Agenda item

Report of the Operational Manager from XPS Administration

The Operations Manager, Graeme Hall from XPS Administration, was in attendance and presented the Service’s Performance Delivery Report for April 2020 – March 2021. The report contained the following information:-

-        Regulations and guidance from April to November 2020

-        Headlines including additional work and complaints

-        Membership Quarter 3 2020-21

-        Common Data

-        Performance Charts from April to December 2020

The Pension Scheme Manager explained that there had been a couple of instances when people had requested their final figures prior to retirement and the documentation received from XPS Administration referred to the police pension scheme rather than fire. It was felt this this error undermined people’s confidence in the figures provided. In response, Graeme Hall advised that he would be reviewing all letter templates to ensure that this issue was resolved going forward.

The Pension Scheme Manager suggested it would be useful to include some narrative on  the Performance Charts to explain the data and highlight on the changes from the previous report.  This was agreed.  It was also requested and agreed that future reports should include year to date comparisons and a glossary of acronyms and abbreviations. 

The FBU Board Member reported that the FBU had recently been contacted by a number of retired firefighter advising that they were struggling to contact XPS Administration directly and that responses had been very slow. In response, the Pension Scheme Manager advised that this had been raised by Andy Fox-Hewitt from the FBU at JCNP and the issue had already been raised with Graeme Hall outside this meeting. She also advised that discussions were ongoing to expedite the launch of the on line portal for retirees so that they could have direct and quicker access to their information.

Following on from a detailed discussion about the avoidance of duplication between the JCNP and the Pension Board, it was agreed that the Pension Scheme Manager would provide an update at each meeting of all the pensions issues that had been raised by either the FBU or Fire Officers’ Association (FOA) at the JCNP.  This would ensure that the Pension Board were cited on any concerns relating to the delivery of the pensions contract and/or day to day administration. It was agreed that this would be a helpful agenda item for future meetings.

The Governance and Corporate Planning Manager advised that she would arrange for the Pension Scheme Manager and Graeme Hall to have a meeting within the next month to discuss arranging for the retired firefighters to have access to the Self-Service Portal.

The Chair asked that Board Members submit any technical questions on any reports to the Pension Scheme Manager prior to the meeting to ensure that a detailed response could be provided either before or at the meeting.

RESOLVED: That

[1]      the XPS Administration Cheshire Fire Service Delivery Report April to March 2021 be noted;

[2]      in future reports XPS Administration provide a narrative within the Performance Chart data and figure reporting (recent and final figure) including a glossary of acronyms/abbreviations;

[3]      the Governance and Corporate Planning Manager to arrange for the Pension Scheme Manager and Graeme Hall to meet to discuss arranging for the retired firefighters to have access to the Self-Service Portal;

[4]      a standard agenda item be included on future Pension Board agendas titled JCNP Pension Issues”  and

[5]      any technical questions that require a response at future pension board meetings should be submitted to the Pension Scheme Manager prior to the meeting so that responses can be provided at the following meeting.