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There is no summary of this meeting yet. One is written once the council publishes the minutes. The agenda and papers are below.
1.1 Apologies were received from Councillor Nicholas Simons.
2.1 Members confirmed the following declarations of personal interest: Councillor In Receipt of Pension Contributor Karl Gauden NONE Self, wife, step-daughter and step-daughter’s partner Jon Horlor NONE Self Alan Slade Self Self David Williams Self and wife Self and wife Nathan Yeowell Father and two other family members (aunts) Self 2.2 In addition to the above, Councillor Gauden also declared a personal interest due to his work as a Unison official. 2.3 The PS left the meeting.
3.1 The HoP outlined the report on the Greater Gwent (Torfaen) Pension Fund annual report and accounts 2021/22 and confirmed that it was very positive that the Fund would receive an unqualified audit opinion on the accounts. 3.2 Following approval of the report, the HoP confirmed that the annual report and accounts would be signed by the Chair of Pensions Committee and the Chief Financial Officer, and they were statutorily required to be published on the website by 1 December 2022. 3.3 The HoP provided a brief update on Appendices 1 and 2 of the report. He updated members regarding investments of the Fund and the Wales Pension Partnership (WPP) and confirmed that the value of the Fund had increased to nearly £3.8bn during 2021/22. The Fund was cashflow positive, which was not the case for all pension funds. 3.4 The HoP confirmed that membership numbers had increased during 2021/22, and the volume of work for the Pensions department had increased by over 30% during the year. 3.5 JR added the following headlines from the ISA 260 report: · The outstanding work outlined within paragraph 5 of Appendix 3 of the report was now completed to her satisfaction. · Audit Wales intended to issue an unqualified audit opinion on this year’s accounts, and the Auditor General for Wales was due to sign off the audit on 23 November 2022. · There were no misstatements identified in the accounts, which remained uncorrected and there were a small number of misstatements in the accounts that had now been corrected by management. These were all presentational in nature and the notes affected were notes 7, 9, 14(a), 17(a) and 24. 3.6 JR thanked the HoP and his colleagues for their assistance during the audit process. 3.7 Following a question from the Committee, the HoP confirmed that the 2021/22 financial year preceded the membership of most Pensions Committee members; however consistency from a governance perspective could be seen via Pension Board members, who remained in place from the financial year in question and had commented on the report. He also reminded members of the Committee that they had considered the draft annual report and accounts at their meeting on 3 October 2022. 3.8 On behalf of the Pensions Committee, the Chair thanked Audit Wales and officers of the Fund for their hard work during the audit process and praised the robust position of the Fund. 3.9 The Chair of the Pension Board echoed the sentiments above and confirmed that all of the Pension Board’s questions had been satisfactorily answered regarding the annual report and accounts. 3.10 The Pensions Committee: (i) Approved the Pension Fund Annual Report and Accounts 2021/22; (ii) Endorsed the Chair of Pensions Committee and Chief Financial Officer signing the accounts indicating their approval; and (iii) Endorsed the Chair of Pensions Committee signing the Letter of Representation in respect of the Pension Fund.
4.1 The HoP highlighted the following key headlines during his verbal update: • Under the requirements being led by central government, all local government pension funds would be required to disclose information around climate exposure, strategies, risks and effectiveness of governance. This was already in operation for many private sector pension funds, depending on their size. • The requirements would be mandatory and would be effective from the 2023/24 financial year, with the first reporting date being set for December 2024. • The requirements appeared reasonable, and it was a positive step forward; however clarifications around some of the specific metrics were required and this would form part of the Fund’s response. The Fund was increasingly expanding its capabilities in this area and preparations had begun to ensure that the Fund and the WPP were in a good position to report on this in 12-16 months’ time. • The Fund was required to respond to the consultation by 24 November 2022, and the response would be shared with members of the Pensions Committee. 4.2 The Pensions Committee agreed to note the verbal update.
5.1 The next meeting is scheduled to take place on 12 December 2022. 5.2 The meeting ended at 10.20am.
Councillors must say when they have a personal link to something being discussed, such as a job, a property or a family member. A prejudicial interest is one strong enough that the councillor usually leaves the room and takes no part.
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