Agenda item

Consider report by Director – People, Performance and Change. (Copy attached.)

With reference to paragraph 4 of the Minute of the meeting held on 12 September 2019 there had been circulated copies of a report by the Director – People, Performance and Change which sought approval to delegate the responsibility for the procurement of the Data Cleansing and Enrichment Service, Internet Service Provider (ISP) and Altair Mortality screening, as a supplement to the existing Pensions Administration System, for the Scottish Borders Council Pension Fund to the Director People Performance and Change.  The report explained that in 2019 the Pension Fund agreed to the procurement and continued use of the Aquila Heywood (now known as Heywood Technologies) Pensions Administration System for a period of five years with the option to extend for a further five-year period on the approval of the Joint Committee and Board.  All pension providers were going to need to connect to the Pensions Dashboard over time according to staging dates in legislation, the dates for this were currently unknown as there has been a delay announced and re-planning had not yet been shared. However, action needed to be taken for the Fund to be prepared for this on both a data and ISP provider selection. To take that forward it was proposed that action was taken using Heywood Technologies.   Officers had been in discussion with Heywood Technologies over the pricing of additional services to support the data readiness and ongoing data management.  The additional cost for the data services was £8,345 per annum with a one-off implementation fee off £1,697, with the annual fee being subject to indexation in line with the overall contract.  That would allow the Fund to get its data up to date ahead of the go live of the Pension Dashboard which would improve the matching for those carrying out searches and avoid unnecessary additional work for the Fund in looking at partial matches.  Additionally, it would address an action from the Clare Scott governance review to have a data improvement plan in place.  With regard to the ISP implementation, the fees for that were £11,000 per annum with a one-off implementation fee of £10,000, with the annual fee being subject to indexation in line with the overall contract.  Payment of those fees would not commence until such a time as the Fund was required to connect to the Dashboard.  Heywood Technologies had developed a new Mortality screening module that directly connected to the Pensions Administration database and carried out checks for deaths, this covers active, deferred and pensioner members of the Fund.  That would be used to supplement the Tell Us Once reporting method to add a further layer of control and mitigate risk of Tell Us Once not picking up on the passing of a scheme member.  The fees for that were £2,000 per annum with a one-off implementation fee of £1,697, with the annual fee being subject to indexation in line with the overall contract.  The HR Shared Services Manager, Mr Ian Angus presented the report and responded to Members questions.  Regarding the dashboard, and how it relevant to the Fund, Mr Angus explained that under the relevant legislation the Fund was required to connect to the Department of Work and Pensions Pension Dashboard.  That would enable pensioners to track and ultimately access all of the pots which they had funds in.  The dashboard was part of a national initiative and would involve independent providers as well as local government pension schemes.  In response to a question regarding plans to acquire updated information in instances where there was missing data, Mr Angus explained that the Fund was looking to use technology to fill in any gaps.  Mr Angus undertook to investigate whether it would be possible to send out requests alongside Members Self-Service communications that Members update their data where appropriate.  Information would also be included on the Fund’s website. 

DECISION

AGREED to approve:

(a)     the delegation of responsibility for the additional data cleansing and enrichment service along with the mortality screening to the Director People Performance and Change, with one off costs of £3,394 and annual fees of £10,345 for the duration of the contract subject to indexation on an annual basis for the support and maintenance; and

(b)     the delegation of responsibility for the Internet Service Provider connection to the Pensions Dashboard to the Director People Performance and Change, with one off costs of £10,000 and annual fees of £11,000 for the duration of the contract subject to indexation on an annual basis for the support and maintenance at the time we are required by legislation to connect.