Agenda item

To consider the report and note the information

The Pensions Manager presented a report, providing a general overview of pensions administration over the past year, along with information about the work completed over the period, and an update on various projects.

Reference was made to the performance of core service duties for 2023/24 in comparison with 2022/23 noting that performance had improved on all lines and highlighting a significant improvement in 'the average number of working days taken to send out a quote letter detailing a transfer'. It was reported that additional staff have been appointed to respond to the demand in this service and as a result the performance has improved e.g., although the number of cases has increased from 218 to 745 the number of 'response' days has been reduced from 17.11 to 13.26. This work had also ensured that records of those who leave are accurate and complete for the dashboard. ⁠ ⁠

The Service satisfaction survey which is sent to Members at the end of each process was highlighted to gather views on the quality of service received. It was reported that 162 members took part in the survey during 2023/24 and the result was very encouraging (99% of users strongly agree that the quality is of a high standard). ⁠

Reference was made to the success and popularity of the website 'My Pension Online' and highlighted that many members visit the site daily and around 20,000 had signed up for the service to date. It was noted that the Service was liaising with employers to encourage staff to transfer little by little so that any situation that may arise can be dealt with – it was hoped to complete the work by the end of summer 2024.

It was stated that work was also being developed on a new version of the self-service website which would be launched officially following a trial period with staff.
⁠

In discussing The Pensions Regulator - Measuring Data, Members were reminded that Aquila Heywood had been commissioned in the past to produce a Data Quality Report for the Gwynedd Pension Fund. It had now been noted that software was available to run this report internally. It was highlighted that the report was broken down into two parts (Common data and Plan Specific data). One category was referred to which had not reached the benchmark (addresses) and this was about people who had moved and had not notified the service of their new address. There was now a process of tracking down the addresses with Heywood, and it was hoped to see future improvement in this category. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

The members expressed their thanks for the report.

During the ensuing discussion, the following observations were made by members:

·       That the work and progress were to be welcomed

·       Despite the added pressure, they were pleased to see staff willing to take on additional duties

In response to a question about setting a 'desirable' target rather than focusing on improvement, it was noted that continuous improvements were the ones that were being considered rather than setting targets. It was reiterated that this was a Council-wide pattern to try to avoid a false position and that setting a direction was the motivation. It was also noted that for 2024/25 there was a demand to report performance against other funds (Wales) and therefore it would be interesting to see how performances will compare. ⁠ ⁠

RESOLVED to accept the report and note the information.