The Director, West Yorkshire Pension Fund, will present a report

(Document “A”) which 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 (the Act) imposes a requirement to report a matter to The Pensions Regulator as soon as it 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 the Pensions Code of Practice is maintained in accordance with the WYPF Breaches Procedure.  The Register of Breaches 2021/22 is appended to Document “A”.

Recommended –

That the report and entries on the Register of Breaches of Law, contained in the appendix to Document “A”, be noted. 

(Caroline Blackburn – 01274 434523

The Director, West Yorkshire Pension Fund, presented a report

(Document “A”) which informed 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 (TPR).

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

·         A legal duty relating to the administration of the scheme had not been or was not being complied with, and

·         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 the Pensions Code of Practice was maintained in accordance with the WYPF Breaches Procedure.  The Register of Breaches 2021/22 was appended to Document “A”.

Members were advised that in addition to the register being a requirement of the TPR it also allowed the fund to determine trends and reduce future risks.

The entries on the Register of Breaches for 2021/2022 related to:

·         Delays with Prudential updating members’ accounts with contributions, which had also delayed the payment of some retirement benefits. That breach had previously been considered to be of material significance due to the number of members involved and the continuing and prolonged rectification of this issue. As a result, the issue had been reported to the Pensions Regulator.

·         Contributions being paid late by employers and therefore not being received by the fund until after the Pension regulators deadline of the 21^st day of the following month.

·         An outgoing Transfer Value which was paid after the 3 month guarantee date.

·         The non-issue of Annual Benefit Statements by the 31 August 2021 for a small number of active members.

In response to those breaches it was explained that the issue with Prudential had been resolved but was still closely monitored.

There had been only one late payment of contributions made and the strict deadline had been breached by two days.

Annual Benefit Statements had been despatched by 31 August 2021 for 99.9% of members but that very small breach must still be recorded.

All four breaches had been assessed as not of material significance and had not been to the TPR.

Members were asked to note a late payment in October 2021 which it was thought was due to an administration error and believed to have been resolved.  Assurances were provided that all payments would be made before or within seven days of the payment date.

In response to a Member’s question it was explained that only breaches which were deemed to be of material significance were required to be reported to TPR.  Those breaches were likely to be if there were repeat offences or if the employers were not engaging with the fund and they were closely monitored.   

It was explained that employers were charged for late payments and the vast majority paid on time.  The fund had seen a high employer staff turnover throughout the pandemic and support was provided.

Members were assured that all benefits would be paid correctly to members even if their contributions had not been received.

Resolved –

That the report and entries on the Register of Breaches of Law, contained in the appendix to Document “A”, be noted. 

Action: Director, West Yorkshire Pension Fund