Issue - meetings

Report by the Chairman of the Pension Advisory Board.

The Board is asked to note the updates to the Business Plans of the Board and of the Pensions Committee.

21.1     The Board received a report by the Chairman of the Pension Advisory Board (copy appended to the signed minutes).

21.2     The Chairman introduced the report and highlighted Appendix A which was a summary of progress of the Board’s Business Plan.

21.3     The Chairman explained his intention to hold the annual review meetings virtually, and asked Board members to consider their availability for January and February.

21.4     The Board made comments including those that follow.

·         Commented that they had experienced difficulties accessing the Hymans Robertson LGPS Online Learning Academy (LOLA) which had led to delays in completion.

·         Welcomed the LOLA training and asked if there would be more.  – Rachel Wood confirmed that Hymans Robertson would continue to update the content to ensure it remained current.

·         Commented on a recent CIPFA Seminar and how the updates were limited due to the delayed progress with relevant Government processes.

·         Board Members felt it would be useful to all share training slides to each other.  – Vickie Hampshire agreed to ask organisers if this was permitted when training courses were booked.

21.5     Resolved – That the Board notes the updates to the Business Plans of the Board and of the Pensions Committee.

Report by the Director of Finance and Support Services.

The Committee is asked to note the updates on Business Plan activities for 2021/22 and the risk matrix.

21.1     The Committee considered a report by the Director of Finance and Support Services (copy appended to the signed minutes).

21.2     Katharine Eberhart, Director of Finance and Support Services, introduced the report and reported that good progress had been made with employers on the information required for McCloud.  The external auditor had completed their work on the financial statements and confirmed that they gave a true reflection of the fund’s position.

21.3     The Committee made comments including those that follow.

a.    Queried when all the Annual Benefit Statements would be published.  – Katharine Eberhart confirmed that this was being worked on and that work was being done with the relevant employers to achieve as close to 100% completion as possible.

b.    Sought clarity on the role of the Pensions Committee with regard to the financial statements.  – Rachel Wood confirmed that it was the role of the Regulation, Audit and Accounts Committee (RAAC) to approve the statements, but confirmed that the statements had been shared with the Pensions Committee members as part of their training and papers.

c.    Questioned if the gaps in McCloud data was linked to a specific type of employer.  – Rachel Wood confirmed that there was not a specific employer type linked to the gaps in data.

d.    Requested an update on risk RT9 for third-party contracts.  – Rachel Wood confirmed that the risk had been amended as the primary contract for the fund was now with a single provider, rather than a number of fund managers.  As the contract developed there would be more reassurance on this risk this presented to the fund.

e.    Raised concern on the risk level for RT13 for cybercrime.  – The Chairman confirmed that this was a risk for the whole Council and that a lot of work was done in this area to reflect the risk of threat to Council systems.  Katharine Eberhart gave reassurance that specialist advice was sought in this area and that health checks were routinely performed on the Councils systems in order to prepare for attacks as much as possible.  The Chief Information Officer & Head of IT was due to attend an upcoming RAAC meeting to give further context and assurance on the work the Council are doing in this area.

f.     Sought clarity on the recommended order for training completion.  – Rachel Wood confirmed that adherence to MIFID II was important and that the Hymans Robertson LGPS Online Learning Academy (LOLA) should be the priority, followed by external training as recommended by officers.  The Pension Advisory Board also completed the Pensions Regulator toolkit and parity for the Pensions Committee was recommended.  Caroline Burton, Independent Adviser, stressed the importance of maintaining the MIFID II status in order for the fund to be able to continue to invest in the way set out in its investment strategy and receive the level of reporting required for its due diligence. Rachel Wood agreed to re-circulate the LOLA training link to the Committee.

g.    Requested an update on the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 21