Agenda and minutes

The Board is asked to appoint a Chair and Vice-Chair for the 2020-21 Municipal Year.

RESOLVED:

That Councillor Rory Vaughan be appointed as Chair and Councillor Bora Kwon be appointed as Vice Chair of the Pensions Board for the 2020/21 municipal year.

Apologies for absence were received from Neil Newton.

To confirm attendance, the Chair will perform a roll call. Members will also have the opportunity to declare any interests. If a Councillor has a disclosable pecuniary interest in a

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 19^th November 2020.

This report has exempt minutes that contain information exempt within the meaning of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 and is not for publication. The appendix has been circulated to the committee members only.

Any discussion on the contents of an exempt minutes will require the Committee to pass the proposed resolution at the end of the agenda to exclude members of the public and press from the proceedings for that discussion.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the previous meeting held on the 19^th November 2020 were agreed.

Draft minutes of the Pension Fund Sub-Committee meeting held on 24th November 2020 – for information.

This report has exempt minutes that contain information exempt within the meaning of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 and is not for publication. The appendix has been circulated to the committee members only.

Any discussion on the contents of an exempt minutes will require the Committee to pass the proposed resolution at the end of the agenda to exclude members of the public and press from the proceedings for that discussion.

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

This paper provides the Pensions Board with a performance review of the Pension Fund’s investment consultant, in line with the agreed set of aims and objectives.

Mathew Dawson (Treasury and Pensions), presented the report and gave a summary of the key points. The paper provided the Pensions Board with a performance review for the Pension Fund’s investment consultant (Deloitte), in line with the agreed set of aims and objectives.

As shown in Appendix 1, the consultant’s performance over the past year had been to an excellent standard and the Pension Fund officers remain pleased with the work that the consultant continued to carry out in advising the Fund on its investment strategy.

It was noted that an update regarding the outcome of the investment consultant review would be provided at the next Pensions Board meeting.

RESOLVED:

That the Pensions Board noted and commented on the report.

That the contents of this report are noted and that further updates will be provided over the project duration, including a full report on all project workstreams, to the next meeting of the Pensions Board.

This report has an appendix that contains information exempt within the meaning of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 and is not for publication. The appendix has been circulated to the committee members only.

Any discussion on the contents of an exempt appendix will require the Committee to pass the proposed resolution at the end of the agenda to exclude members of the public and press from the proceedings for that discussion.

David Hughes (Director of Audit, Fraud, Risk and Insurance) introduced the report and noted that officers had completed the evaluation of providers for the pensions administration service and presented their recommendation regarding the preferred provider to the Pensions Fund Sub-Committee on the 3^rd February 2021. The Pension Fund Sub-Committee approved for the Council to join a public to public arrangement with Local Pensions Partnership Administration (LPPA) for the provision of the pension’s administration service from February 2022.

A shared service arrangement with the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) would also come to an end at 31st December 2020 and that a in house retained pensions team would be established to take on the functions previously undertaken by RBKC. It was noted that the report sets out the work done to assess the private and public provider markets. The steps taken to assess and evaluate three public-public providers and make recommendations to the Pensions Fund Sub- Committee for the appointment of a future partner to provide the pensions administration service.

William O’Connell (Co-opted Member) asked if LPPA offered improved engagement with scheme members. In response David Hughes explained that LPPA, offered a high-quality service with regards to data quality and engagement with scheme members.

The Chair asked how the Council would ensure a smooth transition to the new provider over the 12-month notice period. David Hughes outlined the steps taken by the Council to transition effectively in collaboration with Surrey County Council (SCC) and LPPA. In addition, the Council was satisfied that LPPA had a robust approach to project management, clear planning and previous experience of recent onboarding with a number of other Local Authorities with similar data quality issues.

RESOLVED:

That the Pensions Board noted and commented on the report.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT 1972 – ACCESS TO INFORMATION

Proposed resolution:

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.

RESOLVED:

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.