Agenda item

(To receive a report by Roger Buttery, Independent Chairman of the Lincolnshire Local Pension Board which updates the Committee on the work of the Pension Board, provides the Committee with assurances gained from the work of the Board and provides an opportunity for the Committee to consider recommendations from the Board)

Consideration was given to a report by Roger Buttery, Independent Chair of the Lincolnshire Local Pension Board, which updated the Committee on the work of the Pensions Board; for the Committee to receive assurances gained from the Board's work; and for the Committee to consider recommendations from the Board.

Members were guided through the report and the following points were highlighted:

·         In terms of Employer Monthly Submissions and Contribution Monitoring the year to the end of September had seen 30 late payments and 85 late submissions of monthly returns.

·         The report had shown a reduction in data scores since October 2019, with scheme specific now 73.5%.  There was a data improvement plan in place which was positive.  It was hoped that the Pension Board would have a deep dive on this at their meeting later the same day.

·         In relation to Pension Benefits in Suspense, it was noted that £56k was now held on behalf of 45 people.

·         It was highlighted that it was extremely positive that the number of Annual Benefit Statements issued to members by the statutory deadline was 99.6%.

The Committee was provided with the opportunity to ask questions in relation to the information contained within the report and some of the points raised during discussion included the following:

·         In terms of the late payments, it was queried whether the fines were high enough.  Members were advised that the issues were mainly with smaller employers, such as academies, parish and town councils, where there was one person responsible for submitting the monthly returns.  There were rarely issues with the larger organisations such as districts or the Police. 

·         Academies often used payroll providers, and if there were late submissions, the employers would be notified and this could then be passed onto the payroll provider.  It was highlighted that the fines did have an impact, as whilst they were not necessarily significant in terms of amount, there could be reputational issues.

·         It was suggested that the figure would never be 100% of payments made on time, as there were too many intricacies involved in the process.  Some of the payments and submissions may not actually be late but contained errors in the information submitted, for example the payment made and data submitted did not match.  It was also noted that Lincolnshire monitored the timeliness and accuracy of information very closely, as it could impact member benefits.  Officers did not have as much concern if it was new names coming through with late submissions rather than the same people time and time again.

·         In terms of the suspense accounts, it was queried whether there was access to HMRC records.  It was noted that a lot of organisations would use specific companies for tracing people.  It had also been observed that not all members were willing to complete the necessary paperwork to claim their benefits.

·         It was queried whether members of the pension fund were notified if their employer made a late payment, and the Committee was advised that they weren't because this did not have an impact on individual members pension benefits.

RESOLVED

            That the report be noted.