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Summary
The Shropshire Council Pensions Board met on 23 May 2025 to discuss administration and regulatory updates, reports from the Pensions Committee, and an economic update. The board was also scheduled to discuss the minutes from the previous meeting and exempt minutes, as well as reports and feedback from the Pensions Committee.
Administration and Regulatory Updates
The Pensions Board was scheduled to receive an update on administration and regulatory matters affecting the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS).
The report pack included details of team workloads, performance, and ongoing projects. It also contained information on regulatory changes affecting the LGPS.
Appendix A of the report pack contained the key performance indicators (KPIs) for the Membership and Benefits team from 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025. According to the report pack, 12 of the 16 KPIs were achieving at least 95% of cases being completed within the legal timeframes.
The report pack stated that the team had been working to develop more automated processes, including a bulk process for refund cases and simple deferred benefits cases for members who only have CARE1 membership.
The report pack also included statistics on the work undertaken by the helpdesk team:
- Telephone calls received to helpdesk team
- Percentage of calls answered
- Emails received
- Percentage of emails responded to within 10 working days
- My Pension Online activation keys issued
- Incoming post received and indexed to the pensions administration system
- 1-2-1 video appointments held with scheme members
- Users visiting the website
According to the report pack, the team had been looking at developing a contact form for members to complete when they have a query for the team, as members often do not provide all the information required to answer their query.
The report pack stated that approximately 50% of the total membership were registered for MSS2, and that targeted emails were being sent to members who were not yet registered, to encourage them to use the online platform.
The report pack also included information about employer performance, including the percentage of employers who have made payments by the deadline for the year 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025.
The report pack provided an update on projects, including:
- Pensions Increase
- Year End
- Valuation
- Pension Dashboards
According to the report pack, the team had been working with Heywood Pension Technologies to implement the Integrated Service Provider (ISP) for Pension Dashboards3. The team were also working on a data matching exercise for members who hold added voluntary contribution (AVC) accounts with Prudential, and Utmost.
The report pack also included regulatory updates, including:
- HMRC consultation on Inheritance tax on pensions
- Appointment of Torsten Bell MP as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Pensions)
- Government Actuary’s Department (GAD) blog on the future of pensions administration
- The Neonatal Care Leave and Pay (Consequential Amendments to Subordinate Legislation) Regulations 2025
- Normal Minimum Pension Age (NMPA) 2028 increase
- Consultation mid- valuation employer contribution rates
The report pack also provided an update from the Scheme Advisory Board (SAB), including:
- Publication of the Government’s English Devolution White Paper
- Nigel Giffin KC’s updated opinion on the fiduciary duty in LGPS
- Letter from Cllr Roger Phillips to chief financial officers and pension committee chairs at administering authorities
- Cllr Roger Phillips' letter to the new Pensions Minister Torsten Bell
Pensions Committee Reports and Feedback
The Pensions Board was scheduled to discuss reports considered by the Pensions Committee at its meetings on 6 December 2024 and 21 March 2025.
Economic Update
The Pensions Board was scheduled to receive an economic update.
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CARE stands for Career Average Revalued Earnings. It is a type of pension scheme where the benefits are based on the average salary earned over the course of a career, revalued to take account of inflation. ↩
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The report pack does not state what MSS stands for. ↩
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Pension dashboards are an online tool that allow individuals to view all of their pension information in one place. The dashboards are being developed by the government and the pensions industry, and are expected to launch in 2026. ↩
Attendees
Topics
No topics have been identified for this meeting yet.