The administration of the Fund is managed by London Borough of Bexley Council and undertaken by Local Pensions Partnership Administration (LPPA) under a contractual arrangement for them to carry out the day-to-day administration of pension records, calculate benefits, provide a website and produce other documentation. Pension payments are made by LPPA. The Fund does not include teachers, fire-fighters and police officers who have separate pension arrangements.

Further information on the performance can be found in the appendices.

Performance Indicators

The administration contract includes a number of performance indicators included to ensure that service to members of the Pension Fund is effective. This membership generates a considerable workload for the fund administrators (LPPA). A breakdown of the cases completed up until end 31 March 2024 and the percentage completed on time are shown in the table below:

*(-) denotes a decrease against the target

**’Other’ covers cases including, but not limited to:

• benefit revisions
• maternity/paternity cases
• ill health cases
• scheme opt-out cases
• My Pension Online registration queries
• P60 queries
• 50/50 scheme changes
• APC/AVC queries

LPPA's overall SLA performance has been 97.3% for the year, showing better results since 2022/23, when the migration to the new pension administration system occurred. Whilst the performance has been better, the Pension Fund will continue to monitor performance levels and raise any concerns if they are below target.

Complaints Received

The pension administrators occasionally deal with members of the fund who dispute an aspect of their pension benefits. These cases are dealt with by the Internal Dispute Resolution Procedure.

Helpdesk Satisfaction

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Pensions Helpdesk Performance

Performance across the Pensions Helpdesk is summarised below. The Helpdesk deals with all call and email enquiries from both members and employers that LPPA provide administration services for.

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A complaints log is also maintained which indicates how matters have been resolved and whether any lessons can be learned from them. In 2023/2024 there were 64 complaints.

Satisfaction surveys and complaints are reported to Bexley and are discussed in service meetings with the Fund.

Scheme Administration Value for Money

The contract with LPPA is carefully monitored to ensure that the services provided are to the expected standards. Monthly and quarterly service meetings are held at which reports on service transactions are reviewed and customer service surveys considered. The LPPA uses the local government pensions software, Universal Pensions Management (UPM), produced by Civica Ltd. The LPPA allocate a total of 2 full time equivalent staff to the Bexley contract, but these come from a wide range of expertise that would not be available locally.

Bexley and LPPA seek to operate in the most efficient manner possible. The MHCLG/DLUHC publish the Government’s SF3 statistics covering aspects of pension fund administration. In the latest available statistics, those for 2022/23, the administrative costs per member in Bexley were £26.48 compared to the average of £27.85 across the LGPS funds in the England and Wales. Therefore, the Fund is achieving greater value for money from its administration function than its peers.

Membership Numbers and Trends 

The membership of the Fund as at 31 March 2024 was as follows:

Active contributing member numbers increased by 9% over the course of the year from 2022/23 to 2023/34.

The graph below shows the membership of the Fund over the last five years:

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If you require more detailed information about this graph, please contact pensions@bexley.gov.uk 

The graph below shows the age distribution of the membership as at 31 March 2024:

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If you require more detailed information about this graph, please contact pensions@bexley.gov.uk 

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If you require more detailed information about this graph, please contact pensions@bexley.gov.uk 

The table below shows the number of new pensioners during each of the last three years where an element of additional cost was incurred by the Pension Fund:

Contributing Employers and Contributions Received

Below is a list of the current active contributing employers and the contributions received for 2023/24 (figures include early retirement and deficit funding contributions). The percentage or pensionable pay contributed by employers is determined on a triennial basis and covered in the Actuarial report. The last report was produced in 2022 and can be found on the Pensions page.

Scheduled Bodies

The Fund provides pensions not only for employees of London Borough of Bexley Council, but also for the employees of several scheduled and admitted bodies.

Scheduled bodies are organisations which have a statutory right to be a member of the Local Government Pension Scheme under the regulations e.g. academy schools.

*School is combined with another in reporting

Admitted Bodies

Admitted bodies participate in the pension scheme via an admission agreement made between the Council and the employing organisation. Examples of admitted bodies are not for profit organisations linked to the Council and contractors who have taken on delivery of services with Council staff also transferred to third parties.

* No active members. Employer contributions relate to funding of past liabilities.
**Contributions paid is termination payment. Employer has now exited the Fund.

Employer Analysis

*This body received an exit credit from the fund; ceased as at 31 March 2024

The following table summarises the number of employers in the fund analysed by scheduled bodies and admitted bodies which are active (with active members) and ceased (no active members but with some outstanding pensions liabilities).

*School joined with another for reporting purposes