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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 19 February 2025 were received, approved, and will be signed by the Chairman.
RESOLVED: The Committee approved the draft WPP Business Plan, including the WPP objectives and budget for 2025/26.
RESOLVED: The Committee approved the draft Clwyd Pension Fund Business Plan including the budget for 2025/26, provided that wording is added to the Business Plan to recognise that compensation of staff will be considered as an agenda item at a future meeting.
RESOLVED: The Committee considered and approved the updated Administration Strategy and the new draft Data Quality Policy, and delegated final minor changes to the Pensions Administration Manager.
RESOLVED: a) The Committee considered and noted the update. b) The Committee agreed that the Investment Officer will be added to the nominated officers for the Officer Working Group and that the Delegation of Functions to Officers will be updated accordingly.
RESOLVED: The Committee considered the update and supported the required work on project Snowdon, noting concerns, and request the officers provide a specific report regarding the Fund in sufficient time for proper scrutiny.
RESOLVED: The Committee noted the upcoming Committee dates. The Chairman thanked everyone for their attendance and participation. This was the Committee’s last meeting at County Hall and future meetings are expected to take place at Ty Dewi Sant in Ewloe. The next formal Committee meeting is on 18 June 2025. The meeting finished at 12.12pm.
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. Cllr Wedlake highlighted his previous declaration that he is a member of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign. There were no new declarations.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED: The minutes of 19 February 2025 were received, approved, and will be signed by the Chairman.
The minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 19 February 2025 were agreed. RESOLVED: The minutes of 19 February 2025 were received, approved, and will be signed by the Chairman.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED: The Committee approved the draft WPP Business Plan, including the WPP objectives and budget for 2025/26.
Mr Hughes took the Committee through the key points of this report which was prepared ahead of the Joint Governance Committee (JGC) meeting of 12 March 2025. There were no amendments made to the Wales Pension Partnership (WPP) Business Plan by the JGC so the version included in the agenda pack was the final draft which Committees were asked to approve as a reserved matter for the Constituent Authorities. He highlighted key points for the Fund including Project Snowdon, responsible investment (RI) and engagement on Environment, Social, and Governance issues and climate matters. Costs for 2024/25 have exceeded the initial budget due to additional costs associated with Project Snowdon, in response to the Government’s Fit For Future consultation. The Project Snowdon workstream will continue to March 2026 so is reflected in the increased budget for 2025/26. Costs for the operator and allocator are also expected to increase, in line with increasing assets under pool management going forward. Mr Hibbert asked if increasing advisor costs at a pool level would result in proportionate decrease in advisor costs at a Fund level. Mr Hughes said this appears to be unlikely. RESOLVED: The Committee approved the draft WPP Business Plan, including the WPP objectives and budget for 2025/26.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED: The Committee approved the draft Clwyd Pension Fund Business Plan including the budget for 2025/26, provided that wording is added to the Business Plan to recognise that compensation of staff will be considered as an agenda item at a future meeting.
Mr Latham introduced this item, highlighting key areas of work and considerations for the coming year including national developments. He explained that the Fund’s Senior Management Team will present each area of the report in their new roles although the structure is not yet in place due to delays with job evaluation. He highlighted the uncertainty the Fund faces due to the HMT Pensions Review, and the difficulty in planning for the coming year before the Government’s consultation response. As a result, the budget and cashflow are based on expected costs and may need to be revisited later in the year. He said that due to the support of the Committee, oversight by the Board, guidance from the Advisory Panel, and the talent and dedication of Fund officers, he believed that the Fund was in the best position to meet these challenges head on. Mrs K Williams took the Committee through the key governance actions which aim to reduce key governance risks for the Fund. Mr Hughes took the Committee through the key funding and investment tasks within the Business Plan. Mr Hibbert asked regarding the triennial valuation whether there are any current global events of concern to the Fund. Mr Middleman said that wider events and risks do play a part in discussions around contribution sustainability/affordability. He said the funding position is currently strong and despite short term volatility it is expected that the Fund’s position at the valuation date will be better than at the previous valuation, providing a buffer to help manage wider risks. He said this will be a key objective for the Fund, and surplus management will be critical in the context of managing contribution sustainability given the employer affordability constraints. There are no current concerns but the long term trends will be factored in when contribution rates are set. Mr Hibbert asked regarding Pooling activity and responsible investment, whether the Fund will be able to influence fund managers with respect to responsible investment with passive mandates. Mr Hughes said despite the loss of direct engagement, if screening and exclusions in place on the passive structure are thorough and meet the expectations of members, this is possible, and the Fund is currently in discussion with the Pool and a provider to explore this. He said it is unclear how this will work with the future structure of WPP. Currently the Committee’s views are taken to WPP to seek and develop a solution in partnership with the Constituent Authorities, but how this will be developed for the future WPP investment management company will be for the pool to decide over the coming months. Mr Hughes highlighted the challenges the Fund will face in managing the potential major regulatory and operational changes in relation to pooling and the challenging timescale to implement much of this work by March 2026. Mrs K Williams went through the administration part of the business plan and key tasks. Mrs McWilliam commented on the job evaluation aspect of the Governance key task G1 acknowledging the work that has gone into this but noting it feels a long time ago that the structure was approved and Mrs McWilliam is aware that FCC has a lot of work to do across the Council in the job evaluation area with potentially significant further timescales. This was discussed at the last meeting of the Pension Board, where concern was expressed that this project is delaying the delivery of other work. Mrs McWilliam asked for confirmation of the timescales, and whether FCC HR have confidence that the Fund’s target of June 2025 within the Business Plan can be delivered. Mrs Carney said that she would need to seek an update from the Job Evaluation team noting that there is a waiting list for job evaluation going back 2 years, and the Fund is at the back of this queue. Mrs McWilliam asked if it would be possible to discuss other options for the Fund given the Board’s concerns about the delays, highlighting retention risks for the Fund. Mrs Carney said these risks apply across FCC staff and the timescales are limited by the team of just one person working in job evaluation. Cllr Wedlake said that the administration workload in the business plan appears to be significant without much increase in administration costs, and asked what was restricting officers from allocating more funds to administration. Mrs K Williams explained that the Fund has been proactive in creating a separate budget for project work and resource has been allocated and increased in past years. The teams are now established and well resourced, so it was felt that further increase is not necessary at this time. Additionally, there are a number of uncertain areas of work in the future, and officers recognise that while there is not a need to recruit currently while the workload and timescales are unknown, there may be a need to increase budget later on, once more information is available and there are clearer expectations of requirements. Cllr Wedlake said that he felt there is a lower threat in over-resourcing for a time, than to under-provide and have to request more resource later, due to potential strain on the team. Mr Hibbert noted that while the Fund is limited by pay constraints applying to FCC, the new WPP company being established will not suffer from the same limitations on salary, which poses a recruitment and retention risk in the near future. Mr Ettles said that the overall theme of the business plan was well focused on management of risks while the Fund enters a challenging and uncertain period. He felt the business plan was well placed to support members over the coming years. Cllr Rutherford said that the Committee has discussed resource and understaffing issues for a number of years, long before the McCloud judgement, and despite this Fund officers are still not correctly recompensed for their work which was disappointing and concerning. Cllr Rutherford highlighted the retention risk and potential loss of staff, and his concerns about the risk this introduces noting that this has been a key issue for a number of years and was disappointed to see it continue into 2026. Mr Hibbert highlighted that in his view the Fund is currently heavily reliant on individual resilience without organisational support. The Chair said Committee will raise an agenda item at a future meeting in order to explore this subject in more detail. Mr Bateman took the Committee through the main points of the cashflow and operating costs budget. Cllr Rutherford suggested the Committee’s decision on this item be agreed subject to bringing forward a future agenda item on staffing, as discussed. Cllr Palmer agreed with this proposal. Mr Emmerson of Aon suggested that a line could be added to the Business Plan to reflect the intention for a further discussion at a future, and the Business Plan could be approved on that basis. The Committee agreed this approach. RESOLVED: The Committee approved the draft Clwyd Pension Fund Business Plan including the budget for 2025/26, provided that wording is added to the Business Plan to recognise that compensation of staff will be considered as an agenda item at a future meeting.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED: The Committee considered and approved the updated Administration Strategy and the new draft Data Quality Policy, and delegated final minor changes to the Pensions Administration Manager.
Mrs K Williams presented proposed changes to the administration strategy, and outlined the new data quality policy, which covers security, quality, and cleansing of data, and aims to achieve the objectives set out in the administration strategy. This policy is timely given the launch of the dashboard project. Cllr Rose noted the provision on page 102 stating the fund may consider outsourcing administration services. He asked whether this is a backup option for exceptional circumstances or if the Fund anticipates using this. Mrs K Williams said this is a last resort if all other options fall through and the Fund is not able to retain or recruit staff internally. RESOLVED: The Committee considered and approved the updated Administration Strategy and the new draft Data Quality Policy, and delegated final minor changes to the Pensions Administration Manager.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED: a) The Committee considered and noted the update. b) The Committee agreed that the Investment Officer will be added to the nominated officers for the Officer Working Group and that the Delegation of Functions to Officers will be updated accordingly.
Mr Latham explained that this item is mainly for noting, however a full investment report will be provided at the next meeting in June. He highlighted that Mr I Hughes has now moved into the Investment Officer role and the Committee are now asked to formalise his role being nominated to the WPP Officer Working Group, which the Deputy Head of Fund previously sat on under the old management structure. RESOLVED: a) The Committee considered and noted the update. b) The Committee agreed that the Investment Officer will be added to the nominated officers for the Officer Working Group and that the Delegation of Functions to Officers will be updated accordingly.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED: The Committee considered the update and supported the required work on project Snowdon, noting concerns, and request the officers provide a specific report regarding the Fund in sufficient time for proper scrutiny.
Mr Latham presented this item. He outlined the background to the project including the HMT Pensions Review and the requirement for the Wales Pension Partnership to build an FCA regulated company (WPP IM Co) in order to retain an all-Wales pool. The WPP’s business case to meet these requirements was provided to the Government on 28 February 2025, and the WPP JGC retrospectively approved this on 12 March 2025. He highlighted the long term aspirations and implementation plan, and the governance around how work will be approved by the WPP constituent authorities. Mr Hibbert said he acknowledges the amount and quality of work being undertaken by officers, however this has not dissuaded his concerns. He said the report received by Committee is a business case for establishing WPP IM Co, however the Committee has not received a business case for CPF to transfer all assets to WPP IM Co. He expressed concerns over the costs to the Fund of transferring assets and did not feel assured of governance arrangements or management in line with the Fund’s expectations for responsible investment. He said the Fund required exact costs going forward, and whether they will be recouped in reduced fees and transaction costs, in order to ensure fiduciary duty is met before making a decision on whether or not the Fund will go forward with the proposals. He said it is unclear what the consequences would be if that were the case, but the possibility of Government directing the Fund to pool in future should not be a factor in the Fund’s decision. There was some further discussion around the level of the costs presented within the report and the benefits of the Fund in remaining with an all Wales pool. Concerns were raised that costs may be too low, and that it is not clear that these could be recouped by lower expenses going forward. Mr Latham noted that the Government’s response to the consultation has not yet been received so the exact position is not known. Mr. Hibbert stressed that decisions must be made based on the facts, not on expectations. Mr Latham clarified that the Committee is asked for its continued support rather than to make a decision at this early stage. He said that he will feed back to WPP to ensure the Committee’s concerns are understood and addressed in due course. Information is currently limited but before a request is made for Committee approval, a more detailed report will be provided to all eight constituent authorities. Mr Latham confirmed there will be a report setting out what the changes would mean for CPF including costs, once the project is in a position to do this. He said he understands the concerns regarding fiduciary duty however more time is needed to fully address them. Cllr Palmer and Cllr Mullin confirmed they fully support the project at this stage, while information is being gathered, so that a way forward can actively be sought. Cllr Mullin said it is also essential to know exactly what the project will mean for the Fund in due course. Cllr Wedlake noted that in his view a significant change shouldn’t be pushed through in favour of an all Wales approach because it is a fiduciary duty matter. He recognised that the information is not yet available, but said the Fund should state its expectation for receiving that information before making a final decision. Mr Latham said the discussion has given a clear message which he and the Chair can feed back to WPP. He highlighted the WPP ‘Project Snowdon Briefing’ training session taking place on Monday 24 March, which Members may wish to attend. He said that he and the Investment Officer are working in the interest the Fund and to ensure the Committee’s needs are met. Mr Latham reminded members that while Committee’s support is needed, it will then be for Flintshire County Council to ultimately make a decision, and a key part of Project Snowdon will be considering how this is communicated to councils, acknowledging they may share the Committee’s concerns. He said more information will be provided through this work as well. The Chair suggested the Committee consider the update and support the required work on project Snowdon, noting concerns, and request the officers provide a specific report regarding the Fund in sufficient time for proper scrutiny. This was proposed and seconded. RESOLVED: The Committee considered the update and supported the required work on project Snowdon, noting concerns, and request the officers provide a specific report regarding the Fund in sufficient time for proper scrutiny.
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 thanked everyone for their attendance and participation. This was the Committee’s last meeting at County Hall and future meetings are expected to take place at Ty Dewi Sant in Ewloe. The next formal Committee meeting is on 18 June 2025. The meeting finished at 12.12pm.
The Chairman asked the Committee to note the following future Committee meetings: 9.30 am on Wednesday 18 June 2025 Further Committee dates will be agreed following the Council’s AGM in May. RESOLVED: The Committee noted the upcoming Committee dates. The Chairman thanked everyone for their attendance and participation. This was the Committee’s last meeting at County Hall and future meetings are expected to take place at Ty Dewi Sant in Ewloe. The next formal Committee meeting is on 18 June 2025. The meeting finished at 12.12pm.
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