14 March 2025

Kent Police Pension Board

Introduction and apologies

Attendees

Apologies

1. Conflict of interest

No conflicts of interest declared.

2. Previous minutes

Previous minutes approved.

3. Actions and updates

• Action 02/24: The wage type has been correctly changed in SAP so that the wage type was pensionable from 1 July 2007. Those who had claimed overtime through Business Services would have had it done manually but those claiming this way had been given pensionable overtime. Discharged.
• Action 03/24: The Declaration of Interest and Completion Forms Risks Actions have been distributed. Discharged.
• Action 05/24: Declaration of AOB and Apologies section to be added to future Agendas. Discharged.
• Action 06/24: Formal process to be written off and signed off, then to be circulated outside of meeting. Terms of Reference to be reviewed and updated with a clearly defined appointment process included. Nomination form has been completed. Discharged
• Action 07/24: Work has been done with other forces to obtain the guard data including facilitated meetings, particularly with the Met, to streamline the process. The overarching problems have been resolved but this will continue to be monitored. Discharged.

Full updates provided on Action Log.

4. Scheme manager appointments

No new appointments.

5. Breaches of law procedure

No new material breaches.

6. XPS SLA performance

• Membership- KS reported that membership is consistent. Kent is tracking above average uptake on the self-service platform compared to this nationally. People need to continue to be encouraged to utilise the online tools. Work is being done to allow people to do their own estimates online and this should be completed shortly. A FAQ document is being devised to find out what the exclusions might be.
• BAU performance- There has been sustained improvement in SLA performance over last two quarters, including improvements in lump sum payments, with a majority being paid on the date of retirement. The volume of complaints is low. Any complaints are related to transfers.
  • 01/25 Action – KS to see if there is an underlying issue with the transferring procedure that is causing a delay, thus generating complaints.
• Scheme and legislative – XPS are participating in the Police Pensions Dashboard working group and have produced a Dashboard Readiness Report showing the forecast position in terms of data readiness and next steps between now and the launch in October. A presentation will be made next meeting. Common data scores are strong but scheme specific data needs some investigation so KS is currently working on this and will report back to the next board.
• McLeod- All data is available, and it is hoped that all of the statements will be issued by the end of the month legislative guideline, other than for those in Kent Police with a pension sharing order, as guidance from Guard is pending.

7. Remedy

Kent Police are in strong position with an ambition to get everything cleared in the next month. KS highlighted the good effort of all involved in Kent Police’s Pensions Team and DP praised both XPS and the Payroll and Pensions Team for their effort in this monumental task, as Kent is in a very positive position compared to other forces and public sector institutions. Member uptake of the My Pension Dashboard is high.

Action 02/2025- Kevin Shiels to investigate the data quality as the pass rate appears low.

8. Public Services Pension Act 2013 section 249B Internal Controls Framework. -Admin

• KK will add data to KS’s presentation when that is disseminated to the meeting attendees.
• There is good data quality of 98% receiving a report, although JC is concentrating on getting this to 100%. KS has made a template to contact members who haven’t received a report yet, which he will share.

9. Governance generic risk assessment

Nothing to report.

10. Pension opt-out data

• Data received was very positive. PS would like to present some roadshows where colleagues are encouraged to opt in to the pension.
• HRy has been in contact with KPC to see if they can speak to new recruits to encourage them to opt into the pension scheme, as younger employees probably do not understand the benefits of the scheme. HRy and KS will discuss how XPS could support this.
• The Money Guided App will be going live in the next six weeks which could encourage younger people to be involved in a pension. Pension affordability could be an issue for people aged 27-35 who have other responsibilities.
• JC suggested a range of pension options, that people can switch between depending on their situation, could solve this problem.

11. Any other business

The Police Federation has received correspondence regarding the Brewster Judgement about whether cohabiting partners have to submit a partner declaration under the scheme. DP sought assurance that a cohabiting partner declaration is not required for a survivor’s pension. KS confirmed that no declaration is required but they will require proof of cohabitation.

Summary of actions and decisions

• 01/25 Action – KS will investigate whether there is an underlying issue with the transferring procedure that is causing a delay, thus generating complaints.
• Action 02/2025- KS to investigate the data quality, as the pass rate appears low.

Date of next meeting

30 July 10am to 12 midday.