BCH Police Pension Board minutes 19 June 2023

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 Not for publication under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and in agreement with the Meetings and Minutes Procedure agreed by the Strategic Management Board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

• Stuart Goodwin (SG) – Chair - Head of Finance, Bedfordshire
• James Cook (JC) - Deputy chair - Director of Resources, Hertfordshire
• Laura Watts (LW) - BCH Pensions and Payroll
• Superintendent Paul Sandwell (PS) - substitute Superintendents Association BCH representative, Cambridgeshire
• Sergeant Alan Wollaston (AW) - Police Federation BCH representative, Hertfordshire
• Karen Morgan (KM) - Hertfordshire (but not a member)
• Graeme Hall (GH) - XPS outsourced BCH pension administrators
• Anthony Laud (AL) - NARPO BCH representative, Cambridgeshire
• Rebecca Weston (RW) - ESO, Hertfordshire Executive Support (minutes)

Apologies

• ACC Genna Telfer (GT) - CPOSA representative, Cambridgeshire
• Jackie Ingle (JI) - Head of BCH Pension and Payroll
• Afzal Chowdhury (AC) - Head of Legal Services, Hertfordshire
• Vanessa Lynch (VL) - BCH Corporate Communications, Hertfordshire

1.Welcome and apologies

SG welcomed attendees to the meeting and apologies were noted.

2. Approval of minutes and actions – 6 March 2023

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

• The position continues to be stable for forces in relation to McCloud and work remains on track in BCH ahead of remedy implementation.

• The BCH Pension Challenge Board last met on 8 June. The following updates from this meeting were noted:

  • Key timetable of milestones – the retrospective consultation has now closed, and the response is expected to be received in the summer. The next key date is 1 October when remedy should be in place. In order for that to happen, secondary legislation is required, and those regulations are expected to be available from September
  • XPS update - the next steps that need to be taken for remedy implementation by XPS involve the checking of data templates and data sharing, uploading of information to the new McLeod data view on the outer test system, collating the results of IH assessments and updating of BAU documents and processes.
    • GT updated on the current timetable with regards to calculations and getting this information out to members, noting the current delay to the development of the Altair system.

5. GMP reconciliation report

Following the update at the last meeting where it was confirmed that the information from HMRC is now available and XPS have purchased new software which will enable this to be progressed quickly, GH advised that the relevant project team are working on a full report in relation to the next stage of GMP reconciliation and rectification.

Action – GH to chase the project report in relation to GMP reconciliation and rectification for sharing with BCH Police Pension Board members.

6. XPS update report

 NB talked through the XPS update report. The following was noted:

• Memberships have increased this quarter across all three forces. Noting officer uplift, it was agreed it would be beneficial to include an update on what % of new starters join the pension scheme.

Action – GH to arrange for data on the % of new starters joining the pension scheme to be included in the update report going forward.

• Re-opening pensions – it is anticipated that the McCloud remedy work will help progress home office guidance on this matter.

• Contact Centre call rates – it was noted that XPS are looking to move away from the generic contact number from 1 October and have been encouraging forces to use their individual force lines which have now been implanted.

7. Ill health protections 

SG/KM updated the group on the work being undertaken across BCH, following the outcome of an employee tribunal where the Home Office conceded that Regulation 36 was discriminatory, and they will be consulting on its removal. It was noted that this work is progressing well with individuals affected being contacted and updated as required.

8. Risk register

The risk register was reviewed it was noted that there has been no change to the red rated risk (13) in relation to transitional arrangements for McCloud. There were no new risks or issues raised.

9. Any other business

There was nothing further raised.

Date of next meeting: Monday 18 September 2023, 10.30am to 12pm via MS Teams