Kingston upon Thames' Pension Fund is facing delays in software delivery for the McLeod Remedy, a project addressing age discrimination within the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS). This was revealed at a Pension Fund Panel meeting held on Tuesday, 24 June 2025.
The McLeod Remedy requires officers to calculate all members' benefits under both old final salary schemes and the new career average scheme, paying the better of the two. Tom Taylor, Head of Pensions Administration, reported that the software delivery, initially expected by 31 May, is now slated for 8 July, with testing to follow. This delay has led to an uprating of risk 27, the administration risk regarding software, due to concerns about the software provider's ability to deliver on time.
Councillor Patrick Hall, Chair of Pension Fund Panel, requested a written update on the McLeod Remedy before the next meeting in September. This reflects the panel's concern about the potential impact of the delay.
Other key updates from the meeting included a reduction in outstanding pension administration processes and positive progress on the pensions dashboard, a government initiative requiring all pension funds to be connected to a government dashboard by 31 October 2025. Catherine Gray, Head of Pensions, Investments and Treasury, also presented the 2023-24 Pension Fund Accounts Audit Outcomes Report, noting an unmodified audit opinion but highlighting a red control deficiency regarding journal entries. A manual process has been implemented to address this deficiency. The panel also discussed investment performance, with the fund posting negative returns of -1.6% over the quarter, although longer-term returns remained positive. Catherine Gray also provided a progress update on the London CIV, noting that just under 60% of the assets are in the pool.