Police pension board July 2024

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 Not for publication under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and in agreement with the Meetings and Minutes Procedure agreed by the Strategic Management Board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

• James Cook (JC) – Chair- Director of Resources, Hertfordshire
• Stuart Goodwin (SG) - Head of Finance, Bedfordshire
• Julia Knight (JK) - Head of BCH Pension and Payroll
• Graeme Hall (GH) - XPS outsourced BCH pension administrators
• Anthony Laud (AL) - NARPO BCH representative, Cambridgeshire
• Yvonne Gaylard-Hall (YGH) - PA, Hertfordshire Executive Support 

Apologies

• ACC Genna Telfer (GT) - ACC, CPOSA representative, Cambridgeshire
• Karen Morgan (KM) - Herts but not a member
• Doug Black (DB) - D/Chief Supt, Substitute Superintendents Association 
• Vanessa Lynch (VL) - BCH Corporate Communications, Hertfordshire
• Alan Wollaston (AW) - Sergeant, Police Federation BCH Representative, Hertfordshire
• Afzal Chowdhury (AC) - Head of Legal Services, Hertfordshire

1.Welcome and apologies

James Cook welcomed attendees to the meeting and apologies were noted.

2. Approval of minutes and actions – 17 May 2024

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

3. Conflict of interest – declaration and registry

No conflicts of interest were raised. 

4. Remedy update / XPS update reports

Graeme Hall signposted the XPS update report which was circulated prior to the meeting. It was noted that client reports are still to be finalised for quarter one and will be available for the next meeting. The latest SLAs under McLoud remedy were reviewed and discussed by the board. The following was noted:

• In relation to lump sum payments it was noted that the figures have seen an improvement with up to a third being paid on the date of retirement and only a small number of cases of late payments (over 14 days) across the three forces.
• Testing continues in relation to Annual Benefit Statements / Remedial Service Statements (ABS/RSS). XPS should have a better idea in August following the testing outcome on the position with regards to their ability to meet the 31^st August deadline for both ABS and RSS or whether they will be in a rollback position. Graeme Hall confirmed that forces will be advised as soon as XPS can confirm whether they will be able to meet the deadline of 31^st August in full or to what percentage, so that forces can arrange appropriate communications to members.
• XPS have started sending out the immediate choice RSS to those low risk protected members who have already retired over the past couple of months. Graeme Hall advised that to date there have been 148 issued for Bedfordshire, 57 for Cambridgeshire and 154 for Hertfordshire. XPS will next be looking to expand sending RSS to those protected members who have taken maximum tax-free cash as they are unlikely to come under the HMIC tax issue with regards to unauthorised payments.

The board reviewed the proposed communication circulated prior to the meeting, which is to be sent to members in relation to McCloud Remedy and accessing benefits statements. It was agreed that the line in relation to the issuing of ABS/RSS would be updated to reflect that the RSS are due in March 2025 however the three forces are hoping to start issuing them from August 2024. Subject to this amendment the communication was approved by those present. Julia Knight confirmed that the final communication will be sent out to all active members and uploaded to the three force internet sites.

Further to the above, there was discussion in relation to the possibility of running a live information / Q&A session across the three forces for affected members. It was felt a session like this would be beneficial in supporting members with making informed decisions in relation to remedy. It was suggested that timing this with the publication of ABS/RSS would be useful. James Cook requested that Julia Knight looks to progress this accordingly.

Action – Julia Knight to look at the possibility of arranging a live McCloud Pension Remedy information/Q&A session for affected members.

Julia Knight provided an update on the current position with regards to data provision across each of the three forces. The following was noted:

• Bedfordshire – completed.
• Cambridgeshire – completed.
• Hertfordshire – 11 cases outstanding.

Julia Knight confirmed that there is live query in relation to the outstanding Hertfordshire cases which is currently awaiting a response from XPS. It was noted that there are also a handful of cases relating to transfers which are awaiting data from the previous Forces.

5. Risk register

It was noted that there have been no changes to the risk since the last meeting. The risk register was reviewed, and it was agreed that there would be no change to the status of the two red risks in relation to McCloud remedy. There were no new risks or issues raised.

6. Any other business

Meeting frequency – James Cook confirmed that the meeting frequency will continue on a monthly basis until September when the position will be reviewed.

XPS BAU – James Cook noted concern, highlighted through some current examples, around an increase in feedback being received from members advising that they have not received certain information from XPS. James Cook agreed to send the details directly to Graeme Hall so that these can be followed up accordingly.

Friday 23^rd August 2024, 10:00am to 11:30am via MS Teams