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The decisions as the council's minutes record them. A plain-language summary follows once it has been written.
RESOLVED: The minutes of 27 November 2024 were received, approved, and will be signed by the Chairman.
RESOLVED: The Committee: a) Considered and commented on the update. b) Reviewed and approved the updated Knowledge and Skills Policy, and agreed to highlight by 28 February 2025 any specific subject matters, or knowledge and skills gaps, so that they can be included in next year’s training plan; c) Reviewed and approved the updated Procedure for Recording and Reporting Breaches of the Law / Late Payment of Contributions by an Employer.
RESOLVED: The Committee: a) Considered and commented on the update. b) Approved the proposed amendments to timescales for the “Implementation of Survivor Benefits” into 2025/26. c) Approved the review of the structure and content of the Fund’s non-administration areas of the website including videos into 2025/26.
RESOLVED: The Committee noted the upcoming Committee dates.
The Chair invited attendees to declare any potential conflicts of interest that they may have in relation to the Fund, other than those already recorded in the Fund’s register. There were no new declarations.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED: The minutes of 27 November 2024 were received, approved, and will be signed by the Chairman.
Mr Hibbert said regarding page 9, his comment on the difference between investing a company and in credit respectively was made in irony as opposed to needing clarification, and his point was that there is no difference other than the lack of shareholder influence through credit. The minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 27 November 2024 were agreed. RESOLVED: The minutes of 27 November 2024 were received, approved, and will be signed by the Chairman.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED: The Committee: a) Considered and commented on the update. b) Reviewed and approved the updated Knowledge and Skills Policy, and agreed to highlight by 28 February 2025 any specific subject matters, or knowledge and skills gaps, so that they can be included in next year’s training plan; c) Reviewed and approved the updated Procedure for Recording and Reporting Breaches of the Law / Late Payment of Contributions by an Employer.
Mr Emmerson took the Committee through the key points of this report including: - Progress against the business plan, highlighting that Mrs Elaine Williams was reappointed to the position of Scheme Member Representative following a competitive appointment process with numerous applicants which demonstrated strong engagement with the Fund from the membership as a whole. - Changes to the risk register. Due to national developments, risk statuses have been increased across a number of Governance risks to reflect the lack of clarity around decision making, the technical nature of the proposals requiring enhanced knowledge by officers and Committee members and the availability of information, the challenging project timescale, and uncertainty around whether the new WPP arrangements will be able to support the Fund’s current investment strategy. Mr Emmerson noted that feedback was received from Mr Hibbert prior to the meeting regarding Risk 1, and proposed that in order to better reflect the nature of the risk, the wording will subsequently be updated to ‘Committee decision-making leads to an outcome which is ultimately disadvantageous to the Fund, even where the decision-making process was appropriate, but for example, made in the absence of full information being available at the time’. - Regulatory and guidance changes including the updated Funding Strategy Statement guidance, and the further legal advice received by the Scheme Advisory Board regarding fiduciary duty within the LGPS. - The Graduate Investment Trainee recently achieved the CFA UK Certificate in Investment Management and subsequently will be promoted to Investment Officer. This has lowered the risk regarding having the appropriate people in place with appropriate qualifications. The Chair congratulated Mr Hughes on this achievement. - Changes to the Knowledge and Skills policy, including that Committee members are asked to highlight to the Governance Administration Assistant any training areas they would like to see included in the 2025/26 training plan. Mr Hibbert suggested circulating a list of areas for Committee members to choose from, and Mr Emmerson said this will be arranged. - Changes to the breaches procedure, reminding members to ensure they read the procedure and note their individual legal responsibilities. Mr Hibbert asked if the law expects all individuals to report a breach when it is reported to Committee. Mr Emmerson said that multiple individual reports are not required, members simply need to be satisfied that a report has been made, and if a breach is reported to the Regulator this would also be reported to Committee. RESOLVED: The Committee: a) Considered and commented on the update. b) Reviewed and approved the updated Knowledge and Skills Policy, and agreed to highlight by 28 February 2025 any specific subject matters, or knowledge and skills gaps, so that they can be included in next year’s training plan; c) Reviewed and approved the updated Procedure for Recording and Reporting Breaches of the Law / Late Payment of Contributions by an Employer.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED: The Committee: a) Considered and commented on the update. b) Approved the proposed amendments to timescales for the “Implementation of Survivor Benefits” into 2025/26. c) Approved the review of the structure and content of the Fund’s non-administration areas of the website including videos into 2025/26.
Mrs K Williams took the Committee through this report. She presented the progress against the business plan, including: - Extension of timescales for the implementation of survivor benefit changes due to outstanding regulations relating to the Goodwin ruling, and delays relating to the Elmes vs Essex case due to difficulty tracing cohabiting partners of deceased members who may be eligible for a survivor’s pension. - Extension of the timescale for the review of the non-administrative functions of the Fund’s website. - The review of the administration strategy, which will be brought to March Committee for approval. - An update on communications and changes to how the Fund’s website will be hosted in future. Cllr Rose asked if any period of down-time for member access is expected as part of the changes to the website. Mrs K Williams explained that the intention is to build the new website prior to the current website being shut down to prevent any down-time, and there will be no change to the website’s appearance so the member experience should be unchanged by this work. Cllr Wedlake said he appreciates the need to await guidance before implementing changes to survivor benefits but noted that some work is already being undertaken and asked if this has given a suggestion of the number of members or their survivors who may be affected and the potential financial impact on those individuals. Mrs K Williams said the numbers of members who passed away over the relevant period are relatively low, and while the full eligibility criteria have not yet been established, it is expected that fewer than 20 individuals will be impacted. She said that eligible survivors would not have previously known they were entitled to the benefit, but all benefits will be backdated to when the member passed away and any arrears paid. Mrs K Williams took the Committee through updates on the McCloud Project, and the Pensions Dashboard project including the Pensions Dashboard Project Management Group (PMG) which has been set up and begun meeting to consider and implement the requirements and ensure proper governance. She highlighted the ongoing data matching and cleansing exercises with the Fund’s Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVC) providers, and the options for how that data is presented to members on the dashboard. Mr Hibbert asked who is responsible for the AVCs with respect to the Dashboard Project. Mrs K Williams explained that while there are three options available, the LGA has recommended that funds take responsibility in order to make the information easier for members to navigate. The PMG will consider the advantages and disadvantages of the three options, along with the preferences of other LGPS funds which the Fund has engaged with. Mrs K Williams updated Committee on the Councillor’s section of the member self-service (MSS) website which is now live, employer engagement including seeking to engage with members who have opted out of the scheme through their employers, and performance statistics. Mr Ettles said that Aon is supportive of the work undertaken by the administration teams to engage with employers in order to make members aware of the value of the scheme. Mr Hibbert asked how much the online benefits projections on the MSS website might be saving the Fund in time and money, compared to the administration team processing these individually. Mrs K Williams said she did not have this data but that it typically takes an hour to make and check an estimate, although the online tool is flexible in allowing members to run multiple projections for different scenarios whereas members phoning in might not make as many requests in practice. Mr Hibbert asked if the team could compare reports from before and after this tool was available, and Mrs K Williams said this will be looked at and provided. Mrs K Williams highlighted the Government’s consultation on expanding the scope of inheritance tax to include pensions death benefits, which the Fund responded to individually as well as feeding into a collaborative response with other Welsh funds. She also highlighted risk management, resourcing and staffing, and thanked the Committee for their support in growing the administration team through recruitment exercises to manage national pay awards and regulatory changes while improving the service for scheme members. Cllr Wedlake said that he has used the online MSS functionality as a Councillor scheme member which gave him a wider view of the member experience, and he found the report to be thorough and did not leave him with any questions. Cllr Shallcross noted budgetary pressures faced by Flintshire County Council (FCC) and asked if the Fund uses a separate recruitment model from the Council. Mrs K Williams explained that the Committee makes decisions on the Fund’s budget and can give approval for additional resource. Officers are aware and considerate of recruitment freezes in other areas of the Council and do not take recruitment decisions lightly. FCC’s redeployment list is referred to first before vacancies are advertised externally. She confirmed that the Fund’s recruitment is slightly different from the rest of the Council, and this is purely due to the way the budget is approved. Mrs Carney confirmed that the Fund is exempt from the Council’s corporate vacancy policy for the reasons set out above. RESOLVED: The Committee: a) Considered and commented on the update. b) Approved the proposed amendments to timescales for the “Implementation of Survivor Benefits” into 2025/26. c) Approved the review of the structure and content of the Fund’s non-administration areas of the website including videos into 2025/26.
RESOLVED: That the press and public be excluded for the remainder of the meeting by virtue of exempt information under Paragraph 18 of Part 4 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).
RESOLVED: That the press and public be excluded for the remainder of the meeting by virtue of exempt information under Paragraph 14 of Part 4 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED: The Committee noted the upcoming Committee dates.
The Chairman asked the Committee to note the following future Committee meetings: 9.30 am on Wednesday 19 March 2025 9.30 am on Wednesday 18 June 2025 RESOLVED: The Committee noted the upcoming Committee dates.
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