The Newham Pensions Board met on Tuesday 24 June 2025 to discuss the pension fund's administration, performance, budget, and employer admissions. Key decisions included the approval of the 2025-26 budget and proposed changes to the employer admission policy.

Pensions Administration and Legislative Update

Jacqueline Andress, Pension, Project & Contracts Manager, presented an update on the administration of the Newham Pension Fund and recent legislative changes. The Board noted that the Pensions Regulator's new code of practice is still awaiting a compliance report from the fund's actuary, Barnett Waddingham. Discussions also covered the McCloud remedy, which requires recalculations to address age discrimination in pension schemes, and the ongoing work by the fund's administrators, LPPA, to identify members entitled to additional pension payments. The upcoming Pensions Dashboard, a government initiative to allow individuals to view all their pension pots online, was also discussed, with LPPA on track to meet the October 2025 connection deadline. The Board noted that a consultation has been launched on new regulations to amend the pension scheme, including equalising survivor benefits and removing the age limit for death grants. The triennial valuation process was also mentioned, with efforts underway to ensure data accuracy.

Performance Update

James Grafton, Pension Administration Officer, provided a performance update for the period of January to March 2025. The overall membership of the fund increased, and performance against Service Level Agreements (SLAs) remained stable and above target at 98.9%. While the number of cases completed by LPPA decreased slightly, the number of cases received also saw a reduction. Helpdesk performance fluctuated, with 70% of calls answered within four minutes, an improvement from January but a decrease from the previous quarter. Customer satisfaction levels averaged 84.8% in March 2025, a slight increase from earlier in the quarter, though the overall quarterly average satisfaction was down by 0.9%. The number of members registered on the online portal continued to grow, reaching 6,354 by the end of the quarter. In April 2025, there were no complaints and a decrease in the volume of complaints per thousand members. However, three breaches were reported: two related to data security and one to the code of practice. The Board agreed to note the performance data.

Pension Administration Service 2025-26 Budget Report

James Cocks, Assistant Director of Transactional People Services, presented the proposed budget for the 2025-26 pension administration service. The budget is set at £1.09 million, representing a 12% increase on the previous year. This increase is attributed to rising membership numbers, inflationary pressures, and changes in National Insurance contributions. The report highlighted the increasing volume and complexity of queries and cases handled by LPPA, as well as ongoing legislative changes such as the McCloud recalculations and the implementation of the Pensions Dashboard. Despite the significant increase, the recommendation was to approve the budget, with the council having challenged LPPA on their costs and sought benchmarking data. The Board agreed to approve the recommendations for the budget.

Employer Update Report

James Cocks also presented an update on employer admissions into the fund. The report detailed proposed changes to the Newham Pension Fund's Admission Policy, aiming to streamline the process for academies by introducing a pass-through arrangement. This approach would allow letting authorities, such as schools, to share risk with employers, making it easier for academies to tender for contracts. The revised policy would favour this deferred pass-through arrangement, although traditional bonding and guarantor routes would still be available with Section 151 approval. The Board was informed that the admission policy update would be subject to consultation with schools and employers, with provisional approval sought from the committee in the following month. The report also noted that progress on employer admissions had been slow, with only one admission cleared since the last report. However, efforts to encourage completion through strongly worded letters and exploring alternative admission routes were showing some momentum. The Board agreed to the recommendations and items presented in the report.

Next Meeting Date

The date for the next meeting was to be confirmed, as the originally scheduled date of 23 September 2025 clashed with a member's annual leave. Christine Lander agreed to find an alternative date and circulate a proposal.