Agenda item

The purpose of this report is to present the Fund’s administration performance for the period up to and including 31st January 2025 vs key performance indicators (KPI’s).

The Pensions Operations Manager introduced the report to the Board and highlighted the following points.

• Recruitment – final stages in progress. 4.5 vacancies across the department.

• McCloud - During Q1 2025 APF have written to around 27,000 members (18,000 via email) who are all out-of-scope requesting details of any additional public service pension that may put them in scope of the remedy. 800 replies have so far been received.

Councillor Toby Simon referred to the subject of recruitment and asked if the Committee could receive information at its next meeting on how the B&NES incoming personnel policy changes have had any impact on Avon Pension Fund staff.

The Pensions Operations Manager replied that this process remains ongoing and that if concluded in time they would provide information to the next meeting of the Committee.

SLA monthly performance average Jan 2024 to January 2025

• Averaging between 87% - 90%
• Increase in some areas of activity over the Christmas period

She informed the Committee that a Pension Board member had raised that there had been a notable drop in the figures recorded for Retirement (Active) – Quote (46% in Jan 25 down from 86% in Dec 24). She explained that this was due to the number of enquiries that had been received at this time of year as members look to potentially change their circumstances as they enter a New Year and staff being on annual leave and sickness.

KPI cases outstanding under 31 days – Oct 2023 – Feb 2025

·  Cases continuing to go down

KPI’s case by age %

• Attempting to keep below 10%

Jackie Peel referred to slide 8 (KPI’s outstanding over 31 days – Oct 2023 to Feb 2025) and asked if there were a core of cases that are stuck in this category.

The Pensions Operations Manager replied that there were a number of outliers, but that the figures are a true reflection and that more are being resolved generally. She added that they do plan to review the KPIs as part of the Admin Strategy.

Service performance – plan v’s actual – 2nd Feb 2025

• The Fund remains ahead of the plan as of Q3 2024.

Strategic Roadmap & Business Change 2025-26

2024 / 2025 – Highlights and Achievements

• People:
  • Restructure done
  • 16 New starters
  • 24 Promotions within existing team
  • Creation of Business Change function

• Performance:
  • Backlog reduction of KPIs
  • 39 new employers onboarded to the fund
  • Webinar based training introduced for scheme employers

• Process:
  • All employers now on i-Connect
  • Policy approvals for GMP / Unders and overs

• Digitalisation
  • New Employer website live
  • New employer webforms introduced to improve data submissions
  • Bank Account Validation implemented

2025 and beyond, Priorities & Objectives

• People:
  • Fully resourced
  • Fully trained
  • Ongoing development and opportunities

• Performance:
  • Within SLA for all KPIs
  • Meet needs of Pensions Dashboards
  • Compliance with regulatory changes i.e. McCloud

• Process:
  • Effective controls, proportionate to risk
  • All process mapped
  • Clear and concise user guides & training

• Digital Transformation:
  • Automation of key processes
  • Member portal upgrade to unlock the digitalisation of processes
  • Transition to hosting solution

Note: In bold denotes priorities.

Regulatory & key enablers

·  Regulatory – Pensions Dashboard / McCloud Remedy / GMP Remedy

·  Key Enablers - Hosting Pension Admin Systems / Admin Strategy refresh / Process control framework / Unified Comms (Phase 1)

Jackie Peel commented that the three regulatory pieces of work were substantial and commended staff for considering the range of other work to be undertaken.

The Pensions Operations Manager replied that there are plans in place to pursue the enabler tasks. She added that the Business Change Team has made a real difference to how they work and helped to improve engagement.

The Committee, having been satisfied that the public interest would be better served by not disclosing relevant information, RESOLVED, in accordance with the provisions of the Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 that the public should be excluded from the meeting for this item of business, because of the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part I of Schedule 12A of the Act as amended.

Communications Strategy

The Head of Pensions addressed the Committee, a summary of the presentation is set out below.

Our Audiences

·  Primary – Members / Employers / APF Officers

·  Secondary – Local media / Pensions media / Committee & Board

Aims and objectives in 2025

·  Members - Deepen understanding of pensions

·  Employers - Raise digital engagement

·  APF Officers - Improve efficiency & pride in work

Key Themes

·  Responsible – As responsible investors, we care about the future of our members and the world. Our commitment to the environment informs how we work.

·  Local – We’re devoted to serving local members and employers, to deliver pensions that work for everyone.

·  Constant – We’re long-lasting, strong and reliable. You can count on us every step of the way.

·  Service – Your pension is our priority – we want to help you understand your benefits and choices.

Communication channel selection

·  Use post, telephone and email for correspondence / information distribution.

·  No social media as too resource intensive.

Wendy Weston asked for further information regarding the staff survey for officers.

The Head of Pensions replied that this had recently been carried out in February.

The Pensions Operations Manager added that there had been a good response to the survey, but that it would hard to summarise briefly at this time.

The Head of Pensions said that a further survey was planned for November 2025 and then likely to take place annually.

William Liew asked that officers be mindful of costs when deciding on methods of communication. He asked if members have the option to opt out of paper forms of communication.

The Head of Pensions replied that members are encouraged to do so.

The Board RESOLVED to note the service performance for the period ending 31st January 2025.