Home > Agenda item

Agenda item

Report back from the Pension Board

For Committee Members to receive a verbal update on the Pension Board meeting held on 17 October 2019, supported by the Board’s Independent Chair.

Minutes:

The Pension Committee received a report back on the Pension Board meeting held on 17 October 2019. This was provided by Michael Ellsmore, the Independent Chair of the Pension Board. It was highlighted that the Board had received a report and presentation on the annual review of governance conducted Aon; this would come to the Pension Committee at its meeting in January 2020 accompanied by an action plan.

 

The Independent Chair informed the Committee that the Board had also been provided with an update on the Administration Service and that as a result there continued to be concerned about performance – it was noted that under performance on two Key Performance Indicators had been reported. The Board had been informed of a delay to recruitment which would directly impact on this performance. As a result, the Board had asked the Independent Chair to write to the Director of Finance, Investment and Risk to express its concern.

 

The Independent Chair also reported that utilisation of external resources to provide additional administrative support was being delayed by the procurement process. Whilst it was appreciated that these issues were experienced by many Pension Funds, it was still a concern.

 

The Committee was informed by the Independent Chair that he had been interviewed by the Pensions Regulator with regard to the property asset transfer but that further comment was not possible given this was undertaken as part of the regulator’s investigation which was ongoing.

 

Lastly, Robert Holloway, the Secretary of the Scheme Advisory Board, would be attending the meeting of the Pension Board on from 2pm on 16 January 2020, to provide training on the role of the Local Government Pension Scheme Advisory Board and its view on the role of Pension Boards. All Members of the Pension Committee were invited to attend this meeting.

 

The Director of Finance, Investment and Risk asked to update the Committee with regard to the staff recruitment. The Director explained how a review of staffing across the Council was being conducted but that this was not impacting on recruitment for the administration of the fund given this was separately funded by the fund itself. However, recruitment remained difficult to achieve which was the most significant factor. There was no delay to using additional external resources to support the administration of the scheme but that this needed to go through the correct engagement process.

 

In response to Member questions it was clarified that:

·        The Committee would be informed of the outcome of the investigation of the Pensions Regulator into the property asset transfer;

·        The Board was keen to retain the expertise of its Members and the Constitution permitted that those with experience of representing scheme employers could be retained; and

·        The Independent Chair of the Pension Board had suggested that Members, whose time was not remunerated by employers, should receive a retainer of £5K a year plus travel costs. This was to reflect that the pressures on Members becoming increasingly onerous with the Pension Regulator looking more to Boards. It was agreed that officers would consult with Aon to understand what approach was being taken by other Pension Boards.