The Hertfordshire Fire Pension Board met on Thursday, 16 October 2025, to discuss performance reports, age discrimination remedies, and the fund's risk register. Key decisions included noting the progress on the McCloud and Matthews projects, acknowledging the challenges in customer satisfaction reporting, and reviewing the updated risk register which identified two risks exceeding the tolerated threshold.

LPPA Performance Report

Chris Bats, a client relationship manager from LPPA, presented the Q1 2025/26 performance report. Overall casework performance was 98%, exceeding the 95% target. However, active retirement performance was at 83.3%, impacted by two complex McCloud cases. The average wait time for the contact centre was 2 minutes and 57 seconds, within the four-minute target. Customer satisfaction scores for the contact centre were 57.1%, a drop attributed to the nature of queries, particularly those related to the McCloud remedy. Survey response rates for active and deferred retirements were notably low, with no responses received in Q1.

The PensionPoint portal, a secure online platform for members, has over 1,100 registrations, representing more than 50% of the membership. Logins showed a spike in Q1, particularly in April, coinciding with McCloud-related activity.

Regarding benefit statements, 96.9% were issued by the statutory deadline of 31 August, with 98.2% for active members and 95.2% for deferred members. A small number of complex cases remain outstanding.

A significant point of discussion was the delay in connecting to the Pensions Dashboard ecosystem, with the 31 October deadline not being met. This was due to issues with the scope of a penetration test and IT health check, rather than technical failings. The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has confirmed this is not a breach, provided communication is maintained.

John Boulter, an employer representative, expressed disappointment with the survey results and questioned if Hertfordshire was an outlier. Chris Bats confirmed that low response rates are consistent across other clients, with local authority schemes averaging around 30% return rates, which is considered reasonable by CEM Benchmarking.

Councillor Richard Shaw, county councillor for North Watford and an employee representative, acknowledged the transparency regarding McCloud payments and the proactive complaints board. He also highlighted concerns about worsening customer satisfaction data, escalating delays with the McCloud remedy, and the timeliness of reporting to the board.

Age Discrimination and Remedy

Rachel Wilson, who works in the HR Pay and Reward Team and has employer responsibilities for the Fire Pension Scheme, provided an update on the McCloud age discrimination remedy. For active retirements since October 2023, all 27 cases have been paid on time. Contingent decision claims, specifically regarding opt-outs, have seen four requests approved.

Regarding Annual Benefit Statements (ABS), 96.9% were produced by the 31 August deadline. Of the 47 Immediate Choice Remedial Service Statements (IC-RSS) initially outstanding, 12 have since been issued, leaving 35. These remaining cases are complex, involving intricate guidance or requiring software fixes. Revised timescales from LPPA indicate completion by March 2026 for some cases, with a hope for earlier resolution.

A key issue is the payment of additional money to pensioners who have elected to revise their benefits to the 1992 scheme. While initial payment dates were July, then September to November, further updates indicate that two payments were made in the September payroll run, with more expected. The majority of payments are anticipated to be made by the end of the year, with some potentially received in December due to payroll cut-offs. Alex Woodman, Chief Fire Officer, had formally written to the Chief Executive of LPPA to express concerns about these delays.

Second Options Exercise for Retained Firefighters

Rachel Wilson also reported on the Matthews second options exercise for retained firefighters, which allows them to buy back pensionable service. The project has been ongoing for 18 months, and most cases have been processed. A few members remain untraceable, despite the use of tracing companies. The majority of quotes have been issued, with a few outstanding manual calculations. Over two-thirds of payments have been made, with the remaining 22 expected to be paid by the end of the year. New legislation is anticipated, which will allow for the buy-back of non-continuous service and conversion of standard to special service, extending the exercise for another 12 months.

Pension Fund Risk Register Report

Alison, Lead Governance Officer for the Hertfordshire Pension Fund, presented the Pension Fund Risk Register Report. Following the approval of an updated risk policy, the risk register has been revised to align with The Pensions Regulator's (TPR) General Code of Practice. Two risks are currently exceeding the tolerated threshold: B3 (Conflicts of Interest), due to committee and board changes following local elections, and E1 (Poor Administration), linked to delays in implementing regulatory changes, specifically the McCloud remedy deadline. The risk and tolerance ratings for E4 (Data Sharing) and E5 (Cyber Security) are also being reviewed and will be increased.

Future Meetings

The Board noted that the date for the next meeting is 24 April 2026 at 10 am. There was a discussion about increasing the frequency of meetings from bi-annually to quarterly to ensure more regular updates.

The meeting also included the confirmation of the minutes from the previous meeting held on 27 June 2025.