At a meeting of the Newham Pensions Board, Christine Lander, Substitute Chair - UNISON, led discussions on key pension matters. The board agreed to note the action log, the pension administration report, and the performance update. Members also reviewed the proposed pension administration budget for 2025-26 and changes to the admission policy.

Employer Admissions Policy

The board discussed proposed changes to the London Borough of Newham Pension Fund Admission policy, which outlines requirements for employers to join the fund, minimising risk to the fund.

A key change involves how Transferee Admission Bodies (TABs) are admitted. TABs are organisations that take on services or assets previously held by a scheme employer, often through a contract. A common example is cleaning or catering companies winning contracts at schools and academies.

Under the proposed changes, any TAB under contract to a school or academy within Newham will be admitted on the basis of a 'default pass-through arrangement'. This means:

• The contribution rate will be the same as the rate payable by the letting authority when the admission commences.
• There will be no separate tracking of liabilities or notional assets for the admission body.
• Funding risks will be shared between the letting authority and the admission body, except for costs relating to early retirements, which are controlled by the admission body.
• While an exit valuation will be carried out when the admission ceases, no exit payment or credit will be due from or to the admission body on exit.

Other admission arrangements, such as securing a bond or guarantor, remain an option but would require approval from the Section 151 officer¹.

The board agreed that the draft admission policy would be circulated for consultation to all fund employers, including schools and academies.

Pension Administration Service Budget

The board reviewed the Pension Administration Service 2025-26 Budget report, which proposed a budget of £1.090 million, an 11.98% increase on the previous year. The rise is attributed to increased membership numbers and a higher price per member.

James Cocks, Assistant Director of Transactional People Services, OS Exchequer & Transactional Services, explained that the increase in price per member was due to several factors:

• Inflationary pressures: Wage increases averaging 3% and average contract and third-party supplier cost increases of 2.6%.
• National Insurance: The autumn budget increased employer national insurance contributions from 13.8% to 15% from April 2025.
• Service development: Increased demand on services, with case volumes and workload rising faster than membership numbers.
• Legislative and compliance requirements: Costs incurred for compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements, such as the McCloud remedy² and the pensions dashboard³.

Mr Cocks noted that the council challenges LPP on the level of increased costs, and has requested benchmarking to substantiate their performance. He added that Newham scores in the medium range within the CEM benchmarking survey⁴.

Performance Update

James Grafton, Pension Administration Officer, presented the performance update report, which focused on the period from 1 January to 31 March 2025. Key points included:

• Overall fund membership increased.
• Performance against service level agreements (SLAs) stabilised and remained above target.
• The number of completed cases increased, but so did the number of cases received.
• Helpdesk performance fluctuated, with 70% of calls answered within four minutes, down from the previous quarter.
• Satisfaction levels decreased slightly, but the number of surveys taken increased.
• The number of members registered for the online portal increased.
• Conditional data remained steady.

The April 2025 monthly report showed no complaints, and the volume of complaints per thousand members decreased, although it remained higher than the target. There was one IDRP⁵ case reported and completed. Three breaches were reported, two related to data security and one to a code of practice.

Pension Administration and Legislative Update

Jacqueline Andress, Pension, Project & Contracts Manager, provided an update on administration and legislative changes.

Regarding the McCloud remedy, the government issued final regulations effective from 1 October 2023. LPPA has started including data on McCloud additions in monthly reports. The April report showed that the underpin calculation had been run against 35 eligible Newham records, with one addition awarded at £356 per annum.

The board noted the report.

Other Business

The next meeting was scheduled for 23 September 2025, but it was agreed to find an alternative date.