The Pension Fund Committee of Kent Council met on Tuesday 29 September 2026. The meeting included updates on the committee's work programme and action log, the Pension Board, and service delivery. Key discussions also covered fund governance, employer governance matters, and the annual report and accounts for 2025-2026.

Committee Work Plan and Action Log

The committee reviewed its work plan for the upcoming meetings, which includes a focus on responsible investment during a strategy away day in February. The action log was also discussed, with most items marked as complete. Ongoing actions relate to Local Government Reorganisation (LGR), Oracle system changes, and asset pooling. Councillor Ellis raised concerns about the Oracle system's implications for the pension fund, particularly regarding data security and its integration with HR and payroll in Phase 2. Brendan Arnold, leading the Oracle project, assured the committee that the ledger system is operating successfully and that the pension service uses its own administration tools. He confirmed that Oracle is not new to the council and that Phase 2, including HR and payroll, is on track for July 2027. Nick Buckland, Head of Pensions and Treasury, added that the pension fund team is engaging with Phase 2 to ensure assurances around payroll work, noting limited but existing interaction between the two systems.

Update from the Pension Board

An update was provided on the Pension Board's meeting on 3 September. The Board discussed similar items to the committee, with a deeper dive into pension service delivery issues. Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) was a significant topic before the government's announcement of a pause and review, with the Board expressing support for the ongoing work. Assurance was given that the Board was comfortable with the committee and fund's direction. Claire Chambers, Head of Pensions Service Delivery, provided reassurance regarding Oracle Cloud for Councillor Ellis, explaining that work had begun to ensure the iConnect file is built within the new system to avoid data gaps.

Pensions Service Delivery Update

Claire Chambers presented a comprehensive update on the Pensions Service Delivery team's performance. The team has rebranded from administration to service delivery to better reflect the complexity of their work. Despite significant operational challenges, including the McLeod implementation, regulatory changes, resource pressures, and aggregation process blackouts, customer service standards remained high, with 99% customer satisfaction in June. Key achievements included strong performance in estimates and divorce processing, and 100% performance for new starter processing following automation improvements. Retirement processing and transfer activity also showed marked improvement. The aggregation blackout, which commenced on 9 February, was identified as the most significant challenge affecting performance. A backlog reduction program is progressing, with an external support team assisting in clearing historic workloads. The McLeod remedy implementation was successfully delivered, involving uploading historic employer data, identifying eligible members, and completing guarantee amount calculations. Regulatory changes regarding access and fairness have been met, with ongoing projects including the equalization of survivor benefits and the removal of the death grant cap, both with deadlines of January 2028. Actuarial factor changes, resulting from updates to the discount rate, have disrupted processing across multiple work areas. Engagement and digital services have been strengthened, with over 41,000 website visits and successful member and employer webinars. Annual benefit statements were issued before the statutory deadline. Preparatory work for the pensions