Agenda and draft minutes

Members are asked to declare any interest and the nature of that interest which they may have in any of the items under consideration at this meeting.

No interests were declared.

To confirm the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 30 June 2022.

RESOLVED:  The Local Pension Board approved the minutes of the meeting                        held on 30 June 2022.

Members of the Board were asked to note the Action Log (copies of which had been previously circulated). 

RESOLVED:  The Local Pension Board noted the action log.

The Audit Manager presented the report and advised that the audit had assessed the adequacy of design and implementation of controls for the administration of the pension fund. Audit had given a substantial opinion assurance to the control environment in place and a satisfactory assurance opinion for compliance. In carrying out the audit an assessment had been made of the performance on the key performance indicators, the monitoring and reporting of risks. Seven recommendations had been made to ensure compliance and these were set out in section 3.4 of the main report. One recommendation related to the key performance indicators and two recommendations were made regarding reporting of breaches. The actions had been agreed with management and were detailed in the Management Action Plan. The report had been presented to the Pensions Committee who were satisfied that the service was in a positive position going forward.

Further to an enquiry from Councillor Andrew Weatherill regarding the links to the strategic risks and assurance mapping, the Audit Manager advised that the management was undertaken by West Northants Council as clients of the scheme. The Audit team had reviewed the scope of previous audits and the terms of reference had been agreed with the Head of Pensions. Consideration was being given as to how the audit could be more risk based in the future. The Chair considered that an audit should be undertaken on the risk register. It was noted that both Chief Financial Officers signed off on both the funds and the aim was to carry out one audit in the future.

Councillor Andrew Weatherill questioned the effectiveness of the assurance, as the focus of the audit had been on administration and suggested additional expertise may be required. Councillor Weatherill also queried how long the audit had taken. The Audit Manager undertook to provide an answer outside of the meeting.

RESOLVED:

(i)           The Pension Board noted the findings from Internal Audit work during 2021-22.

(ii)         That the Head of Pensions, the Audit Manager and the Section 151 Officers review the risk register and the actions taken to mitigate those risks.

Consideration was given to a report which provided an overview of the administrative activities of the Northamptonshire Pensions Fund. It was highlighted that 100% of contributions from employers of the scheme had been received on time. The fund had been stable for the last 12 months.

A non-material breach had occurred as the annual allowance pension savings statements had not been issued by the statutory deadline of 6 October, they were however sent by 24 October.

It was noted that there was one Internal Dispute Resolution Procedure which had partially been upheld, due to the fact that Member Self Service (MSS) had allowed converted benefits options to be quoted for a pension credit member which is not permitted under the regulations.  Although there was wording to this effect it was deemed appropriate to ensure additional wording was added and made more prominent.

The Governance and Regulations Manager advised that additional information on the key performance indicators was included in the appendices.

Councillor Weatherill noted the two non-material breaches for the annual pension allowance from a control perspective.

RESOLVED:   The Local Pension Board noted the Northamptonshire Pensions                     Fund - Administration Performance Report.

The Governance and Regulations Manager introduced the report and provided an update on the Pension Dashboard Regulations which had been laid before parliament and would be discussed in the House of Lords on the 15 November. The Pensions Team had a draft project plan in place and data quality underpinned the plan.

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities had now launched their Taskforce on Climate related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) consultation and this would be running until 24 November and that the Northamptonshire Pension Fund would be submitting a response.

The Board were informed that the vacant position for ‘other employers’ representative’ to the Pensions Committee had now been filled and therefore the next Pensions Committee would be fully represented.

With regard to the pension regulator code of practice no further information had been received.

Conflict of interest training had been arranged by Officers in conjunction with Aon and the Board were asked to attend if possible. A link would be sent out to those who could not attend. It was noted that a new core module online training system was being considered.

Further to an enquiry, the Head of Pensions advised that the increased in management costs included governance and investment costs; management fees were a percentage of the Assets Under Management. The AUM was subject to fluctuations.

RESOLVED: The Local Pension Board noted the contents of the report.

The Head of Pensions highlighted the RAG status in the executive summary and that there were 5 ambers and 2 new activities.

Following the deterioration of the performance of Prudential, Aon had been commissioned to undertake a further review of both Standard Life and Prudential’s administrative performance. The Pension Committee had approved the review at the meeting of 12 October 2022. Legal and General had recently started providing a service for additional voluntary contributions (avc) and their performance would be monitored. The Chair welcomed another provider in the market which created competition.

The project team were processing the backlog of cases for the undecided leavers, some of the cases were now being processed in bulk which had dramatically increasing the speed of the process.

The Private Equity Review was a new activity for the teamthat would ensure the continued suitability of the portfolio, identify risks and opportunities that needed to be undertaken.  Private equity was a complex issue and had links to the asset pool.

The variances from the forecasted investments and administration expenses were set out in appendix A of the report. The staff vacancies were expected to be filled during the next quarter. Some central costs had not yet been accounted for, such as the procurement of IT equipment, so this would create a variance.

RESOLVED: The Local Pension Board noted the Business Plan Update.

The Governance and Regulations Manager reported that some activities had been moved back such as the code of practice and the good governance action plan. Additional work was being undertaken on the key performance indicators. The administration strategy had been put back to April. The results would flow through the administration strategy.

RESOLVED: The Local Pension Board noted the forward agenda plan.

The following report(s) contain exempt information as defined in the following paragraph(s) of Part 1, Schedule 12A of Local Government Act 1972.

*DELETE AS APPROPRIATE*

Paragraph 1 – Information relating to any individual.

Paragraph 2 – Information which is likely to reveal the identity of an individual.

Paragraph 3 – Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information).

Paragraph 4 – Information relating to any consultations or negotiations, or contemplated consultations or negotiations, in connection with any labour relations matter arising between the authority or a Minister of the Crown and employees of, or office holders under, the authority.

Paragraph 5 – Information in respect of which a claim to legal professional privilege could be maintained in legal proceedings.

Paragraph 6 – Information which reveals that the authority proposes;

a)    To give under any enactment a notice under or by virtue of which requirements are imposed on a person; or

b)    To make an order or direction under any enactment

Paragraph 7 – Information relating to any action taken or to be taken in connection with the prevention, investigation or prosecution of crime.

Members are reminded that whilst the following item(s) have been marked as exempt, it is for the meeting to decide whether or not to consider each of them in private or in public. In making the decision, members should balance the interests of individuals or the Council itself in having access to the information. In considering their discretion members should also be mindful of the advice of Council Officers.

Should Members decide not to make a decision in public, they are recommended to resolve as follows:

“That under Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press be excluded from the meeting for the following item(s) of business on the grounds that, if the public and press were present, it would be likely that exempt information falling under the provisions of Schedule 12A, Part I, Paragraph(s) XXXXX would be disclosed to them, and that in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.”

RESOLVED:  That Under Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, the Local Pension Board agreed that the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that if the public were present it would be likely that exempt information under Part 3 of Schedule 12A to the Act would be disclosed to them.

The Chairman to advise whether they have agreed to any items of urgent business being admitted to the agenda.

RESOLVED: That the January meeting be moved to 24 January 2023.