discourage members from sending original certificates to us and are pushing for more retirements to move online.

A long term solution to the issue of post being left is being worked on.

Members requested that the issue be kept open on the Breaches Record until a response is received from the ICO.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

G. Graham delivered a report on the Board’s proposed budget for 2023/24.

The current year budget for the Board is currently expected to be underspent, although by in less than previous years.

The budget proposed for 2023/24 includes an inflationary increase for adviser costs

and other running costs.

During this financial year, the Governance team have brought a renewed focus to the training requirements for members making more use of the training budget on items such as the Hymans Robertson Online modules, knowledge progress assessments and additional support and time from the Board’s Independent Adviser, and the proposed budget was based on continuing this approach

RESOLVED – That the proposed budget be noted and recommended to the Authority for approval.

A. Palmer delivered a report to provide members of the Board with the opportunity to review the updated risk register which supports the corporate strategy.

The Board’s workplan requires it to regularly review the Authority’s Corporate Risk Register. The latest version of the Register, was considered by the Authority at its meeting on 8th September 2022. The latest review found no changes to the previous one.

Work is progressing on a new Risk Management Software system. A preferred option has been identified, and the Governance and Programmes & Performance teams are currently working with the provider to submit a proposal and develop a draft business case to present to SMT during January 2023.

As part of the setup of the new risk management system, training will be delivered to

existing risk owners and the new system piloted with middle managers to enable the

rollout of the next stage of the action plan.

This will identify next level operational risks which will be regularly reported to SMT. Subject to approval to proceed, this is planned to take place early in 2023.

D. Webster asked when the new Risk system will be brought to the board.

A. Palmer replied discussions were still ongoing and a business case was being prepared for submission to SMT. If all goes to plan, a demonstration could be given to the board after that.

J. Bailey suggested it would be at least six months as staff will need to be trained and the system imbedded in the organisation.

R. Fennesey asked how close SYPA was from moving the risks identified at level Red to Amber?

G. Graham replied as the issues are investment related. Due to the current market situation, it is unlikely the outlook will improve in the short term.

J. Bailey added Cyber Security is at Red as the threat is so voluminous. It will continue to be a significant risk for the foreseeable future.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

Members reviewed the meeting cycle.

RESOLVED – That in light of the nature of the items to be discussed touching on commercially confidential or personal and personnel information the press and public be excluded from the remainder of the meeting.

G. Graham summarised the report which had been provided to the Authority and which could be brought to the next meeting for fuller consideration. While a number of recommendations for improvement were made none of them pointed to fundamental issues which needed to be addressed.

C. Scott suggested  that it would be helpful for the Board to have access to Authority reports considered in private as a matter of routine and G Graham indicated that there was no issue with this.

G. Graham presented an overview of a report that had been considered by the Authority’s Staffing, Appointments and Appeals Committee looking at staffing requirements over the next 2-3 years. The full report will be circulated and included on the agenda for the Board’s next meeting.

J. Bailey provided an update on the current position with the contract for the Pensions Administration system and indicated that a paper would be presented to the Authority in February setting out the proposed way forward.