The report of the Director, West Yorkshire Pension Fund (Document “AC”) informs Members that, in accordance with the Public Service Pensions Act 2013 from April 2015 all Public Service Pension Schemes now come under the remit of The Pensions Regulator.

Section 70 of the Pensions Act 2004 imposes a requirement to report a matter to The Pensions Regulator as soon as is reasonably practicable where that person has reasonable cause to believe that:

(a)   a legal duty relating to the administration of the scheme has not been or is not being complied with, and

(b)   the failure to comply is likely to be of material significance to The Pensions Regulator in the exercise of any of its functions.

A register of any Breaches of Law is maintained in accordance with West Yorkshire Pension Fund (WYPF) Breaches procedure.  The Register of Breaches since April 2018 is appended to Document “AC”.

Recommended –

That the report and entries on the Register of Breaches of Law, as contained in Document “AC” be noted.

(Caroline Blackburn – 0124 434523)

Resolved –

That the report and entries on the Register of Breaches of Law, as contained in Document “AC” be noted.

ACTION:       Director, West Yorkshire Pension Fund

The report of the Director, West Yorkshire Pension Fund (Document “AC”) reminded Members that, in accordance with the Public Service Pensions Act 2013 from April 2015 all Public Service Pension Schemes now came under the remit of The Pensions Regulator.

Section 70 of the Pensions Act 2004 imposed a requirement to report a matter to The Pensions Regulator as soon as was reasonably practicable where that person had reasonable cause to believe that:

(a)   a legal duty relating to the administration of the scheme had not been or was not being complied with, and

(b)   the failure to comply was likely to be of material significance to The Pensions Regulator in the exercise of any of its functions.

A register of any Breaches of Law was maintained in accordance with West Yorkshire Pension Fund (WYPF) Breaches procedure.  The Register of Breaches since April 2018 was appended to Document “AC”.

It was explained that the entries on the Register of Breaches for 2018/19 related to either late payment of employer contributions or the non-issue of Annual Benefit Statements (ABS).

All entries, apart from one which had been reported to The Pensions Regulator (TPR), were not considered to be of material significance and had therefore not been reported to TPR.

Details of the employer reported to TPR were discussed.  It was explained that despite numerous attempts by the Fund to contact that employer contributions were outstanding for a number of months. The fund had taken the decision to notify TPR and a copy of that notification was appended to Document “AC”. It was felt the breach was of material significance.

Members were assured that since 13 September 2018 the employer had paid all outstanding contributions to the Fund for all three contracts, details of which were contained in Appendix A to the report. In addition all contributions due from November onwards had been received in full on time.

The Fund had charged the employer for the costs involved in receiving the contributions late and those costs amounted to £652.80. 

In response to questions Members were assured that members’ benefits would not be affected and that WYPF would continue to monitor the situation and would report to Members if required.

Resolved –

That the report and entries on the Register of Breaches of Law, as contained in Document “AC” be noted.

ACTION:       Director, West Yorkshire Pension Fund