The agenda for this meeting of Barnet Council's Local Pension Board included updates on the administration and performance of the London Borough of Barnet Pension Fund. This included updates from the fund's external auditors, Grant Thornton, an update on the fund's risk registers, progress on the data improvement plan and the 'historical leaver exercise' being conducted by West Yorkshire Pension Fund.¹

Annual Accounts and External Audit Update

This report provided an update on the status of outstanding audits of the Pension Fund for the financial years 2020/21, 2021/22 and 2022/23. The report also included an update on the audit for the current financial year, 2023/24. Grant Thornton, the external auditors appointed for the 2023/24 audit year, were scheduled to attend the meeting to present their Indicative Findings Report and answer questions.

The report also noted that an issue had been identified regarding the way that Barnet Council's employer contributions had been paid between 2020/21 and 2022/23. In 2020/21 a prepayment of £20.477m was made, intended to cover employer contributions to the pension fund for the period 2020-2023. Over the following 2 financial years, employer contributions were paid as normal, and the Council reimbursed itself with fixed amounts from the pension fund. Legal advice was to be sought on the way that these reimbursements had been authorised, and also on what to do with the overpayment for 2022/23, which has not been reimbursed.

Pension Fund Risk Registers

The two risk registers that were scheduled to be reviewed were the Pensions Administration Risk Register and the Non-Administration Risk Register. The report noted that there had been no updates to the risk velocity of any of the risks on either register since the last meeting. The risk that Signatory Lists are not up to date or are vulnerable to fraud was noted to have increased, however the report said that this was because officers were working to get new signatories in place.

The report mentioned a project team had been established to streamline the contribution reconciliation process. The Pension Fund's auditors, Grant Thornton, were also noted to have been asked to review the risk of the Employer unable to pay contributions.

Data Improvement Plan and Historical Leavers

The report noted that progress had been made on correcting historical member data. West Yorkshire Pension Fund were scheduled to complete their Annual Certificate of Existence for 2024, and were scheduled to work with tracing agencies to help them do this. The report mentioned that 291 certificates had been returned, out of 316 that had been issued.

Decisions made by the Pension Fund Committee

The report noted that the minutes of the previous Pension Fund Committee meeting on 29 July 2024 had been published. This included a request by Enfield Pensions Fund for the transfer of assets into the Barnet Fund. This transfer was requested because of the merger of Barnet and Southgate College in 2011.²

Administration Performance Report and Update on Other Administration and Legislative Matters

This report covered the performance of West Yorkshire Pension Fund in administering the Barnet Pension Fund. The report included details of a data breach that had occurred, in which a scheme member was mistakenly sent personal information about another scheme member. The report noted that this information did not contain any financial details and that no further action would be taken. The report also noted that in September West Yorkshire Pension Fund had processed 977 cases, completing 88.5% within the agreed KPI targets.

Local Pension Board - Annual Report 2023/24

The annual report of the Local Pension Board was scheduled to be reviewed. The report includes a forward work plan for 2024/25, and an update on the Board's work.

Knowledge and understanding

The Board were scheduled to be reminded of their requirement to keep abreast of legislation and regulations. The report noted that £25,000 had been allocated to improve member engagement and communications, and this would be used to refresh the Pension Fund's website.

Committee Work programme

The Board were scheduled to note the work programme for 2024/25.