Agenda item

This report sets out the current approach to scheme member engagement and the options for further improvements in the arrangements.  The Board is invited to consider the report and provide advice to the Pension Fund Committee on changes to the Communications Policy to improve scheme member engagement in the future. 

The Board was provided with a report which set out the current approach to scheme member engagement and the options for further improvements in the arrangements. 

The Board was invited to consider the report and provide advice to the Pension Fund Committee on changes to the Communications Policy to improve scheme member engagement in the future. 

The Governance & Communications Manager and the Communications Manager for the Pension Fund introduced the report.

The Board was informed that Member engagement was important for regulatory purpose. Details of what was currently in place was reported and included:-

·       Reporting Pensions –quarterly newsletter

·       Annual benefit statement plus notes

·       Annual Deferred newsletter (in collaboration with other Funds)

·       Deferred Annual Pensioner newsletter

·       Member talks.

·       My Oxfordshire Pension

·       Use of Altair email tool

·       Use of Gov.UK Notify email tool (Bulk Email)

·       Annual activation codes mailing

·       Partnership working with other funds – Oxfordshire is represented on: Communications working group (LGA) Joint communications working group

·       Translation Services

·       Oxfordshire Pension Fund Website

Paragraph 8 of the report contained new ideas to improve engagement.

In response to a question relating to how engagement was measured, the Board was informed that it was difficult to do so now as more training was required on analytics.

The Board was informed that the statistics of how many members were registered for the on-line portal was in line with other funds. There were 56.3% of Active Members registered and using the on-line portal; 49.5% Deferred Members registered and 91.1% of Pensioners who had registered. However, there were many members who had not made the decision to register for the on-line portal or to receive paper statements and communications.    

The National and Local Engagement Group was looking at benchmarking.

Reference was made to many members who had not decided to register or receive paper notifications.  

Discussion took place on the current methods of communication which relied on employers initiating communication with its employees. There was an issue with employee engagement in relation to how many within each Pension Fund employer had registered.

Reference was made to difficulty in getting new addresses, email addresses and telephone contact numbers for members that had changed their addresses. Annual address chasing exercises do take place.

There were ideas to improve engagement which included introducing QR codes which would take members directly to the correct Pensions page and on letters, newsletters, and leaflets. There would be Webinars on common subjects and improvements would be made to the website to improve access.

The Board agreed that Board Members would provide articles in the newsletter.

A Board Member referred to including information on the website on where the Pension Fund invested members’ funds, which would increase engagement and interaction with members. The Service Manager for Pensions, Insurance and Money Management explained that such improvements were being introduced on the website and would be linked to the Fund’s Climate policy.

The Board noted and reviewed the outcome of Member Engagement Review carried out by the Governance and Communications Team of the fund and that an amended Communications Policy would be submitted to the next Pension Fund Committee. Board Members would receive a draft of the Communications Policy by email prior to its submission to the Committee.

The Board noted the report.