Agenda item

To receive a report providing an update on the development of key items.

Members of the Board received a report of the Chief Finance Officer (Item 8 in the Minute Book) regarding ongoing issues.

The report was introduced and Officers led Board Members through the report highlighting the development of key issues.  Officers highlighted the Fire Pension Board calendar report of items for 2019/20 as set out at Appendix A which drew on discussions at the previous Board meeting about forthcoming agenda items.  Members of the Board were content with the work plan of items, and no additional agenda items were proposed at this time.

The issue of Training as set out in paragraphs 7 to 10 was set out and it was noted that as there would soon be two vacancies on the Pension Board, it was felt that it would be appropriate to wait on issuing updated Training Needs Analysis form until these two vacancies were filled.  It was agreed that future training session would be beneficial and these would also be organised when the Board had its full quota of Members.  The possibility of holding some joint sessions with Isle of Wight Pension Board Members was also discussed.

Members of the Board noted that there had been no statutory reporting events  or Internal Dispute Resolution Procedures (IDRP’s) raised since the last meeting.  It was also confirmed that there had been no breaches which needed reporting to The Pension Regulator.  The Board’s attention was drawn to Appendix B which set out and clarified the process for receipt of IDRP as well as Appendix C which listed the IDRP Accountable Officers.

Issues relating to Communication were set out in paragraphs 16 to 21 of the report and these were discussed.  Members of the Board wished to extend their thanks to the Employer Pension Manager for all her hard work in delivering pre-retirement courses and pension presentations at various fire stations in Hampshire.  It was noted that feedback from these had been very positive.  Paragraph 19 of the report detailed a breakdown of the number of page views on the employer pension web pages for October and November 2018.  The poor response to the Fire Employer pension web pages survey was discussed and Members of the Board agreed that sending the survey as a global email would generate a higher response rate and Officers would take this forward.  This would also be followed up with the communications and media team as well as the Fire Brigades Union.  The Pension Board were pleased to hear that the Employer Pension Manager had been appointed permanently to her position and congratulated her on this.

Issues relating to injury pensions and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) were discussed.  It was heard that there had been a high response of 62 replies from the 89 member pensioners written to in order to confirm whether they were in receipt of any relevant additional benefits from the DWP.  Since the report had been written, it was confirmed that an additional five replies had been received.  Those who had not yet responded would receive a firmer follow up letter advising of implications if a response was not received.

The issue of TPR annual scheme returns was also discussed and the difference between common and scheme specific data was explained, and the percentage of data which was present and accurate was set out in the table at paragraph 29 of the report.  Hampshire Pension Services would work on a plan to improve data which wasn’t 100%. 

Members of the Board also heard details relating to the SCAPE discount rate, the annual TPR Administration survey and the forecasting workshop.  In relation to the SCAPE discount rate, it was confirmed that HFRA would receive £2.9m from Government to cover additional costs resulting in the increase in employer pension contributions.  Members of the Board noted that the £2.9m received was expected to realistically cover these costs.

RESOLVED:

i)     That the HFRA Firefighters’ Pension Board endorsed the work plan of items as set out in paragraphs 3-6 and Appendix A of the report.

ii)    That the HFRA Firefighters’ Pension Board endorsed the approach of sending out the Employer Web survey via email as set out in paragraph 20 of the report.