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The decisions as the council's minutes record them. A plain-language summary follows once it has been written.
Resolved – Powys Pension Board Minutes and report be noted. .
Resolved – The Pensions Regulator General Code of Practice Report be noted.
Resolved – The Wales Pension Partnership (WPP) be noted.
Resolved – The Data Quality Report be noted.
RESOLVED to exclude the public for the following items of business on the grounds that there would be disclosure to them of exempt information under category 3 of The Local Authorities (Access to Information) (Variation) (Wales) Order 2007).
Apologies received from Jane Thomas (Director of Corporate Services) Dafydd Edwards was welcomed as the Chair of Powys Pension Fund.
A Kennerley, C Kenyon-Wade, D H Williams, E A Jones, and P E Lewis declared interests as members of the Local Government Pensions Scheme. These are personal interests, not prejudicial interests in accordance with Paragraph 12(b) (iv) of the Members Code of Conduct 2016.
The Chair was authorised to sign the minutes of the Pensions and Investment Committee meeting held on 10 July 2024 as a correct record.
Decision as recorded
Resolved – Powys Pension Board Minutes and report be noted. .
The Committee received an update from the Powys Pension Board Chair and noted the Board minutes: 09 July and 02 September 2024. The Chair explained his first meeting was on 02 September 2024 in which the Board had scrutinised many items that appear on the agenda. Resolved – Powys Pension Board Minutes and report be noted. .
The Chair of the Pensions and Investment Committee attended: Date Event Notes 17 July WPP Joint Governance Committee 11-13 September Local Government Chronicles Conference Net zero focused agenda, plus other relevant topics 18 September WPP Joint Governance Committee 18 September WPP Responsible Investment Workshop WPP RI focussed workshop 24-26 September Bailey Gifford Conference Investments training including a focus on Artificial intelligence and the increasing pace of growth
The Committee received the report. The Pension Fund Manager highlighted the following: 2. Scheme Advisory Board (SAB) Updates 2.2 the Annual Report for the Local government Pension Scheme (LGPS) had been published for 2022-2023. 2.3 a meeting would be held on the 14 October with all Pension Committee Chairs regarding pooling consolidation, this has since been re-arranged. 2.4 a positive report had been received from the Government Actuary Department following the 2022 valuation. 2.5 for information only. 2.6 the pace of the consolidation and pooling of funds review had been rapid and a call of evidence by the Government had been completed within the set deadline, thanks given to the Pension Board Chair for additional support. It was expected that the coming months would be resource intensive, the Committee would be kept informed. 2.7 awaiting good governance guidance had been delayed due to a change in Government. 2.8 a statement on Fiduciary Duty had been received. 3.LGPS Updates 3.1 explained the recent Government Minister and Department changes. 3.2 late legislation passed in respect of the annual benefit statement issued each year. The legislation removed the requirement to insert figures around McCloud for this year only. 4. The Pensions Regulator (TPR) 4.1 additional communications were expected in the buildup to the requirement for the LGPS to connect to the Pensions Dashboard ecosystem in October 2025. The intension for the dashboard was for users to obtain all pension information in one site. 5. Pensions Dashboard Programme 5.1 the Pensions Dashboard connection is expected in October 2025 5, in which the Pensions Team were preparing, however, impacts on resources were unknown once the system went live. 6. Risk Register The Pension Board had reviewed the risk register and proposed recommendations It was noted that the risk register within the agenda pack was a previous version and if approved by Committee the new updated report would be circulated. The Chair of the Pension Board confirmed that the report reflected the Boards recommendations accurately. The Pension Fund Manager provided clarification regarding the columns within the report explaining that the current score would be determined if mitigation was not in place. INVEST0008 - a discussion around pooling was held and why it was being reviewed. It was noted that it would look into growth, performance and UK based investments and potential impacts that may be incurred, details were uncertain at this stage and the opportunities that may arise. 7.Breaches Register No new breaches identified . Wording had been reviewed for the report. It was moved and duly seconded to note the report and approve amendments on the Admin Pillar Risk Register. Resolved 1. The Administration and Governance Report be noted, 2. and amendments (Risk Register) approved.
Decision as recorded
Resolved – The Pensions Regulator General Code of Practice Report be noted.
The Committee received the report, the Pension Fund Manager explained the General Code of Practice had been introduced six months ago and reassurance provided that a high-level review against expectations had been undertaken with additional supporting stronger evidence to be provided. The process of the exercise was explained to the Committee and how compliance would be achieved. An additional Powys Pensions Board meeting would be held to further scrutinise the process and provide assurance to the Committee the process was conducted correctly. The Committee were satisfied with the progress made and acknowledged the demands put upon all those involved. Resolved – The Pensions Regulator General Code of Practice Report be noted.
The Committee received the report, the Pension Fund Manager presented the report and explained the document framework used when exercising discretion under the LGPS regulations, it had been reviewed by the Legal Team and provided a list of discretions against the legislation. Examples and further details were provided to the Committee for clarification. It was moved and duly seconded to note and approve the report. Resolved 1. The Administering Authority Discretions Report be noted 2. and the adoption of the discretionary powers policies, as set out in the Appendix be approved.
Decision as recorded
Resolved – The Wales Pension Partnership (WPP) be noted.
The Committee received the report regarding the WPP quarterly update. The Pension Fund Manager highlighted: 2.6 the property portfolio management had been announced, which would be launched shortly with three core pillars:- UK core real estate – Schroders International real estate – CBRE Impact/local real estate – Schroders It was noted that the intention is that up to fifty percent would be local investments with positive impacts on local areas within Wales in the impact/local real estate sub-fund. Concerns were raised that if pools were amalgamated the influence over local investments may weaken. Resolved – The Wales Pension Partnership (WPP) be noted.
Decision as recorded
Resolved – The Data Quality Report be noted.
The Committee received the Data Quality report. The Pension Fund Manager explained that each year data quality testing and monitoring against the expectations of the Pension Regulator were undertaken with an increasing data set. The overall percentage of tests passed for Powys’ common data is 98.5% (98.5% in 2023, 98.3% in 2022 and 97.7% in 2021). The overall percentage of tests passed for Powys’ scheme specific data is 93.46% (93.37% in 2023, 91.95% in 2022 and 91.87% in 2021). 3.1 the amber status of the address data 97.35% indicated that part of an address may be present in a different field that was set by the criteria and therefore failed to register for the report scoring. 4.1 the amber status of the member benefits 85.99% was due to staff having multiple roles within the Council and historical records had been merged. A data cleansing exercise would take place to correct historical data fields . The Pension Board Chair confirmed that scrutiny had taken place by the Board and were reassured that benefits were being correctly checked and calculated before being provided and that older systems were unable to manage multiple roles and records. Resolved – The Data Quality Report be noted.
The Committee received the updated Data Improvement Plan. The Pension Fund Manager explained that minor changes had been made which had been considered by the Pension Board. A question was answered that data was received into the Pension Fund from various sources and 70% of participating employers now send information through the i-connect electronic system which when received was interrogated before entering the Altair system where users can see up to date information. It was moved and duly seconded to note and approved the report. Resolved 1. The Data Improvement Plan be noted, 2. and the content of the updated Data Improvement Plan be approved.
The Committee received the Communications Strategy Statement. The Pension Fund Manager highlighted: The Pension Board had scrutinised the document, last considered in October 2022 and was a requirement under Regulation 61. Minor amendments had been made to ensure that the document was up to date and fit for purpose. Portal updates: Artificial intelligence had been introduced and was able to talk through annual statements with users. A new retirement planning module was now hosted, and the tool helped with retirement planning. It was moved and duly seconded to note and approve the report. Resolved 1. The Communications Strategy Statement be noted, 2. and the latest Communications Strategy Statement in accordance with Regulation 61 of the Local Government Pension Scheme regulations be approved.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED to exclude the public for the following items of business on the grounds that there would be disclosure to them of exempt information under category 3 of The Local Authorities (Access to Information) (Variation) (Wales) Order 2007).
RESOLVED to exclude the public for the following items of business on the grounds that there would be disclosure to them of exempt information under category 3 of The Local Authorities (Access to Information) (Variation) (Wales) Order 2007).
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