On the go: Gaps in employer records are far and away the biggest data challenge for administrators looking to tackle problems like McCloud, according to a Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association poll.
Eighty-five per cent of respondents cited gaps in employer records as their greatest data challenge. By comparison, a change of payroll provider was cited by just 11 per cent, while only 4 per cent cited system-reporting limitations.
Implementing the McCloud remedy was found to be the biggest worry administrators have from a resourcing perspective, with 54 per cent of respondents picking it — 2 per cent cited guaranteed minimum pensions.
While none picked the new Fair Deal policy, the Pension Schemes Act, or the good governance review, 44 per cent said they considered all of these to be equally concerning.
Only 4 per cent said they intended to rely solely on outsourcing to manage McCloud, while 28 per cent said they would bring in some external support. More than two-thirds (68 per cent) said they intended to manage it entirely in-house.
Andy Cunningham, head of pensions administration and relations at the Wiltshire Pension Fund, told the PLSA’s Local Authority Conference that McCloud involves “a certain amount of waiting to see what the final resolution looks like”.
“There’s a certain sequencing that needs to take place; there are certain aspects to it which we can’t really deal with until we know what the final legislation looks like. Similarly with systems providers, there are lots of systems solutions that won’t be in place until there’s legislation in place.”
Lorraine Harper, chair of the accreditation committee at the Pensions Administration and Standards Association, said that it was vital to raise employers’ awareness of these administrative burdens early on in order to minimise the problems they may have gathering data and records.
“It’s about raising their awareness early on, getting them aware of the sorts of information they’re going to have to gather, so that they can go away and speak about what their issues are going to be,” she said.
“They’re going to differ between one employer and another, so it’s really about providing guidance so they can go away and think about it, plan their own resources for getting that information, and handling those queries early on so that when the detail does come through you’re in a better place to start working on it.
“Any project involving data requires very careful planning, understanding what is required, where it might be held, what the issues are about extracting it, how you’re actually going to collect it and use it,” Harper continued.
“Ultimately, we would advise that people start with the planning process, and raise awareness among those stakeholders who are going to be directly involved.”
