Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Khadija Sekhon.

If a Councillor has a disclosable pecuniary interest in a particular item, whether or not it is entered in the Authority’s register of interests, or any other significant interest which they consider should be declared in the public interest, they should declare the existence and, unless it is a sensitive interest as defined in the Member Code of Conduct, the nature of the interest at the commencement of the consideration of that item or as soon as it becomes apparent.

At meetings where members of the public are allowed to be in attendance and speak, any Councillor with a disclosable pecuniary interest or other significant interest may also make representations, give evidence or answer questions about the matter.  The Councillor must then withdraw immediately from the meeting before the matter is discussed and any vote taken.

Where Members of the public are not allowed to be in attendance and speak, then the Councillor with a disclosable pecuniary interest should withdraw from the meeting whilst the matter is under consideration. Councillors who have declared other significant interests should also withdraw from the meeting if they consider their continued participation in the matter would not be reasonable in the circumstances and may give rise to a perception of a conflict of interest.

Councillors are not obliged to withdraw from the meeting where a dispensation to that effect has been obtained from the Standards Committee.

The Chair carried out a roll call to confirm attendance. There were no declarations of interest.

To agree the minutes of the meeting held on 13^th January 2020.

Resolved:

That the minutes of the previous meeting held on the 13^th January 2020 were agreed.

NOTE: The Chair agreed to reorder the agenda. Items 11, 12, and 13 were given priority.

Draft minutes of the Pension Fund Sub-Committee meeting held on 29 September 2020 – for information.

The draft minutes of the previous Pension Fund Sub-Committee were noted.

This paper provides the Pensions Board with a summary of the Pension Fund’s overall performance for the quarter ended 30 September 2020

Timothy Mpofu (Pension Fund Manager), presented the report and gave a summary of the key points, these included the Pension Fund’s overall performance for the quarter ended 30^th September 2020 and the Environment, Social and Governance Appendix.

It was also noted that the Pension Fund Sub-Committee decided to allocate 15% of its overall investment portfolio to an active equity manager. An agreement was reached to appoint Morgan Stanley, who managed the LCIV Global Equity Sustain Fund, as the Pension Fund’s new active equity manager.

At the Pension Fund Sub-Committee meeting held on 29 September 2020, the committee approved for officers to use Northern Trust’s Conservative Ultra Short Fund as part of the Fund’s overall cash management strategy.

The Chair asked for further clarification to be provided on a few of the higher risks included in the risk register. In response Timothy Mpofu outlined the concerns relating to the key risk categories and the mitigating actions taken by the Council.

Resolved

That the Pension Board noted the report.

This report presents the draft Pension Fund Annual Report and Statement of Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2020.

Timothy Mpofu (Pension Fund Manager), presented the report and gave a summary of the key points. The Pension Fund accounts 2019/20 were produced and handed to the external auditors in June 2020. The external audit was currently ongoing having started in August 2020 and the approved draft of the annual report would be shared with the external auditors as part of the audit.

Neil Newton (Co-opted Member) noted that the annual report was a comprehensive and lengthy document. He suggested that officers provided a one-page summary of all the key elements alongside the wider report to Members in the future.

The Chair asked for an explanation to be provided on the contributions made by the admitted bodies. Timothy Mpofu (Pension Fund Manager) explained that the contributions made, were relative to the number of members per admitted body and were relevant to the assets available to the Fund.

Resolved

That the Pension Board noted the Annual Report 2019/20 for the Pension Fund and the Pension Board.

The Pensions Board is requested to note the report.

Timothy Mpofu (Pension Fund Manager), presented the report and gave a summary of the key priorities for the Council over the coming years. The purpose of the responsible investment statement was to ensure that the Pension Fund was investing responsibly. This included the integration of environmental, social and governance factors as part of the Pension Fund’s investment strategy. This was in line with the Pension Fund’s commitment to have its investment portfolio net zero in carbon emissions by the year 2030. The responsible investment statement was approved by the Pension Fund Sub-Committee at the meeting held on 29 September 2020.

William O’Connell (Co-opted Member) asked how the Council’s carbon footprint was measured against the money invested. Timothy Mpofu outlined the different ways in which the figures for carbon were estimated. This was an ongoing piece of work and reporting quality would improve over time. It was noted that by 2022 all companies would have to report how much carbon footprint they were generating.

Resolved:

That the Pension Board noted the report

The purpose of this report is to provide a briefing of the recent Supreme Court ruling on the Local Government Pension Scheme Investment Guidance and provide details of potential implications for LGPS Funds.

Mathew Dawson (Treasury and Pensions), presented the report and gave a summary of the key points. This included a briefing of the recent supreme court ruling on the LGPS investment guidance and details of the potential implications for LGPS Funds. It was noted that LGPS administering authorities in England and Wales were required to follow that guidance when formulating their investment strategy statement. The guidance directed how social, environmental and governance considerations should be reviewed. It was noted that further progress updates would be brought to a future Pension Board meeting.

Members thanked Matthew Dawson for explaining the report in further detail.

Resolved:

That the Pension Board noted the report.

The Pensions Board is requested to note the report and the anticipation that further staff resources will be required in due course, with progress updates

Mathew Dawson (Treasury and Pensions), presented the report and gave a summary of the key points. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government had issued a consultation on proposals to remove age discrimination from the LGPS. This was caused by the transitional protections introduced at the time of the LGPS scheme reform, which were now considered unlawful. The proposals extend the protection to cover further members and amend how the protection works, requiring the benefits of those previously covered to be reviewed. Applying the remedy would be a significant exercise and require extra administration resources, resulting in additional cost and increasing the Fund’s liabilities. The consultation closed on 8 October 2020. It was currently anticipated that revised regulations would not be in place before 2022/2023.

Members thanked Matthew Dawson and his team for providing a useful training session in September 2020, where they had received detailed updates on the McCloud consultation.

Resolved:

That the Pension Board noted the report.

The Committee is invited to resolve, under Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, that the public and press be excluded from the meeting during the consideration of the following items of business, on the grounds that they contain the likely disclosure of exempt information, as defined in paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of the said Act, and that the public interest in maintaining the exemption currently outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

The sub-committee agreed, under Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, that the public and press be excluded from the meeting during the consideration of the following items of business, on the grounds that they contain the likely disclosure of exempt information, as defined in paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of the said Act, and that the public interest in maintaining the exemption currently outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

Exempt minutes of the Pension Fund Sub-Committee meeting held on 29 September 2020 – for information.

Resolved:

That the exempt minutes of the previous Pension Fund Sub-Committee were noted.

David Hughes (Director of Audit, Fraud, Risk and Insurance) introduced the item and the recommendations in the exempt report were approved.