Agenda and minutes

To confirm the Minutes of the meeting held on 3 March 2021.

RESOLVED:

THAT the minutes of the meeting held on 3 March 2021 be confirmed.

To invite Members to declare any interest they might have in the matters on the agenda.

Cllr Debbie Andre declared and interest in respect of Minute Item 81 as she was a governor of the Cornerstone Federation.

Questions may be asked without notice but to guarantee a full reply at the meeting, a question must be put including the name and address of the questioner by delivery in writing or by electronic mail to Democratic Services at democratic.services@iow.gov.uk, no later than two clear working days before the start of the meeting. Therefore the deadline for written questions will be 10.30am on Friday 23 April 2021.

No public questions were received.

To receive the draft minutes of the meeting of the Local Pension Board held on 24 March 2021.

The Technical Finance Manager advised the Committee that the Local Pension Board minutes circulated were still in draft form as they had not been signed off by the board although the board agreed they could be circulated.

It was highlighted that the Hymans Robertson carbon footprint report had been commissioned to plan for future environmental social and governance policy. The list of policies identified for review over the next 12 months has been agreed by the Board. It was noted that the fund’s Administration Strategy was overdue for review, but this had been agreed to be deferred pending the confirmation of potential changes arising from the good governance.

The job profile for a governance support officer to support the Technical Finance Manager has been sent to the fund’s governance advisors, along with role profiles for board members, with a view to expanding the size of the board, and an independent Chairman for the board.

It was confirmed that the Governance support officer role would be funded through the Pension Fund, and that the current terms of reference for the Local Pension Board allowed for either six or eight members on the board.

RESOLVED:

THAT the board minutes be noted.

To receive an update on legislative, regulatory and other developments in the Local Government Pension Scheme.

The Technical Finance Manager advised that previously bulletins from the Local Government Association had been circulated to members between meeting, however in future a report will be presented at each meeting highlighting the key issues.

RESOLVED:

THAT the LGA and Legislation update be noted.

To note the timetable for the preparation of the 2020-21 annual report and accounts including the external audit plan.

The Technical Finance Manager advised that the timetable set out in the report provided dates for specific items to be signed off by the Committee in 2021.

RESOLVED:

THAT the timetable for the preparation, approval and publication of the pension funds annual report and accounts for the year ended 31 March 2021 be noted.

To guarantee a reply to a question, a question  must be submitted in writing or by electronic mail to democratic.services@iow.gov.uk no later than 10.30am on Monday 26 April 2021. A question may be asked at the meeting without prior notice but in these circumstances there is no guarantee that a full reply will be given at the meeting.

No questions were received.

To note items circulated to committee members since the papers were published for last committee meeting (23 February 2021), for information:

a)    Sent 23 Feb 21: Slides for ESG/RI workshop.

b)    Sent 23 Feb 21: Webinar invitation: Keeping the LGPS connected - Good governance project (25 Feb).

c)    Sent 23 Feb 21: Webinar invitation: Understanding Net Zero: How asset owners can address climate change (9 March).

d)    Sent 26 Feb 21: Legislation laid to revoke the exit cap regulations.

e)    Sent 02 Mar 21: LGPC Bulletin 206.

f)      Sent 05 Mar 21: Hymans Robertson March issue of the Edit.

g)    Sent 05 Mar 21: Hymans Roberts Q1 RI News and Views.

h)    Sent 06 Mar 21: ACCESS Joint Committee papers 8 March 2021.

i)      Sent 17 Mar 21: Webinar invitation: Keeping the LGPS connected - review of the last twelve months. (23 Mar).

j)      Sent 20 Mar 21: TPR Single code of practice consultation.

k)    Sent 22 Mar 21: LGPC Bulletin 207 – annual update.

l)      Sent 22 Mar 21: Hymans LGPS webinar invitations (23 Mar, 25 Mar, 1 Apr).

m)  Sent 24 Mar 21: Webinar invitation: Keeping the LGPS connected - New TPR code of practice (1 Apr).

n)    Sent 06 Apr 21: Recording and slides from AON webinar 25 Mar - New TPR code of practice.

o)    Sent 06 Apr 21: Webinar replay for Hymans’ webinar 1 Apr - New TPR code of practice.

p)    Sent 08 Apr 21: Hymans Robertson April issue of the Edit.

q)    Sent 13 Apr 21: Webinar invitation: Keeping the LGPS connected - preparing for new committee members (1 Apr).

Various items had been circulated to the Committee linking to the activity as reported in the legislation update, a number of webinars had been undertaken with slides and recordings being shared.

 RESOLVED:

THAT the items circulated for members attention be noted.

To consider passing a resolution that, under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business, namely agenda items 10-11 on the grounds that there is likely to be disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act and in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

RESOLVED:

THAT the public and press be excluded.

At the conclusion of the discussion, members adjourned for a 5-minutes comfort break.

To receive a report on employer compliance with reporting deadlines for the year ended 31 March 2021, and to note engagement with employers of the fund.

The Technical Finance Manager advised the Committee on discussions with employers regarding future contributions, these conversations were ongoing and the Section 151 Officer was kept informed.

RESOLVED:

THAT the report be noted.

To receive a report from the ACCESS Joint Committee meeting held on 8 March 2021.

The Technical Finance Manager provided the Committee with an update following the ACCESS joint committee meeting in March 2021. The Chairman advised that the additional resource to increase the size of the ACCESS Support Unit was justified and stated her belief that ACCESS was one of the more successful pools set up under the legislation.

RESOLVED:

THAT the report and appendices be noted.

The Committee expressed thanks to the Technical Finance Manager for the work that had been undertaken in relation to the Pension Fund. The Technical Finance Manager reciprocated with her thanks to the committee members for their support and commitment to the pension committee over their period of office.