Agenda item

The Chairman noted that he had accepted two urgent reports.  He noted that both reports had been provided after the publication deadline and therefore he authorised these reports to be circulated and reported to the Local Pensions Board. 

The Interim Pensions Manager Mr Nigel Keogh introduced the Capita Performance report for September 2019.  The Chairman invited Mr Stewart James from Capita solutions to present appendix D which he duly did.   Members were given the opportunity to ask questions of Mr James who was able to clarify points in relation to data breaches, cyber security and the procedures that are in place.   Mr Hem Salva stated that Members had issues accessing their information online and via the telephone.  The Chairman, noting that this matter had been raised at the last meeting, therefore requested that this be reviewed.

Mr Rida requested to know how the data was backed up on the servers in order for data to be recovered. It was noted that data could be restored with 24 hours however there had never been a need to implement the disaster recovery plan.

Mr Hem Salva raised a number of points in respect to the performance data.  Mr Paul Faulkner from Capita Employee Solutions was given the opportunity to respond, he highlighted the performance of the operational pensions administration service that was delivered by Capita.   In doing so he addressed the points raised by Board members.

The Local Pensions Board Members scrutinised the report in detail and noted a number of points:

-          How data is presented

-          Third party data and fees for late and non-payments

-          Outstanding costs for Middlesex that appear to be incorrect and duplication of data

-          How the processing of payments works and how that is communicated

-          Outstanding Invoices

-          Information relating to late or non-received Annual Benefit statements

-          Errors in relation to strain costs and duplications within the report

-          How fines can be levied to employers for late payments and the clarity of how fines are administered in a robust way.  It was noted that this had been raised a number of times.

-          An error on page 25 of the report in relations to dates of complaints

-          Quality of data regarding invoices

Mr David Woodcock referring to strain cost invoices said that the supporting information was insufficient, and he stated that that Middlesex University had not received the correct documentation in order to make accurate payment(s).

Officers responded to these points, which responses were duly noted.

Having considered the report the Board:

Resolved:

The Local Pension Board noted the current performance levels, plans for reducing caseload backlogs and the plans for further development of monthly performance reporting. The Board noted Capita’s Cyber Security measures.

The Interim Pensions Manager Mr Nigel Keogh introduced the Update.  He noted that further to the Improvement Notice issued by The Pensions Regulator (TPR) on 25 July 2019 to the London Borough of Barnet to address weaknesses in the processes and controls within the administration of the Barnet Pension Fund, this paper updates the Board on on-going communications with TPR.

Mr Keogh drew members’ attention to a recent breach that he had reported to the Pensions Regulator.

Members were given the opportunity to ask questions.  In doing so Mr Ross outlined that there had been a catalogue of errors and made comments in respect to this.  He outlined that an improvements notice had been provided but stated that Barnet was not off the hook yet.    He stated that it was important that this be listed as a priority on the Risk Register.   Mr Savla agreed with these points and said that there had been a number of breaches, he further requested to know if this could have an impact to the Triennial Valuation.

Having considered the report the Board:

Resolved:

The Board is asked to note the most recent correspondence with the Regulator and the further actions being taken to address the new issues arising.

The meeting finished at 21:05