The Pension Fund Board of Buckinghamshire Council is scheduled to meet on Tuesday 31 March 2026 to review a range of reports concerning the management and performance of the Buckinghamshire Pension Fund. Key discussions are expected to cover the annual review of the Board, updates on governance and compliance, and detailed performance statistics for pension administration.

Annual Review of the Buckinghamshire Pension Board

The Board will consider its Annual Review for the 2025/26 period. This report, authored by Claire Lewis-Smith, Pensions Administration Manager, will provide an overview of the Board's activities throughout the year. It will detail the scheduled meetings, attendance rates of Board members, and the various training opportunities that were offered and undertaken. The report also lists the numerous items that have been discussed at Board meetings during the year, covering a wide spectrum of pension fund administration and governance topics.

Governance and Compliance Update

A significant portion of the meeting is dedicated to a Governance and Compliance Update, presented by Richard Sultana, Head of Pensions & Investments. This report aims to demonstrate the Buckinghamshire Pension Fund's adherence to both new and existing legislation. It will cover updates on the Fund's Communication Policy Statement, Data Improvement Policy & Plan, Governance Compliance Statement, Pension Administration Strategy, and compliance with The Pensions Regulator's (TPR) General Code of Practice. These documents are crucial for ensuring the Fund operates in line with the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) Regulations 2013.

'My Pension Online' and Scheme Member Communications

Updates are scheduled on the 'My Pension Online' service and broader Scheme Member and Employer Communications. Sam Price, Assistant Pensions Administration Manager, will provide an update on the registration and usage of 'My Pension Online', detailing the percentage of members registered and ongoing developments to enhance the service. Amber Davis, LGPS Technical Officer, will present a report on employer and member communications for 2026/27, outlining the various channels used, such as email, post, the Fund website, and webinars, and detailing plans for future communication initiatives.

Pension Administration Benchmarking and Performance Statistics

The Board will receive the results of an internal administration benchmarking exercise, presented by Richard Sultana. This report compares the Fund's pensions administration performance and data quality against 27 other LGPS peers, using publicly available data from Annual Reports. The findings indicate that the Fund consistently performs at a high level, ranking first overall when combining data quality and administration performance metrics. The report also identifies specific areas for improvement, such as addressing common data gaps like missing addresses, and managing resource pressures due to ongoing regulatory projects like the McCloud remedy and the Pensions Dashboards Programme.

Further details on administration performance will be provided in a separate report on Administration Performance Statistics, authored by Sam Price. This report will review the team's performance since the last meeting, covering incoming communications, workload and performance levels, and employer submissions and data reconciliation. It will detail the volume of communications received, the efficiency of case processing, and the timeliness of employer submissions.

Other Key Items

The meeting agenda also includes an update on the McCloud Judgement, which will be a verbal report from Claire Lewis-Smith. A Forward Plan will be presented, outlining future agenda items and strategic considerations for the Board. Additionally, there will be a review of Pension Fund Performance and an update on Pooling arrangements, which will be verbal reports from James Gilliland and Mark Preston respectively. The meeting will also address the exclusion of the press and public for specific items due to the likely disclosure of exempt information.