This meeting will include a review of the London Borough of Hounslow Pension Fund’s administration and a discussion of the Pension Dashboard Programme. In addition the meeting pack contains the minutes of the Pension Fund Panel meeting of 4 December 2024, and some information about the implications of the Pensions Regulator’s (TPR) new General Code of Practice.

Pension Fund Administration Performance Report

The report pack for this meeting contains an analysis of the performance of the West Yorkshire Pension Fund, who administer the Hounslow Pension Fund. It notes that the targeted minimum performance level of 85% of tasks being completed within a set number of days has been met for each of the months of July, August, and September 2024. The report also notes that the McCloud Remedy¹ has impacted performance in some areas, particularly in relation to staffing. There has been a steady rise in the number of unresolved cases, and concern is expressed that the reported underspend on administration is potentially impacting service delivery. There was discussion about the difficulties WYPF were experiencing in recruiting new staff, and a request was made for WYPF to provide data on staff retention, benchmarking salaries, the frequency of recruitment drives, and the number of applications that were received for each post.

The McCloud remedy arose from a legal case about changes to judges’ pensions that were found to be discriminatory. It affects all public sector pension schemes, including the LGPS. Members who were in service on 31 March 2012 and continued in service until on or after 1 April 2015 may be entitled to additional pension benefits as a result of the remedy.

Pension Dashboard Programme (PDP)

The Pension Dashboard Regulations 2022 require occupational pension schemes, including the LGPS, to connect to the Pensions Dashboards ecosystem.² The report pack notes that this will happen by October 2025. The report pack contains a briefing note which describes the regulatory framework for the programme and explains how it will work. It explains that WYPF will be responsible for connecting the Hounslow scheme data to the Dashboard. The briefing note also states that

WYPF cannot implement multiple matching criteria policies.

It goes on to say that they will

ask all scheme managers (LGPS AA & FRAs)³ to formally accept our matching policy once confirmed by us. You may decide not to use our matching criteria, in which case we will ask you to inform WYPF of your decision.

TPR General Code of Practice (GCOP) Review

The Pensions Regulator’s (TPR) new General Code of Practice (GCOP) came into force in March 2024. The report pack contains an assessment of the implications of the GCOP for the London Borough of Hounslow Pension Fund. It states that the GCOP

sets out the expectation of the conduct and practices that governing bodies of pension schemes should meet to comply with their duties under the pensions legislation.

It notes that the assessment is being conducted in phases, using a model provided by Hymans Robertson. The report highlights the following three chapters of the GCOP in which there are still actions that need to be completed: * The Governing Body: Advisers and Service Providers * The Governing Body: Scheme Governance * Administration: Scheme Administration

The report contains an update on these actions, and the following comment from Hymans Robertson:

As previously discussed, we suggest including links to policies, documents and webpages to streamline any future review and make the audit process straightforward if the regulator (or any other external scrutineer) decides to visit. The updated version of the checker will allow this functionality.

Pension Board Monitoring Report

The meeting pack contains a monitoring report which outlines the topics that were discussed by the Pension Fund Panel at its meeting of 4 December 2024. The report notes that the Panel discussed breaches and late payment of contributions to the fund, and the impact of a cyber attack on Capita.⁴ In particular, the report pack states that

At present the payment breaches recorded do not have a material effect on the pension fund and there have been no reports to the Pensions Regulator.

Pension Board Forward Plan 2024/25 and 2025/26

This section of the meeting pack sets out the work programme for the Pension Board for the years 2024/25 and 2025/26. It notes that Councillor Ranjit Gill⁵ and the other members of the Pension Board will be required to attend a mandatory training day on 10 June 2025.

The report also includes an update on the training that members of the Pension Board have received, and notes that:

All members of the Board and Panel have completed the fundamentals training, this means that the training can be focused on Hounslow fund specific topics.