page last updated 06/06/02

PENSIONS DEPARTMENT OF THE YEAR - WEST MIDLANDS PENSION FUND
The Pensions Administration Division of the West Midlands Pension Fund received the highest recognition within the pension industry when it was selected as Pensions Department of the Year 1999.

The award, which was open to Pensions Departments in both the Public and Private Sector is organised by the National Association of Pension Funds in conjunction with Pensions Week.

This was the first time the award had been made and Ann Robinson, Director General of the NAPF said "I am sure that these awards will become recognised as being the industry’s highest honour all Occupational Pension Schemes will strive to obtain".

The Fund beat off strong competition from a large number of Pension Departments and "despite a marked reticence on behalf of the Judges to the accomplishments of larger schemes, it became clear that, at every level of endeavour the West Midlands Pension Fund had performed to what David Pollard, one of the Judges, described as "the highest professional standards". The Judges stated that they "could not help being impressed with the standard of the Scheme's benefit statement and communications - which ranges from member satisfaction surveys to employee roadshows, in-house videos and even "talking payslips"".

As with the innovation award, the broad criteria for this category, combined with the fact that the department of the year is the most sought-after accolade in the awards, meant that the judges had their work cut out narrowing the field down to just one winner and one highly commended. Despite a marked reticence on behalf of the judges towards the accomplishments of larger schemes, it became clear that, at every level of endeavour, the West Midlands Pension Fund had performed to what David Pollard described as "the highest professional standards''.

Not least of the scheme's accomplishments was its dedicated website, the value of which was also recognised by the judges in the innovation category. Mike Woodall, chief pensions officer for the scheme, was delighted to have been recognised as the department of the year. "As the second largest local authority scheme in the country, one of our biggest challenges has been to maintain the personal touch with 170,000 members spread across 170 different employers. This award is an acknowledgement of the hard work and commitment to quality that all of our 100 staff have been able to maintain."

This is not the first time that the professionalism of the department that regards itself as the "best pension administrators in the country" has been recognised. Last year it was voted runner-up in the Local Government Chronicle Investment Awards, selected as scheme of the year in the Pensions Management Awards and achieved Investor in People recognition.

This time, the judges could not help but be impressed with the standard of the scheme's benefits statements and communications which ranges from member satisfaction surveys to employee roadshows, in house video and even "talking payslips".

A brief conversation with Mike Woodall reveals the crusading element in the scheme's approach. "We're not just interested in seeing that our members get the best from their scheme, we see it as part of our role to help raise the standard across the industry." And there is plenty of evidence to support these claims. In the last year the fund has made presentations to the NAPF regional meeting on member communications and technology and organised a one-day seminar on best value and local government schemes. It was also the founder of the National Information Forum which promotes high standards of communication and consultation within local government schemes. "Many of our initiatives are now regarded as best practice," Woodall said. "In the last year we've acted as a reference site for funds such as Bath and North East Somerset, West Yorkshire and Staffordshire. Last week we met with delegates from POPS (the Post Office Pension Scheme)."

One of the few criticisms of the scheme was made by Chris Armitage of Unigate. "Because the scheme is funded out of council tax, it is extremely wealthy and can afford to spend around £50 per member per year compared to the average of around £20." But Woodall was quick to dismiss such estimates. "All the costs are met by the fund. As such, we have managed to keep costs down to around £20 per member which is below the average for large authority schemes and compares very favourably to the private sector."

In May last year, the West Midlands Pension Fund launched the first, and still the only, dedicated local authority scheme website (www.westmids-pensions.org.uk). The information on offer ranges from general scheme details to corporate governance and the Euro. The site is interactive, containing a user-friendly ready reckoner as well as e-mail facilities direct to scheme headquarters. The site has already been upgraded to include a password system enabling confidential access either through the site or by telephone.

Chief pensions officer, Mike Woodall said: "Using our own resources to load, update and design the site it costs the fund only around £500 per year and we already have more than 27,000 registered password users." Inevitably the choice of an award winner was a hard one. But as in other categories it was the size of the West Midlands scheme which ultimately mitigated against it.

Disclaimer ~ Please Read This Notice
While every care has been taken in the compilation of this information and every attempt made to present up-to-date and accurate information, we cannot guarantee that inaccuracies will not occur. Wolverhampton Council will not be held responsible for any loss,  damage or inconvenience caused as a result of any inaccuracy or error within these pages.

Many links from our site lead to pages maintained by other organisations. These are provided purely for your convenience. They do not imply that the Council endorses or supports those organisations, the information on their pages, or their products or services in any way. No responsibility is assumed by the Council for the contents of their pages.