BCH Police Pension Board minutes 14 June 2024

Part 2 closed confidential. Not for publication under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and in agreement with the Meetings and Minutes Procedure agreed by the Strategic Management Board on 3 March 2009

Attendees

• James Cook (JC) - Chair - Director of Resources, Hertfordshire
• Jon Lee (JL) - Deputy Chair - CFO and Director of Resources Cambridgeshire
• Stuart Goodwin (SG) - Head of Finance, Bedfordshire
• Julia Knight (JK) - Head of BCH Pension and Payroll
• Graeme Hall (GH) - XPS outsourced BCH pension administrators
• Karen Morgan (KM) - Hertfordshire (but not a member)
• Anthony Laud (AL) - NARPO BCH representative, Cambridgeshire
• Rebecca Weston (RW) - ESO, Hertfordshire Executive Support (minutes)
• Sergeant Alan Wollaston (AW) - Police Federation BCH representative, Hertfordshire
• Rebecca Weston (RW) - ESO, Hertfordshire Executive Support (minutes)

Apologies

• ACC Genna Telfer (GT) - ACC, CPOSA representative, Cambridgeshire
• Superintendent Paul Sandwell (PS) - substitute Superintendents Association BCH representative, Cambridgeshire
• Vanessa Lynch (VL) - BCH Corporate Communications, Hertfordshire
• Afzal Chowdhury (AC) - Head of Legal Services, Hertfordshire

1.Welcome and apologies

Jon Lee welcomed attendees to the meeting and apologies were noted. It was noted that Jon Lee would be chairing today’s meeting in the absence of James Cook.

2. Approval of minutes and actions – 17 May 2024

The minutes of the previous meeting were approved. Actions were reviewed and the action tracker updated accordingly.

3. Conflict of interest – declaration and registry

No conflicts of interest were raised. 

4. Remedy update / XPS update reports

Graeme Hall signposted the XPS update report which was circulated prior to the meeting. It was noted that there has been no change to the BAU data contained within the report which will be updated at the start of the next quarter. Graeme Hall talked through the latest SLAs under McLoud remedy which were discussed and noted by the board.

In relation to lump sum payments Grame Hall talked through the context surrounding specific cases of late payments (over 14 days) across the three forces. Jon Lee raised concern, highlighted through some current examples, around the timeliness of members due to retire being provided with their final figures. Graeme Hall requested details for specific examples be provided directly to him so that these can be followed up and advised that the XPS team have been advised to work to SLA order rather than retirement date order in to speed up the process and, where the relevant information is provided in a timely manner by members, ensure they receive their options well in advance.

It was noted with regard to the attainment of key SLAs (estimates, retirements and options) that XPS’s focus is now on improving SLAs for estimates as these are behind where they would expect them to be, and it is anticipated this will start to come forward in the coming months. Graeme Hall advised that XPS are also looking at whether a member’s options can be provided at the point an estimate is requested to further speed up the process and help members make an informed choice at an earlier stage.

There was concern raised in relation to the Cambridgeshire percentages for estimates in April and May which were noted to be significantly lower than expected at only 16.67%. Graeme Hall advised that the number of overall cases in those particular months may have impacted the figures and agreed to provide this context in the report going forward.

Julia Knight provided an update on the current position with regards to data provision across each of the three forces. The following was noted:

• Bedfordshire – 10 active member cases outstanding
• Cambridgeshire – 7 active member cases outstanding
• Hertfordshire – 684 active member cases outstanding

It was noted that the team are currently on track to complete the data provision for all remaining cases by the end of June. Julia Knight advised that there has been no feedback from XPS to date around the data that has been provided to date and so the assumption is that there are no queries coming out from that. Graeme Hall advised that he will follow this up with the relevant teams to confirm the position and request that if there is feedback or further query from XPS on data provided this is requested regularly and in a timely manner.

Graeme Hall advised that the testing window is due to open next week in relation to ABS/RSS. XPS intend to schedule a full client meeting w/c 17 July to update on progress and any other issues relating to data provision.

5. Risk register

The risk register was reviewed, and Julia Knight talked through the recent updates made to risk 13 (Pension Administration) in relation to 2015 Scheme Transitional Arrangements for McCloud. It was noted that the transitional arrangements have been completed in terms of ensuring all active members are in the 2015 CARE scheme from 1 April 2022. And that this risk can now be closed. The recommendation that a new risk is raised to capture the resourcing pressures experienced by XPS and other interdependencies such as software development and guidance / decisions from HMT / HMRC was approved by the board.

Action – Julia Knight to close risk 13 (Pension Administration) in relation to 2015 Scheme Transitional Arrangements for McCloud and raise a new risk to capture the resourcing pressures experienced by XPS and other interdependencies such as software development and guidance / decisions from HMT / HMRC.

There was nothing further reported or raised.

6. Any other business

Meeting representation – James Cook raised the importance of having full representation at board meetings and requested suitable deputies are nominated by all representatives to ensure quoracy at all BCH Police Pension Board meetings going forward.

Action – James Cook to write to Federation and Superintendents Association Member representatives to request that attendance at the BCH Police Pension Board is prioritised and where that is not possible suitable deputies are nominated to ensure quoracy at all meetings going forward.

NARPO – James Cook queried whether there has been any feedback from members in relation to the timeliness of receiving compensation in relation to McCloud. Tony Laud confirmed that overall, the feedback has been positive with most members happy that this has been dealt with swiftly. Graeme Hall advised that in relation to pensioners and the immediate choice options, XPS are looking to start processing protected members cases before all others as there is still an outstanding issue with regards to the tax on unauthorised payments, on the lump sums.

Claims linked to McCloud – Jon Lee advised that Cambs have recently received a new batch of Employment Tribunal claims linked to McCloud. Cambs are requesting that these are stayed alongside the Leigh Day and Pennington claims. Karen Morgan advised that there have been no similar claims received for Bedfordshire or Hertfordshire and it is unknown what has driven this new batch of claims within Cambridgeshire however it is unlikely they will be accepted by the Employment Tribunal at this late stage. It was suggested that legal advice would need to be taken to confirm the position.

Scheme Sanction Charge – Stuart Goodwin advised that a query had been raised in relation to whether Scheme Sanction Charge payments should be treated as taxable income and confirmed the advice being given to those affected is that the main payment shouldn’t be because it wouldn't have been taxed in the first place, but the interest payment should be.

Benefits Appeal – James Cook updated the board on a recent appeal received in Hertfordshire from a pensioner in receipt of benefits, challenging the Scheme Manager around what they perceive to be discriminatory elements of the original scheme which doesn’t allow widows and widowers benefits to go to a cohabitee or civil partner in the same way that the latter two schemes do. James Cook advised that the force is currently taking a view on this. Karen Morgan advised that this is something the Home Office has previously been challenged on however has never resulted in any changes, and suggested taking advice from the NPCC pensions lead Clair Alcock on this matter so that it can be addressed back to the Home Office centrally on behalf of all forces.

Meeting Frequency – it was agreed that the BCH Police Pension board meetings will continue to take place on a monthly basis given the level of remedy work that is still required to take place, and position will be reviewed again at the September meeting.

Date of next meeting: Friday 12 July 2024, 1pm to 2.30pm via MS Teams