Decision details

The Committee considered this report, presented by Janet Richards, which detailed potential new admissions to the pension fund. The Committee noted in the report:

·         the steady increase of users visiting Haringey Website.

·         the most recent internal audit of the pensions administration service, which showed a substantial assurance rating of the service, this is for members to note.

·         the update to the Pensions Administration Discretionary statement to make it clear that Haringey Council will exercise the discretion to abate the pensions of former employees who are retired early, if they are re-employed by any of the scheme employers in the Haringey LGPS Pension fund.

The Committee was informed that this was a regular item on the agenda and that there were certain areas that needed improving, such as employer’s provision of information to the fund.

It was drawn to the Committee’s attention that, since the publication of the report, there was a new school in Haringey that had started to make some contribution to the Fund.

It was queried why, on page 235 of the Report Pack, Standing data was ‘Amber’ and not ‘Green’ (signalling weaker effectiveness of controls). It was noted that attaining information from outside providers can be challenging, and there are various factors that impact the delay or lack of information, such as turnover of staff.

In response to a question regarding the potential admissibility of new employees of ISS Mediclean Ltd as fund members, it was noted that this admission to the fund would be on a closed basis, meaning that new members of staff not employed on the date of the admission would not be eligible to join the fund.

Resolved

That the Committee:

• approve the admission of ISS Mediclean Limited as a new employer to the Pension Fund, subject to an Admission Agreement being entered into and to their securing a bond or a guarantee from a third party in line with the LGPS regulations, to indemnify the pension fund against any future potential liabilities that could arise.
• approve the admission of Haringey Education Partnership as a new employer to the Pension Fund, subject to an Admission Agreement being entered into, as detailed below, and note they will be included within the Council’s pool of employers.
• approve the updated Discretionary Policy Statement.
• note that this report gives a breakdown of the amount of visits made to the Haringey pension fund website.
• note the most recent audit of the pensions administration service.

Reason for decision

New Admission Body to the Fund

ISS Mediclean Ltd

West Green School has tendered its cleaning service and the successful bidder was ISS Mediclean Limited. It is proposed that ISS Mediclean be admitted to the Haringey Pension Scheme as an Admission Body in relation to the provision of the cleaning Service for West Green School, subject to ISS Mediclean Ltd entering into an admission agreement with the Council so that those eligible employees can remain within the Haringey Pension Fund.

That an admission agreement satisfactory to the Council be entered into – in respect of the service contract and that the agreement is a closed agreement, as such that new members cannot be admitted.

The Employer contribution rate is 29% and the bond is £50,000. The staff are required to work no less than 50% of the time on their contract.

Haringey Education Partnership

Haringey Council has made a decision to commission statutory and strategic school improvement functions, and has entered into a contract with Haringey Education Partnership (HEP), under which HEP will carry out those functions for the Council.

It is proposed that HEP be admitted to the Haringey Pension Scheme as an Admission Body from 1 September 2018, subject to HEP entering into an admission agreement with the Council that is satisfactory to the Council, so that those employees designated by HEP as eligible will be entitled to be members of the Haringey Pension Fund.

Under Regulation 3(1)(iii) of the LGPS Regulation 2013, HEP has designated a class of employee eligible to join the pension scheme.

The designated eligible employees that the admission agreement will be open to are the Governor Support Officers and the Senior Governor Support Officers. The admission agreement will be closed to all other employees of HEP.

HEP will be included within the Haringey Council pool of employers, and they will pay the same employer contribution rate as Haringey Council, which is currently 24.9%.