Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies or substitutions for the meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Nick Botterill and Cllr Robert Yuill.

Councillor Gavin Grant joined the meeting in a hybrid capacity via Microsoft Teams and would therefore not be able to exercise voting rights.

The Chairman also noted that Employer Body Representative, Jodie Smart had resigned from the Committee following acceptance of a new position.

To approve and sign as a true and correct record the Part I (public) minutes of the previous meeting held on 12 December 2024.

The minutes of the meeting held on 12 December 2024 were presented for consideration.

After which, it was,

Resolved:

To approve and sign the minutes as a true and correct record.

To receive any declarations of disclosable interests or dispensations granted by the Standards Committee.

There were no declarations of disclosable interests.

To receive any announcements through the Chairman.

The Chairman noted that he planned for the meeting to have a 1pm finish due to the room being required for the use of another Committee thereafter.

To review progress on any actions requested by the Committee in previous meetings.

The Committee reviewed the actions arising from previous meetings.

The Council welcomes contributions from members of the public.

Statements

If you would like to make a statement at this meeting on any item on this agenda, please register to do so at least 10 minutes prior to the meeting. Up to 3 speakers are permitted to speak for up to 3 minutes each on any agenda item. Please contact the officer named on the front of the agenda for any further clarification.

Questions

To receive any questions from members of the public or members of the Council received in accordance with the constitution.

Those wishing to ask questions are required to give notice of any such questions in writing to the officer named on the front of this agenda no later than 5pm on Thursday 27 February in order to be guaranteed of a written response. In order to receive a verbal response, questions must be submitted no later than 5pm on Monday 3 March. Please contact the officer named on the front of this agenda for further advice. Questions may be asked without notice if the Chairman decides that the matter is urgent.

Details of any questions received will be circulated to Committee members prior to the meeting and made available at the meeting and on the Council’s website.

No statements or questions were submitted.

The Investment and Accounting Team Lead to present a report on the Fund’s quarterly responsible investment performance.

Chris Moore, Investment and Accounting Team Lead presented a report on the Fund’s quarterly responsible investment performance. The report included, but was not limited to that there had been positive progress against the actions in the Responsible Investment Plan 2024/25. The report also highlighted items requiring attention for the year ahead as well as bring attention to the recent Employer’s Survey, Stewardship Report and Responsible Investment. It was also noted that that the LGPS Scheme Advisory Board (SAB) in January 2025 received an updated opinion from Nigel Griffin KC on fiduciary duty in the context of the LGPS, within the report were highlights considered to be most relevant to the Committee.

The Committee discussed the report with a discussion taking place relating to BP and whether their turn away from renewable investments would require the Fund to review its current investments; to which it was noted that the Fund was not exposed to BP however it does review its fossil fuel exposure and Redington would be providing an assessment report. It was also noted that the Fund had made requests to Brunel to divest from such companies however this would not be possible alone, however the Fund would be producing a climate report which would include reference to a number of companies invested in fossil fuels. The discussion also included reference to recent geopolitical events in America and how the impact this could have on sustainable investments. The ability of the Fund to influence Brunel was discussed, including that there was a Responsible Investment Subgroup, where the views of the Fund were represented to Brunel.

Clarity was sought regarding the process for how specific reports were required to be brought to Committee for sign off before publication whereas others did not. It was suggested by Officers that following the local election and start of the new Committee there would be an opportunity to clarify this process and establish a formal understanding. It was also noted that Officers would be considering the mapping of the forward work plan.

It was suggested that an item be brought to the Committee in regard to how voting rights were exercised as well as an item relating to fiduciary duty.

At the conclusion of debate, it was,

Resolved:

The Committee agreed to:

a)    Use this report as a basis for monitoring the progress that is being made towards implementing responsible investment policy.

b)    Note the progress made against the Responsible Investment Plan 2024/25 actions

c)    Approve the Responsible Investment Plan 2025/26.

d)    Approve that officers should draft policy wording around local investment should an allocation be made, for inclusion in the Responsible Investment Policy 2025.

To determine the date of the next Committee meeting dates:

·       Administration focused meeting – 20 March 2025

·       Investment focused meeting – 19 June 2025

The following dates of the next meetings were confirmed:

·       Administration focused meeting – 20 March 2025

·       Investment focused meeting – 19 June 2025

Any other items of business which, in the opinion of the Chairman, should be considered as a matter of urgency. Urgent items of a confidential nature may be considered under Part II of this agenda.

There were no urgent items.

To consider passing the following resolution:

To agree that in accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 to exclude the public from the meeting for the business specified in Item Numbers 11 – 14  because it is likely that if members of the public were present there would be disclosure to them of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 1 & 3 of Part I of Schedule 12A to the Act and the public interest in withholding the information outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information to the public.

It was,

Resolved:

To agree that in accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 to exclude the public from the meeting for the business specified in Minute Numbers 11 – 14 because it is likely that if members of the public were present there would be disclosure to them of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 1 & 3 of Part I of Schedule 12A to the Act and the public interest in withholding the information outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information to the public.

To approve and sign as a true and correct record the Part II (private) minutes of the previous meeting held on 12 December 2024.

The private minutes of the meeting held on 12 December 2024 were presented for consideration. The Chairman requested in relation to the previous meeting, that an update be brought to the Committee in relation to the conclusions drawn by the Scheme Advisory Board.

After which it was,

Resolved:

To approve and sign the minutes as a true and correct record.

To receive a training session provided by Redington.

The Committee received a training session provided by representatives of Redington.

Officers, alongside Redington, Newcore Capital, and Rebalance Earth, to deliver training on Local Investing.

The Committee received a training session provided by officers, representatives of Redington, Newcore Capital, and Rebalance Earth, to deliver training on Local Investing.

The Investment and Accounting Team Lead to present a report on the Fund quarterly investment performance.

This item was taken ahead of Items 12 and 13.

Chris Moore, Investment and Accounting Team Lead presented a report on the Fund quarterly investment performance.

At the conclusion of debate, it was,

Resolved:

The Committee agreed to:

• Use the investment reports and the update provided by officers and advisers at the meeting as a basis for monitoring the investment performance and implementation of the strategic asset allocation.
• Approve the approach set out in paragraphs 32 - 34 of this paper to progress the commitment to the Natural Capital Fund to fulfil the nature-based allocation of the Clops portfolio.