Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Bora Kwon.

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.

There were no declarations of interest.

To note the minutes of the meeting held on 9^th June 2021. As this is an informal meeting minutes will be formally agreed at the next meeting.

The minutes of the meeting held on the 9^th June 2021 were noted. As this was an informal meeting, minutes will be formally agreed at the next meeting.

Draft minutes of the Pension Fund Sub-Committee meeting held on 21^st July, 20^th September, 25^th October and 23^rd November 2021 - for information.

This item includes an appendix which contains information exempt within the meaning of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 and is not for publication.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 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.

The draft minutes of the Pension Fund Committee meetings held on the 21st July, 20th September, 25th October and 23rd November 2021 were noted.

This report follows up on update reports presented previously to the Pensions Board on the actions agreed by the Pension Fund Sub-committee on 3 February 2021 to appoint Local Pension Partnerships Administration to provide the Pension Administration service from 1 February 2022.

David Hughes (Director of Audit, Fraud, Risk and Insurance) presented the report and gave a summary of the key points. It was noted that the data migration from Surrey County Council (SCC) to Local Pensions Partnership Administration (LPPA) had been successfully completed and the new service being provided by LPPA went live on 26^th January 2022. SCC worked closely with Officers and had been cooperative and supportive throughout the exit process.

Fund Members received communications in December 2021 and January 2022 from LPPA regarding the new service.  Employer and Member communications had also been sent out recently to enable registration for the relevant portals so that both Employers and Members could view and provide information online. 

Progress reports would continue to be provided to the Pensions Board and Pension Fund Committee on all the key milestones achieved over the coming months on the new pensions administration service.

David Hughes thanked Eleanor Dennis (Head of Pensions), and her Team for their contributions and hard work towards the project coordination, enabling a successful transfer to LPPA within the timescales set out

William O'Connell (Co-opted Member) enquired if any issues with regards to accessing the member portal had been resolved. In response Eleanor Dennis explained that members had experienced some difficulties registering to the portal on the day of launch. However, LPPA had immediately reviewed the process and all issues were resolved and rectified within a few days. In addition, the log in process had been further improved by LPPA by ensuring that a more efficient and streamlined experience was being provided to members.

The Chair enquired how the Pensions team were currently structured to ensure the smooth running of the day-to-day activities with LPPA.  Eleanor Dennis provided a summary of the key responsibilities of the Team. It was noted that a constructive structure was in place to manage, queries from members, including all activities as part of the project to support LPPA.

In response to a question asked by the Chair in relation to the Key Performance Indicators, Eleanor Dennis explained that the targets set out for LPPA were more detailed and challenging than the Council previously had in place with SCC. This would also be reflected in the reporting.

The Chair thanked Officers for all their hard work and efforts in ensuring a smooth transition to the new pension administration service.

Members noted the report

This paper sets out a summary of the performance of Surrey County Council (SCC) in providing a pension administration service to the Fund.

Eleanor Dennis (Head of Pensions) presented the report and gave a summary of the performance for Surrey County Council (SCC) in providing a pension administration service to the Fund. SCC had continued to provide a satisfactory pension administration service to the Fund in most areas with some improvement in performance for this last full quarter of work processed.  Overall SCC had remained committed to providing a satisfactory service in the months prior to the Fund’s exit from their services in January 2022.

Members noted the report.

This paper provides the Pensions Board with a summary of the Pension Fund’s overall performance for the quarter ended 30 September 2021.

This item includes an appendix which 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 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.

Patrick Rowe (Pension Fund Manager) presented the report and gave a summary of the key points. A brief overview of the Pension Fund’s performance was provided and included in Appendix 1 of the agenda pack. This included administrative, investment, and cash management performance for the quarter. Over the year to 30 September 2021, the total Fund delivered a positive absolute return of 14.1% on a net of fees basis, outperforming its fixed weight benchmark by 2.2%.

The Chair noted that he was pleased to hear that the performance for the Fund delivered a  positive return, and the funding level remained consistent at 94% this quarter.

Members noted the report.

This paper provides the Pensions Board with a progress log of the recommendations that came from the governance review, and results achieved to date on them.

Patrick Rowe (Pension Fund Manager) presented the report and gave a summary of the key points. The report made 32 recommendations, which had been recorded in a progress log to demonstrate the various stages of completion of the recommendations. The log showed that good progress had been made, with 19 recommendations implemented, and seven commenced.

David Hughes explained that he acknowledged the urgency of completing the pension administration recommendations. However, managing the exit from SCC and the onboarding with LPPA and associated activities remained a key priority and the most urgent tasks for completion at this stage. Any outstanding recommendations would be progressed as a priority within the coming months.

Members noted the report.

This report presents the draft Pension Fund Annual Report and Statement of Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2021.

Patrick Rowe presented the report and gave a summary of the key points. The deadline for submitting the annual report was 30 September 2021. The statement of accounts was completed and presented to external audit in June 2021. However, due to resourcing issues, there had been delays in commencing the external audit process. The audit was, however, now underway.

The Chair thanked all Officers and Co-opted Members for their participation in providing support to the Pensions Board meetings.

Members noted 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.