BCH Police Pension Board minutes 7 June 2021

Part 2 closed confidential. Not for publication under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and in agreement with the Meetings and Minutes Procedure agreed by the Strategic Management Board on 3 March 2009

Attendees

• Sergeant Alan Wollaston (AW) - Chair - Police Federation BCH representative, Hertfordshire
• Stuart Goodwin (SG) – Deputy Chair - Senior Accountant, Bedfordshire
• James Cook (JC) - Director of Resources
• Jackie Ingle (JI) - Head of BCH Pension and Payroll
• Karen Morgan (KM) - Hertfordshire (but not a member)
• T/ACC Dan Vajzovic (DV) - CPOSA and Superintendents Association BCH representative, Cambridgeshire
• Graeme Hall (GH) - XPS outsourced BCH pension administrators
• Maxine Agombar (MA) - PA, Hertfordshire Executive Support (obo Bex Weston - ESO Herts Executive Support)

Apologies

• Afzal Chowdhury (AC) - Head of Legal Services, Hertfordshire
• Kevin Courtney (KC) - NPCC Pensions Advisor
• Anthony Laud (AL) - NARPO BCH representative, Cambridgeshire
• Colin Connolly (CC) - Head of Corporate Communications, Hertfordshire
• Superintendent Jon Hutchinson (JH) - substitute Superintendents Association BCH representative, Cambridgeshire

1.Welcome and apologies

SG welcomed attendees to the meeting and apologies were noted.

2. Approval of minutes and actions – 1 March 2021

The minutes of the previous meeting were approved. Actions were reviewed and the action tracker updated accordingly.  

3. Election of Chair and Vice Chair

AW stepped down as Chair of the board. Following discussion and formal vote, SG was appointed as the new Chair (nominated by DV) with JC appointed as Vice-Chair (nominated by SG).

4. Conflict of interest – declaration and registry

No conflicts of interest were raised. 

5. Remedy update

JI provided the following update:

• Revised Home Office guidance and the subsequent NPCC response on that guidance is currently awaited in relation to Immediate Detriment. This is anticipated to assist/guide forces in relation to implementation.

• Once received, a policy will be drafted and put forward to the three BCH Scheme Mangers.

• The decision regarding implementation sits with Scheme Managers, and they will need to consider the risks associated with implementing and not implementing immediate detriment, which are caused by legislation not yet being in place.

• There was discussion around those that would fall into the immediate detriment category. It was noted that the figures for prospective retirees and IHR cases have been reviewed across BCH and are relatively low. 

• DV requested BCH positively consider setting up an immediate detriment policy, particularly with those members suffering terminal illness in mind.

• Once legislation has been laid and regulations updated, work will need to take place with XPS to apply remedy. Work is currently underway with payroll teams to validate XPS data and bridge any gaps ahead of time.

• In parallel, work continues on the compensation strand. Claims are currently working their way through the legal process and are not expected to land with forces until the end of the year. Test cases have been selected and are due to be presented at court.

6. GMP reconciliation report

The project team continues work on the GMP rectification and reconciliation, it is anticipated that by the next meeting, there will be a more significant update as things progress into the next phase which will include calculations on overpayments and underpayments and next steps.

7. XPS update report

GH talked through the quarterly update report which was noted by the board. There was nothing further raised.

8. Risk register

Concentrating on the one red/high risk, JI confirmed that the McCloud risk has now been updated to include the immediate detriment element (13a) – this may reduce in risk if/when a policy is agreed and put in place.

9. Any other business

Auto-enrolment/opt-out data

• DV queried whether there was any data in relation to auto-enrolment/opt-outs on the latest cohorts of officers coming in. Following discussion, it was agreed that this data should be monitored closely moving forward, particularly with the introduction of PEQF and in relation to staff turnover with increases being seen in the number of police officers leaving prior to reaching retirement age. 

Action – BW to add auto-enrolment/opt out data as a standing item for future meetings and JI to produce quarterly data for review at each meeting.

Officer tapering to 2015 scheme

• JI advised that there have been some complaints/queries in relation to officers still being tapered across to the 2015 scheme following the remedy announcement. JI confirmed that officers will continue to be tapered across in line with regulations until legislation is formally changed.

• JC highlighted that there will be a need to consider this position when making any decision on whether the force is going implement immediate detriment as there will need to be a consistent approach. JI confirmed that counsel advice has been sought on this conflicting issue and this will form part of the brief to Scheme Managers.

AW thanked the board for their support during his rotation as Chair, advising that he will be continuing as board member moving forward and thanked SG and JC for taking on the role of Chair and Vice Chair respectively.

Date of next meeting: Monday 27 September 2021, 10.30am via MS Teams