Joint Police Pension Board
Minutes of the Board’s Meeting
Details / Date: 20th January 2017 11:00 a.m.Place: Conference Suite, Joint Police & Fire Headquarters, Butterley Hall, Ripley, Derbyshire, DE5 3RS
Present / Nicholas Smart (NS) / (Chair of the Board)
Member Representative
(West Yorkshire - Federation)
Bruce Cameron (BC) / Member Representative (Nottinghamshire - NARPO)
Terry Neave (TN) / Employer Representative
(Derbyshire)
John Hummersone (JH) / Employer Representative
(Norfolk)
Sarah Mekin (SM) / Employer Representative
(North Yorkshire)
William Boyle (WB) / Member Representative
(Thames Valley - Federation)
In Attendance / Graeme Hall (GH) / Kier Pensions Unit
Paul Smith (PS) / Kier Pensions Unit
Apologies / Karl Smethem (KS)
Jeffrey Carruthers (JC)
Minute / Introduction and apologies for absence / Action
1.2017 / NS – Opened the meeting and noted apologies received from KS and JC.
Minute / Declaration of Interest / Action
2.2017 / NS - asked members if they had any declarations of interest to note and to inform the board if any arise during the meeting. No declarations were noted.
Kier Pensions Unit120170120_v2.1 draft.doc
Minute / Minutes of Meeting of 2nd August 2016 / Action3.2017 / The minutes of the previous meeting held on 2nd August 2016 were agreed by the board as a true and accurate record of the meeting. They were signed by NS, as the Chair, and passed to GH for safe keeping.
Minute / Matters Arising from the Meeting on 27th September 2016 / Action
4.2017 / GH – Informed the Board that the website is imminent. He is to inform the Board when the site goes live so they can review the live site. / GH
NS – noted the link on the test website to the Home Office pension calculator did not work. GH is to investigate. / GH
GH – It is hoped that members will be able to use member self-service in the near future to be able to access their own specific information to help with calculations.
NS- When will member self-service expect to be available to members?
GH – It is expected in the next few months. There are a few issues to resolve around access and who will have access. This is being discussed with individual Forces to ensure compliance and suitability of the service.
NS – There is the possibility that the new email system created by the (Federation?) could be used to give members information on the launch of member access.
BC – Commented that he had found the MyOwnPension website useful and user friendly.
SM – Found the information useful for day-to-day information. There was an issue with the employer site link. GH is to check this out.
Postscript; the employer section is currently under review and therefore not available. GH will update the Board when available. / GH
NS – The Board has received no updates from Scheme Advisory Board (SAB).
BC – Attended a NARPO meeting with points covered noted in Any Other Business.
Minute / Update Terms of Reference / Action
5.2017 / GH – Asked the Board if they were content with the wording in respect of the Board's ability to remove a Board member?
SM- There may be issues when, for example, a Board member is not in employment with a participating force (e.g. a pensioner).
BC – It will be useful to have legal advice especially in relation to the Board's “Determination” of grounds for removal of a Board member. GH has been asked to approach legal through possibly the SAB contacts in the first instance. / GH
Minute / Overview of Annual Benefit Statement Process / Action
6.2017 / GH – Outlined the ABS requirements and process of calculations to distribution. The information from the employers is ideally received in May giving time for the administrator to reconcile year end salaries, service, rank and any other variations. Some employer information has been received as late as July.
This year there were a few recorded issues for a number of members involving CARE and Transferred-In service. Some members with more than three records on the system caused initial problems with the calculation. These issues were resolved by the software provider and the members were then issued with benefit statements.
GH – Explained that a member receives a benefit statement specific to their type of service. Copies of the specific wording for each type of service were provided for the Board to review.
The current statements include the following service types:
- Fully Protected PPS 1987 Active
- PPS 1987 – Taper & Unprotected Active
- PPS 1987 – Taper & Unprotected Final Salary Service
- Fully Protected PPS 2006
- PPS 2006 – Taper & Unprotected Active
- PPS 2006 – Taper & Unprotected Final Salary Service
- PPS 2015 - Active
GH – Following the Leigh Day request for members to provide a copy of their ABS regarding a challenge to the benefits in respect of a sex discrimination case a number of member requests have been received for a replacement ABS. Kier are willing to provide a replacement for the administration fee of £50.00 plus V.A.T per member.
Postscript; Leigh Day have informed Kier that they no longer require the 2016 statements and will await the 2017 versions. Kier have refunded those offices who paid the fee.
Kier have provided ABS statements to members where the system has not issued them or address information has been updated between the ABS printing and posting date by the employer.
NS – Leigh Day is a hot topic for serving members although the ruling could lead to the Government possibly removing the tapering advantage to all members.
GH – The information on the ABS is the Statutory Requirement. There is no requirement to store the issued ABS after it has been provided.The figures from the ABS are stored on the administration software but would require further work to enable it to be released to members.
TN – Felt that the disclaimer regarding the fact the figures on the ABS are an estimate only and that the sentence “You should contact Kier Pensions Unit for a written estimate before making any decision to retire” should be in bold and be prominent on the Annual Benefit Statement “Personal Details and Figures” page, dueto most members going straight to that page and may not read through the other sections. / GH
Minute / Employer Issues / Action
7.2017 / GH –Humberside and Derbyshire are currently awaiting meetings to finalise their Auto Enrolment processes.
SM – North Yorkshire's experience was that most Officers were members of the PPS already and that non-members would receive a standard letter before the May staging date. The civilian employees pension scheme is the Local Government Pension Scheme.
GH – checked with the employer representatives if they held information on those members who had opted out with protections in place due to Lifetime Allowance (LTA) issues and therefore these members do not have to be included in the AE process.
ALL – this information may not be held for all affected members. Those affected need to be made aware that the employer willopt them in and they will need to contact the scheme administrator for a form to Opt-Out (which is also available from the website) to avoid any unnecessary tax consequences.
GH- Removal of the Pension Commencement Lump Sum (PCLS) cap is still awaiting legislation. The removal of any cap will still require creation of a specific discretion from each employer.
SM – Asked if the discretionary policy's for all the Police Forces could be made available, or preferably links to the individual Forces discretionary policy, on the employer section of the website. The policy has to be published so there should not be an issue over sharing this information between Forces. GH to ask Kier Technical if this is possible. / GH – Kier Technical Team
WB – Asked if each Force had produced a draft policy yet on the removal of the cap and if any guidance had been issued?
GH – Once regulations are in place it is expected that each force will produce their own discretionary policy. When available, the Pension Board will be provided sight of the documents.
SM – The policy will need to be in place, especially as the funds are expected to be from the operational budget. The policy will need sound reasons for whatever decision is adopted.
GH – Updated the Board with the latest position regarding the Milne v GAD outstanding cases. To date 4724 cases had been identified and 4641 cases had been paid. This represents 98.24% paid and 99.07% have received details of the additional payment due. Outstanding cases fall into four main categories:
- Letters issued but no response received (39 outstanding).
- General queries on the information held on record (33 outstanding).
- Capped lump sums requiring further clarification (7 outstanding).
- Deaths where no contact details present for person dealing with the estate (4 outstanding).
Although there is no timeline for the completion on Milne v GAD cases it is hoped that this will come to an end in the next few months.
Minute / Governance / Action
8.2017 / GH – Summarized the 6 complaints received in the period 1st July 2016 to 31st December 2016. 5 cases were a delay in providing information where information had been requested from a third party. 1 case was an overpaid dependent pension where there had been confusion over the date the dependent ceased full time education.
GH – 1 IDRP case had been resolved in the member's favour involving a cessation of a child pension where a stipend had wrongly been assessed as earned income.
GH – There had been 2 Pension Ombudsman cases in the period 1st July 2016 to 31st December 2016. These cases are still with the Ombudsman. The first case involves an early payment of deferred benefits due to ill-health, the second relates to the determination of the earliest retirement date for a member.
GH – the Pensions Unit tends to only have sight of IDRP/Ombudsman cases if they are sent through the Administration Unit or additional information is required. Kier sometimes is not informed of a decision from IDRP though it would be expected that if ruled in the member’s favour Kier would have to amend benefits and/or practices.
NS – requested that an agreement should be in place with the participating forces to provide details of any pension complaint that they may be dealing with.
GH – Presented a table of the service level agreement compliance for the Forces represented on the Board. He highlighted the issue with estimates especially the request for multiple estimates being received even from members who are well beyond three years from retirement. Members within three years of retirement were being prioritized so that they receive information in a timely manner for them to be able to make retirement decisions.
TN – Asked if the back log was still an issue.
GH – Said there was and that the issue was being addressed. The live launch of the MyOwnPension site would hopefully enable those members wishing to review their benefits more than 3 years before retirement could reduce the number of estimates requested in the future.
NS – It would be useful to break down the estimates report into those members within 3 years of retirement to see what percentage of those are issued within target. / GH
Minute / Risk Register / Action
9.2017 / Communication with Scheme Managers
GH – There is a need to obtain responses from all Forces.
SM – This is difficult due to the board remit as it is not looking at individual cases but overall Force decisions.
SM – Complaints could be used as an assessment of Force failings.
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GH – There is a Home Office Meeting in February that may provide some further guidance on the subject of Auto-Enrolment. SM asked for details of the meeting date and GH agreed to provide. / GH
Rules and Handbooks
BC – Member Self Service should help with the availability of these documents. This could be added as a control measure on the register.
SM – It would be useful to have the Forces discretionary policy on MyOwnPension or a link to it to maintain latest version.
Report and Disclosure
GH – Scheme returns are currently being collated for the Pension Regulator. It should be noted that none of the PPS 2006 schemes have been registered with the Regulator. The Regulator is working on this issue for all Forces.
Board Members
GH – Reminded all the Board to keep him informed of any tPR updates completed or any requirements to help improve their knowledge and understanding were notified for possible training. GH is currently working on a system to be able to measure Board member competency.
GH – Asked the Board to assess whether they thought the number of Board members is correct.
Records
GH – Disaster recovery in place reviewed by the Forces.
Conflicts of Interest
SM – SAB had not issued any questions or correspondence or given any advice. Where are their minutes published?
GH – They do have a website and it may be possible to create a link on the MyOwnPension website for access. / GH
NS – Suggested that the final minutes for this meeting are copied not only to the Board members but to the appointed contact at each Force. The Force contact should be asked to respond with comments and given the option to attend a Joint Pension Board Meeting as an observer. / GH
Administration
GH – Data quality is becoming a focus of the Pensions Regulator and therefore should be reviewed by the Pensions Board. Kier are looking at how to report on data quality and will provide details to the Forces and Board when available.
Complaints are given as regular updates to the Board and can be notified outside of meetings if appropriate.
Minute / Any Other Business / Action
10.2017 / Due to the retirement of KS it was agreed to seek a replacement Board member representative. Althoughit would be helpful to have a balance of representatives across the Forces but nominations will be sought from all applicable members.
TN – Suggested that the Chair and Secretary could categorise the nominations and then refer back to the Board.
The suggestion was agreed by the Board members present.
GH will issue a request to each participating force for nominations. / GH
Change of administrator name from Mouchel to Kier.
GH – The change of administrator name notification to active officers had been incorporated into the annual benefit statements.
BC – Outlined topics covered at a recent joint NARPO meeting. The meeting highlighted how some of the other Pension Boards were operating. The meeting included input from NARPO and the Scheme Advisory Board.
Some points of interest noted below;
- There were differences between the reports provided by the Boards.
- A Chair annual Report is to be submitted to tPR
- Opting-Out and Auto Enrolment
- Representative training needs
- Leigh Day
- Independent Legal Advice – Can be accessed via SAB but no indication at this stage if there will be a cost.
- Some Boards pay for an Independent Chair
- ABS is issued by Force in some cases and administrator in others. This is reflected in the Forces of this JPPB.
- Boards are encouraged to set a budget – this could be incorporated into the risk register.
- Some Boards paid representatives an attendance fee.
- The frequency of meetings varied widely from Board to Board – Monthly to Bi-annual.
- Distribution of information following meetings varied across Boards.
- The size and representation on Boards also varied with some Joint Boards being represented by all the Shared Police Forces participating within their Board.
NS – Asked if the Board felt the frequency of the meetings was sufficient.
TN- Twice yearly seem adequate given the topics covered.
SM – Felt some additional training for instance on data quality would be useful.
GH – Training could be incorporated pre or post Board meeting as this would simplify logistics and time constraints as it would not require any additional days.
BC – Brought everyone’s attention to the tPR Self-Assessment module and asked if this would be done as a training exercise or for an individual to complete.
It was decided by the Board that it was designed to be completed by an individual and that all members should aim to complete the module before the next meeting. / All
GH – Gave an overview of Guaranteed Minimum Pension and the HMR&C reconciliation exercise. The software is in place and is being refined to filter out non-significant differences notified by HMRC.
BC – Pointed out that the DWP had a pension calculation website and that it may be worth having a link for this on the MyOwnPension website. It gives a pension forecast for the State Pension entitlement for Contracted-Out members.
BC highlighted a potential conflict of interest if the secretariat to a Pension Board was provided by the company who administered the scheme as was the case with Kier and this pension board. The board agreed that this was a minor risk that could be controlled by the Chair and members being sensitive to the issue and temporarily excluding Kier employees from discussions, if and when appropriate.
Minute / Date of Next meeting / Action
11.2017 / Friday 16th June 2017 – Derby Joint Police & Fire Headquarters
Signed for and on behalf of the Joint Police Pension Board.
Date
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Kier Pensions Unit120170120_v2.1 draft.doc