Agenda item

The Pensions Manager presented the report.

Members noted that performance against KPIs continues to improve. Available staff resource continued to be affected by maternity leave and resignations. Since the last staff restructure in January 2017, full staff resources had only been available for a couple of weeks. Recruitment was continuous. About 4% of employers would receive a penalty charge for poor performance at year end. As in previous years training was offered to employers as an alternative to a penalty charge. One employer was a repeat offender, so would be fined as well as offered training.

He drew attention to the information about the TPR breach contained in Annex 1. Processes had been reviewed and measures had been put in place by the Fund to prevent a recurrence. ICO had responded that no further action is required in addition to the measures taken by the Fund. A meeting had been held with the software supplier about incorporating further controls in the systems used by the Fund. A team is being assembled to deal exclusively with the uploading of employer data; the Committee’s approval for the creation of an additional four posts for this team is requested. A costed proposal is contained in Annex 2. The administration budget this year is considerably underspent, so there will be no immediate impact on the budget, though there will be an additional cost of £140,000 in future years. Members noted that this as temporary measure and that the Committee would be consulted before final arrangements were put in place.

After discussion the Committee RESOLVED to:

1. note membership data, Fund and Employer performance for the 3 months to 30thSeptember 2019;

2. note progress and reviews of the TPR Data Improvement Plan;

3. approve the additional resource requirements as set out in Annex 2.