The Havering Local Pension Board is scheduled to meet on 16 December 2025 to discuss the pension administration, the pension administration strategy, and to receive feedback from recent meetings of the Pensions Committee. The board will be reviewing the performance of the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) and considering updates to the Pensions Administration Strategy. Additionally, the board will receive updates from the recent Pensions Committee meetings.

Pensions Administration Update

The board will be provided with a report reviewing the performance of the Local Pensions Partnership Administration (LPPA) against agreed service levels for July to September 2025. The report will state that overall performance against Service Level Agreements (SLAs) for the second quarter of the year is 98.7%, which exceeds the 95% target. The report will also highlight that additional reports have been provided to enable independent monitoring of completed retirement cases by the Havering Pensions Team, showing a general improvement in elapsed times. Fund officers are scheduled to continue monitoring and working with LPPA on cases identified as being outstanding for more than 6 months, focusing initially on cases that commenced prior to 1 January 2024. The report will note that there has been a reduction in the number of outstanding cases and many more are now actively being processed. The report pack includes a Quarterly Administration Report, which contains further information.

The report will also provide an update on recent developments within the LGPS regulatory environment, including a consultation launched by the MHCLG¹ on 13 October 2025, which closes on 22 December 2025. The consultation covers proposals to:

• Amend the Normal Minimum Pension Age (NMPA) from 55 to 57 from 6 April 2028, excluding ill health retirement.
• Reinstate access to the LGPS in England for councillors and mayors.
• Simplify the process for multi-academy trusts² to apply for their staff from different schools geographically to be administered in a single pension fund.
• Implement new Fair Deal protections ensuring transferred employees retain access to the LGPS.

The report will state that LPPA held a round table discussion and have shared their collective draft response that, once finalised, will be submitted on behalf of all their clients.

The report will also provide updates on:

• Fund Valuation, stating that work is ongoing between the Fund and the Actuary.
• McCloud Remedy, stating that LPPA continue to work on the review of members but has highlighted that further work is required before making retrospective payments to McCloud affected members.
• Pensions Dashboards, stating that the new connection date has been set as 15 December 2025 and no further problems have been identified during testing to date.

Pensions Administration Strategy Update

The board will receive a report providing a summary of the Quarter 2 monitoring of scheme employer and administering authority performance against the Pensions Administration Strategy (PAS). The PAS provides guidelines on the responsibilities of being a part of the LGPS for scheme employers and the administering authority, and a set of performance standards that should be met. Performance against the PAS will be reported twice yearly at Local Pension Board meetings.

The report will state that generally employers are performing well in most areas, but there are a number of areas highlighted in amber where performance is being monitored closely and an escalation to stage 1 of poor performance under the PAS may be required. Any escalations will consist of an email to the relevant employer, advising of the area of concern and offering support to resolve the issue. One employer is highlighted in red to indicate late submission of retirement leaver forms.

Feedback from Recent Meetings of the Pensions Committee

The board is scheduled to receive feedback from the recent Pensions Committee meetings held on 11 November 2025 and 09 December 2025.

Items that were scheduled to be discussed at the 11 November Pensions Committee meeting included:

• Draft Funding Strategy Statement (FSS). The Committee agreed to defer consideration of the Draft FSS to the 9 December 2025 meeting following further discussions with the Actuary.
• Investment Consultant Objectives. The Committee noted the review of the investment consultant's performance over the past year as well as the following 3 new objectives:
  • Work with officers to support a smooth transition of the remaining assets to the investment pool.
  • Support oversight of the pool following transition.
  • Help the Committee to establish clear expectations of the investment pool.
• Review of Custodian and Performance Monitoring Service. The Committee noted the review of the Custodian. The custody contract is due to expire on 30/06/2026, and officers requested permission to join the LGPS National Framework to commence procurement of a 10-year contract.
• Review of Actuarial Service. The Committee noted the review of the Actuarial Service. The LGPS National Framework for Actuarial Services is underway, with a launch anticipated in January 2026, and Havering will join the Framework once launched.
• Annual Report and compliance checklist. The Committee agreed the Annual Report which has now been sent to the Scheme Advisory Board (SAB) and uploaded to the scheme's website.
• Risk Register. The Committee reviewed the risk register and questioned officers around the risks that were assessed as amber.
• Governance Compliance Statement. The Committee agreed the Governance Compliance Statement, a statutory document which has been uploaded to the scheme's website.

Items that were scheduled to be discussed at the 9 December Pensions Committee meeting included:

• Valuation – Whole Fund Results. Following a training session held by the Actuary, the Committee noted the whole fund results, including the proposed assumptions and the prudence levels which will be set at 85% and the resulting discount rate of 5.5%.
• Draft Funding Strategy Statement. The Committee approved the Draft Funding Strategy Statement (FSS) for consultation.
• 2025 Q3 Performance Monitoring. The investment consultant presented the quarterly monitoring report, and the committee noted the performance of 5% over the quarter ending 30 September 2025.
• Task Force for Climate Related Disclosure Report. The investment consultant presented the TCFD Report which set out what the Committee have achieved in the year to 31 March 2025 and the plans for 2025/26.
• Fit for the Future – Preparations. The Government launched the LGPS: Fit for the Future – technical consultation, seeking views on 2 draft statutory instruments[^4]. [^4]: A statutory instrument (SI) is a form of secondary legislation in the UK. Officers have been working with London CIV to plan the transition of assets and finalise the Investment Management Agreement (IMA). The committee delegated authority to the Strategic Director of Resources in consultation with the Chair of the Pensions Committee to oversee the finalisation and approval of the Investment management Agreement with the London CIV and the associated asset transition plans, to comply with LGPS regulations.