Agenda and minutes

To note any changes to the membership of the Committee.

There were no changes to the membership of the Committee.

To note the attendance of any non-members of the Committee.

Barry Reed (Local Pension Board member) and substitute members of the Committee, Cllr Bill Moss and Cllr Gordon King were in attendance.

To receive any apologies for absence or substitutions for the meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from Linda Stuart, Cllr Steve Weisinger, Cllr Steve Allsopp and Howard Pearce (Chairman of the Local Pension Board).

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

There were no declarations of interest.

To receive any announcements through the Chairman.

There were no Chairman’s Announcements.

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 above 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 above (acting on behalf of the Corporate Director), no later than 5pm on Monday 25 January 2016. Please contact the officer named on the first page 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.

There was no public participation.

A report proposes a response from the Wiltshire Pension Fund to the Government’s consultation on the amendments to the Local Government Pension Scheme Investment Regulations for approval by the Committee. 

A report proposed a response from the Wiltshire Pension Fund to the Government’s consultation on the amendments to the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) Investment Regulations for consideration by the Committee.

The Chairman thanked Catherine Dix, Strategic Pension Manager, for the detailed and thorough response she had prepared to the consultation. It was noted that the proposed new Investment Regulations would give the Secretary of State the power to intervene in Funds to ensure they were pooling their assets.

On Question 1 in the response letter the Committee requested that it be highlighted in the response that the Fund did not wish to see an increased cost incurred from increased use of consultants arising from the deregulation. On Question 2, the Chairman was concerned as to whether the ‘Myners principles’ would be known to the Government officers, however officers reassured that this terminology would be known to them and offered to include a hyperlink to this term in the response if appropriate. 

The Committee discussed Question 3, on whether six months was the appropriate period for the transitional arrangements to remain in place, and was reassured by officers that this should be sufficient time since the Investment Strategy Statement would contain similar information to the Fund’s existing Statement of Investment Principles.

Members agreed that Question 4 on derivatives was a very pertinent question and the Fund’s advisors agreed that clarification was needed on whether hedge funds would be a permitted investment under the new Regulations. Officers agreed to make this question explicit in their response letter. On the matter of evidence required for Secretary of State intervention discussed in Question 5, the Committee considered that an adverse report from the Pension Fund should be included in the list. On discussion of Question 6 the Committee requested that it be stressed that a timescale be included in the Regulations for Authorities to review their Investment Strategy Statement or to provide evidence following consultation by the Secretary of State (SoS) and that Wiltshire recommended a timescale of 2 months. Questions were raised over Question 7 and whether SoS intervention would be in line with the Fund’s investment strategy or whether the Fund could be instructed to update its investment strategy at the request of the SoS. It was agreed that the proposed response addressed the fact that it was unclear what form intervention would look like. Members considered Question 8 and the suggested response that clear guidance was vital and agreed priority should be given to immediately preparing best practice guidance.

The conclusion to the response letter was debated and members asked that an amendment be made to reflect that the Fund expected a response to its feedback and answers to questions raised by 1 April 2016, as a delayed  response could affect the July deadline for detailed submissions on pooling.

Resolved:

To agree the proposed consultation response subject to the following amendments:

·         That under Q1, it be highlighted that the Fund does not expect to incur additional  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

To note that the next ordinary meeting of the Committee will be held on Thursday 10 March 2016.

The next ordinary meeting of the Committee was to be held on 10 March 2016.

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 Number 11  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.

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 Number 11 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.

A confidential report outlines the current options with regards to pooling of assets in the South West and proposes a draft response to the Government’s consultation for Committee’s approval.

A confidential report outlined the current options with regards to pooling of assets in the South West and proposed a draft response to the Government’s consultation for Committee’s consideration.

Resolved:

a) to support the proposed submission to DCLG in response to the Government’s LGPS Investment Reforms consultation as outlined in Appendix 1; and

b) to authorise the Chairman of the Pension Committee to sign the accompanying letter, as amended, on behalf of the Fund in support of the Project Brunel proposal.