Agenda and minutes

No apologies for absence were received. Deputy Madush Gupta and Alan Yau observed the meeting virtually.

There were no declarations.

To agree the minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on June 04 2025.

RESOLVED, - that, the minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on 4 June 2025 were approved as an accurate record.

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Committee received a report of the Chamberlain which provided an update on the City of London Police Pension Scheme.

Attention was drawn to Appendix 4, which provided copies of correspondence issued by the Pensions Office that had been updated since the last review.

The Chairman queried whether the online member portal was on track to being available so that scheme members could register. The Officer confirmed that this portal had been available for a year but clarified that the new Payroll system was a separate piece of work, which was on-going with no anticipated problems. It was further clarified that it was the ambition of the Pensions Office to be able to provide payslips to pensioner members via the online portal (in addition to those that are printed and posted), but that this was a work in progress that was dependent upon the new Payroll system that is currently under construction.

The Chairman posed a second question regarding McCloud and the Remedy issues caused and requested that Officers should provide a yearly summary of issues. It was requested that updates regarding the implementation of the McCloud Remedy and the move to ‘business as usual’ should be provided to Members.

The Chairman also suggested that the Police Pension Scheme Annual Schedule of Events should only include future completion dates, and past dates should be removed. The Chairman highlighted key October and November dates, including events such as the tax return for September Quarter and the upcoming statement deadlines and asked whether they were on track. The Officer confirmed that the statements had been issued, and the tax returns were being worked on and were on course to be completed by the deadlines.

RESOLVED, – that the report be noted.

Report of the Chamberlain.

Members considered a report of the Chamberlain which outlined the City of London Police Pension Scheme Risk Register.

The Chamberlain reassured Members that the risk in relation to cyber security has been reassessed and changed to better reflect and align with the corporate risk register.

The Chairman made an observation regarding the risk relating to the McCloud Legal Case whereby he suggested it should be rated higher (to an 8). He also questioned whether the risk relating to cyber security should be raised due to the rise in cyber-attacks and hacks.

The Deputy Chairman asked Officers whether McCloud would cause further challenges once fully implemented. The Officer confirmed that there were no new challenges that he was aware of, but added that if there were future challenges, the impacts will continue to be felt until the matter was fully resolved.

The Officer reassured Members that there was no impact on the risk register. It was also discussed that the increased administration workload would continue until the last person to have been affected by McCloud retires.

RESOLVED, – that the risk register be approved.

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Committee considered a report of the Chamberlain regarding the breaches of Law Policy. Members were asked to confirm if they were content to approve the terms of the policy.

The Chairman made an observation regarding three statements which were written in bold throughout the policy. He considered the bold statements to be the key messages and suggested that in future, they should be listed on page one so that the recipient could clearly locate them. 

RESOLVED, - that Members agree to the breaches of law policy.

Report of the Commissioner.

The Committee received a report of the Commissioner of City of London Police providing an update on Scheme Manager activities over the period of 1st

May 2025 – 31st August 2025.

The Officer begun the discussion by highlighting a typing error. The report referred to the number of complaints received in the previous period, and it was highlighted that it should have been 84 complaints which have reduced to 40. 

The Chairman noted the 13 outstanding complaints and asked when they would be closed. The Officer responded, explaining how some were closed but that some were still waiting for data from other forces but overall, many had been closed but new ones had been received.

The Officer explained to the Committee that the pensions administration team have a meeting with representatives of the force every Monday morning to review the progress of queries and complaints. It was explained that the team update individuals where necessary and provides a progress update. They ensure that people are responded to monthly, and the recipient is then responded too by the most appropriate officer, for example, the Scheme Manager.

A Member queried whether complaints get answered in the order in which they get received due to a number of individuals reporting long waiting times for a response. It was confirmed that the individuals should have received an automated response. The Deputy Chair raised that a number of individuals have reported that they receive the automated responses but are still waiting for a tailored, personal response.

A Member added that he was approached by colleagues who claimed they had not received an annual pension statement or that their remedial service statement was incorrect. It was further added that the individuals had sent numerous emails to the pensions office and had not heard back. The Officer

There were no questions.

There was no urgent business.

MOTION – that under Section 100(A) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

RESOLVED – that under Section 100(A) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

To agree the non-public minutes of the meeting held on the 04 June 2025.

RESOLVED - that the non-public minutes of the meeting held on the 4 June 2025 were approved as an accurate record.

Report of the Chamberlain. To be read in conjunction with item 4.

Members received a report of the Chamberlain which provided the non-public appendix of the Pensions Scheme administrators update. This item was considered in conjunction with item 4.

There were no questions.

Questions relating to future workshops and seminars were asked.