Agenda item

To consider the report for information

DECISION

To accept the report for 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 had been appointed to respond to the demand in this service and as a result the performance had improved e.g., although the number of cases had 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 were accurate and complete for the dashboard.

Attention was drawn to the Service satisfaction survey which was sent to Members at the end of each process 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 agreed or agreed that the quality was of a high standard).

Reference was made to the success and popularity of the 'My Pension On-line' website and highlighted that many members visited the site each day, and approximately 20,000 had signed up for the service to date.  It was noted that the Service contacted employers to encourage their staff to transfer gradually so that any situation that may arise could be dealt with - it was hoped to complete the work by the end of summer 2024.

It was noted that a new version of the self-service website had been launched on 10/04/2024.  ⁠The service would contact employers to ask them to encourage staff to transfer gradually to the new site so that any situation that may arise could be dealt with - it was hoped to complete the work by the end of summer 2024.

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. ⁠Furthermore, it was noted that software was now 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 related to 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:

·         Staff were congratulated on the performance - the figures were excellent

·         The new on-line system was easy to use

·         99% of the users strongly agreed or agreed that the quality of the service received was of a high standard - which created a feeling of pride. ⁠

·         The report was comprehensive, and the results were extremely positive.

RESOLVED to accept the report for information.