The meeting of Tower Hamlets Council's Pension Board scheduled for 03 March 2025 contains a report on the day to day running of the Tower Hamlets Pension Fund. This includes a report on how well staff are meeting performance targets, the employers who pay into the scheme, and potential new members. The meeting will also include consideration of the risks associated with running the fund.

Scheme Administration

The Pension Administration Report for December 2024 is scheduled to be included in the meeting. It notes that:

The administration of the Scheme is carried out in-house by the pensions team. It involves maintenance of accurate Scheme records to enable Scheme benefits to be calculated correctly, effective processing of members joining and leaving the Scheme, and employer-related issues including new employer admissions and cessations. ¹

It is scheduled to report that as of December 2024 there were 26,829 people in the scheme, of whom 7,547 are current pensioners.

The report is scheduled to list the following organisations as 'Admitted Bodies' in the scheme, meaning that they are employers who are allowed to offer membership of the Tower Hamlets pension fund to their staff:

• Age UK East London
• Atlantic Cleaning Services
• Compass Contract Services Limited
• East End Homes
• Juniper Cleaning St Saviours
• Mediquip
• Nourish Catering
• Olive Dining
• Purgo Supplies Services Ltd
• Ridgecrest
• East London Arts & Music
• Swan Housing Association
• Tower Hamlets Community Housing Limited (THCH)
• Vibrance (formerly Redbridge Community Housing Limited)
• Wettons Cleaning Limited

The report is scheduled to note the ongoing work to improve the quality of the scheme data, which is being carried out by a company called Lumera. The report is also scheduled to include an update on the scheme's compliance with the legal requirement to provide pensions dashboards, the introduction of the 'Engage' system being provided by Heywood, the annual increase in pensions, and the McCloud judgement²

Scheme Engagement and Communications

The Scheme Engagement and Communications report is scheduled to provide an update on how the council engages with its employees and those of the Admitted Bodies about the pension scheme. The report is scheduled to include an update on the information forum held in January 2025, which was attended by around 200 people on each of the two days it was held.

The report is scheduled to provide details of the agenda for the Pension Fund Employers Forum scheduled for October 2025. The draft agenda for that meeting includes items on:

• The Local Government Pension Scheme
• Tower Hamlets Pension Fund
• The Pension Fund Annual Report and Accounts 2023-24
• Employer Responsibilities
• 2025 Triennial Actuarial Valuation Results
• Member Self-Serve (MSS)

The draft agenda also includes workshops on:

• Auto Enrolment
• Dashboard
• Responsible Investment and Stewardship
• McCloud

Pension Fund Risk Register

The Pension Fund Risk Register is scheduled to be included for discussion. The report sets out the risks faced by the pension fund, and the actions being taken to mitigate them. The report notes three risks that are of particular concern because their impact and likelihood is assessed as 'severe':

• The risk of historical errors in the pension scheme data
• The risk of employers not fulfilling their responsibilities
• The risk of failing to properly comply with the McCloud judgement

In relation to the risk of historical errors in the pension scheme data, the report notes that:

As reported in the last meeting, ITM, a reputable firm experienced in pensions data investigations has performed a review of the Pension Scheme membership data. They have now issued their final report which has revealed that there are much fewer gaps in the data than previously thought. Officers are now taking steps to act on the findings of the report. ITM have been commissioned to provide data audit and rectification. Project is due to commence in late February 2025 and will be carried out over a seven-month period. ³