Agenda item

Areport for the committee’s ongoing oversight of:

·        Scheme, Regulatory, Legal and Fund Update

·        Risk Register

·        Administration KPI update – 1 December 2022 to 28 February 2023

a)     Outsourcing update

b)     McCloud & Dashboard update

·        Fund Audits

a)     SWAP Audit update 2022/23

·        Training and effectiveness review update

Please note that Appendix 4 (Audit Actions Log) will be published as a later agenda supplement.

Jennifer Devine, Head of Wiltshire Pension Fund, supported by other officers presented the Headlines and Monitoring report. The report included consideration of the risk register, key performance indicators, and other updates to enable the Committee to monitor relevant aspects of the Fund. Information was also provided on the outsourced projects taking place by Hymans and Aon.

An update was provided on the collapse of the Silicon Valley Bank and how this would impact on Pension Funds, with reassurance provided that the Fund had not incurred any wider losses because of the event at this time.

The Committee discussed the risk register, with queries raised that the Committee had been receiving a different version of the register compared to the Board. It was noted that there was a slight difference in focus, with Committee Members wanting to see more strategic risks and that the Board would comment on risk ratings and make recommendations to the Committee. It was suggested that it could be positive if the items in the risk register could be time bound with indications of when risks could be resolved.

There was discussion regarding audit, with it noted that an internal audit had been completed in November 2022, which had seen an improvement from no assurance in March 2022 to limited assurance. Details were provided on the recommendations within the new action log. It was noted that actions with a target date 31 March had been completed and those with a target date of 30 April were nearing completion. Additionally, regarding the approval of the Business Plan, it was suggested that there might be changes to target dates based on the decisions of the committee.

Regarding the training and effectiveness review, which had been conducted by Hymans, Members were thanked were they had completed both reviews. Details were provided of the 2023/2024 training plan for approval of the committee. It was suggested that training should be conducted in an environment separate to that of a meeting.

An update was provided on Regulatory, Legal and Fund matters which had been remodelled in line with the strategic risks of the Fund.  It was noted that the Retained EU Law Bill would be considered during 2023 which had a sunset clause at the end of this year. During 2023 all EU laws would be reviewed by ministers, with a view to determining which would be retained or be no longer binding. It was anticipated that up to 4,000 pieces of legislation could affect pension Fund’s and officers would appraise themselves of legislation for consideration that might have an impact on how the pension Fund is run.

At the conclusion of debate, it was,

Resolved:

The Committee:

a) Approved the risk register recommendations made by the Board and the officer assessment of risk as presented in the February version of the risk register. Noting the request for time bound resolutions:

b) Approve the changes in SWAP Audit target dates, notably Action 7 within that actions log and those adjusted by the approval of the new business plan:

c) Deferred to approve the member training plan for 2023/24 (Appendix 7) until further discussions had taken place:

d) Approve the proportionate implementation of effectiveness review changes outlined in Hyman’s report and 15(i) in the officer report to members.