Redbridge Council is set to discontinue sending paper pension statements by post, aligning with the council's digital programme and aiming to save costs. The move is expected to generate significant annual savings for the council.
The decision was announced at the Local Pension Board meeting on Monday, 8 December 2025, where board members reviewed updates from the pension administration function. This initiative is part of a broader effort to encourage scheme members to use the Member Self Service (MSS) portal, which is being replaced by a new platform called Engage in January 2026. Current MSS users will be seamlessly migrated to the new portal.
To encourage registration, particularly among school staff, the pension administration team is proactively contacting schools to identify unregistered members and encourage them to sign up for Member Self Service ahead of the Engage migration.
In tandem with this digital shift, the pension administration team is undertaking data cleansing, identifying and closing records of members who appear to have not worked for some time.
The pension administration function, comprising 10.25 full-time equivalent staff, is also focused on other key areas, including working with the Corporate Fraud Team to identify pension overpayments. According to the Public reports pack, no new cases of significant overpayment of pensions have been identified.
Additionally, the team continues to process retirement cases, transfers, and deaths, and is working on issues related to the McCloud Judgement and the 2025 fund valuation. Reports are being prepared to identify members in scope of the McCloud Judgement and to determine the appropriate remedy.
