Agenda

To receive any apologies for absence from any members of the Committee.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on:

-        8 December 2020;

-        16 March 2021;

-        25 May 2021;

-        3 December 2021, and;

-        14 June 2022 as accurate records.

Members and co-opted Members of the Council are reminded that, in accordance with the Council’s Code of Conduct and the statutory provisions of the Localism Act, they are required to consider in advance of each meeting whether they have a disclosable pecuniary interest (DPI), another registrable interest (ORI) or a non-registrable interest (NRI) in relation to any matter on the agenda.  If advice is needed, Members should contact the Monitoring Officer in good time before the meeting.  

If any Member or co-opted Member of the Council identifies a DPI or ORI which they have not already registered on the Council’s register of interests or which requires updating, they should complete the disclosure form which can be obtained from Democratic Services at any time, copies of which will be available at the meeting for return to the Monitoring Officer.

Members and co-opted Members are required to disclose any DPIs and ORIs at the meeting.  

·          Where the matter relates to a DPI they may not participate in any discussion or vote on the matter and must not stay in the meeting unless granted a dispensation.  

·          Where the matter relates to an ORI they may not vote on the matter unless granted a dispensation.   

·          Where a Member or co-opted Member has an NRI which directly relates to their financial interest or wellbeing, or that of a relative or close associate, they must disclose the interest at the meeting, may not take part in any discussion or vote on the matter and must not stay in the meeting unless granted a dispensation.  Where a matter affects the NRI of a Member or co-opted Member, section 9 of Appendix B of the Code of Conduct sets out the test which must be applied by the Member to decide whether disclosure is required.

The Chair will invite Members to make their disclosure orally at the commencement of Agenda item 3, to be recorded in the minutes.

To receive notice of any business not on the agenda which in the opinion of the Chair, by reason of special circumstances, be considered as a matter of urgency.

This report updates the Governance Best Practice Compliance Statement for consideration by the Committee.

The Pension Board was asked to consider the latest agreed list of recommendations and make comment for presentation to the Pension Committee. This report details those comments and suggested actions for the Committee’s consideration.

This report updates the Committee on the progress made in completing recommendation actions to August 2022.

It is consistent with The Pension Regulator’s Code of Practice that the Pension Fund maintains a breaches log detailing incidences where breaches have occurred.  In line with the recommendations of the Aon Hewitt Governance Review, on 15 September 2020 the Committee agreed the revised Reporting Breaches of the Law Policy.  This included a requirement for the Committee to monitor breaches on a regular basis.  This report presents the current log (Appendix A) for the Committee’s consideration and comment.

This report advises the Committee of training undertaken by the Pension Board and Pension Committee members since January 2021 and asks them note the proposed joint Pension Committee and Pension Board training plan for 2022/23.

This report advises the Committee of the extent to which the Fund is complying with the pooling requirements of Guidance issued by the, then, Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) in 2015, the savings made through pooling in 2021/22 and the governance structure of the London Collective Investment Vehicle (LCIV).

This report advises the Committee of the matters currently being considered by the Local Government Pension Scheme Advisory Board and The Pensions Regulator which are relevant to the Fund. Any implications for the Fund have been noted and are being addressed in consultation with Fund advisors.

This report provides an update on the Fund’s performance for the quarter to 30 June 2022.  The report falls into four parts.  Section 1 addresses performance against strategic goals.  The second section considers the asset allocation strategy and how that is being applied, specifically current and planned investments.  The third section deals with risk management and the fourth and final section summarises the recent investment manager site visit. 

The following motion is to be moved and seconded where it is proposed to exclude the press and public from the remainder of a meeting:

“That, under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act, 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information falling within those paragraphs indicated in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended.”

This report provides the commercially sensitive context to the performance of the Pension Fund over the most recent quarter.

Performance analysis and market commentary provided by Mercer are included at Appendix A and Appendix B respectively.