The Assistant Director – Pensions presented the Pensions Administration Quarterly Report for Quarter 1 2024/25 in depth explaining the new format of the report and highlighting key issues.

Members praised the visuals and the narrative in the updated layout of the report.

The Board asked about the backlog of work. The Assistant Director – Pensions explained that the backlog was measured at the end of November 2023 and that while subsequent work has come in and is backlogging, this newer work will be tackled by a newly formed Processing Team and the original measure of the backlog, which is mainly comprised of complicated cases requiring specialist officers, is being kept to accurately assess progress.

Members queried whether the deadline for clearing the backlog would be met and asked how the work was being prioritised and distributed among officers.

The Assistant Director – Pensions confirmed the backlog was reducing and was being continuously monitored with the end of the project due in December 2024 in mind and that progress towards this would be reviewed in August 2024 and reported to the Board at the next opportunity. It was explained that the oldest cases were being prioritised and it was also being explored whether the Systems Team could automate processing some of the backlog. The Assistant Director – Pensions explained how teams of officers were organised in the Pensions Administration department for maximum efficiency and offered to detail this organisation further in the next report to the Board.

Members asked about the spike in casework and queried the driver for this.

The Assistant Director – Pensions explained that there had been a number of complex cases relating to aggregation which had increased workload but that there is also a more general trend of more work coming in.

Members suggested using a RAG rating system in the next report to better represent progress and highlight risks as the statistics did not necessarily always represent status when taken out of context and priorities could be lost. It was also suggested that any risk and progress highlights be added to the start of the report in a RAG rated summary.

The Board expressed concern over the Authority’s capability to progress on the McCloud project given the delay in software development. The Assistant Director – Pensions explained that this was a concern given that statutory guidelines highlight the deadline for implementation as 1 August 2025 but that legislation may allow an administering authority to determine that the McCloud implementation phase shall be regarded as extending to 31st August 2026 for specific members or classes of members and that, whilst such cases have yet to be determined, and the detail of this legislation known, this will be welcomed considering the software development delays.

The Assistant Director – Pensions was asked when the Board would have sight of a decisions regarding integrated service provider (ISP) to facilitate producing dashboards. It was stated that a decision was due to be made in Autumn 2024 and that there is a detailed decision log recording all factors and stages of the decision which will be presented to the Board, along with the decision at the next opportunity.

RESOLVED: Members noted the Pensions Administration Quarterly Report for Quarter 1 2024/25.