Barnet Council’s Policy and Resources Committee next week (Wednesday 19 February) is expected to approve the proposal to appoint West Yorkshire Pension Fund (WYPF) to administer its local government pension scheme. If passed, WYPF would take over from Capita, which has managed the council’s pension scheme as part of its strategic partnership with the council since 2013.
Council news
The decision to appoint WYPF will be put to the vote by councillors at the council’s Policy and Resources Committee, and is expected to be enacted by Full Council on 3 March. Cllr Dan Thomas, Leader of Barnet Council, said:
“We aim to provide the very best service for the many dedicated employees who serve the people of Barnet. The scheme is in a stronger place now following recent improvements to the service. We want to build on this and have appointed WYPF because of their particular expertise in running local government pension schemes. We thank Capita for their service and will be working with them to ensure the smooth and seamless transfer of our employee pension scheme to WYPF.”
Barnet Council’s pension scheme serves more than 27,000 current and former employees. The Pensions Regulator issued an improvement notice to Barnet Council in July 2019. The Regulatory Intervention Report was issued as a result of The Pensions Regulator’s ongoing engagement with the council.
A further report issued by The Pensions Regulator singled out the significant improvements in the steps taken to administer the fund, including the improvements in internal controls, introduction of more detailed reports and the mechanisms put in place to challenge the information provided by the administrator.