Agenda and minutes

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

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr George Jeans and Lizzie Watkin.

To approve and sign the Part I minutes of the Investment focused Committee meeting on 23 November 2023.

The minutes of the meeting held on 23 November 2023 were presented for consideration, and 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.

There were no Chairman’s Announcements.

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

The Committee reviewed the list of ongoing actions.

All Local Pension Board minutes to date were presented at the 23 November Committee meeting.

All Local Pension Board minutes to date were presented at the 23 November Committee meeting.

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 7 December 2023 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 11 December 2023. 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.

An update by the Investment and Accounting Team Lead concerning the operational accounting arrangements, to include budget monitoring.

Chris Moore, Investment and Accounting Team Lead, presented an update concerning the operational accounting arrangements, which also included budget monitoring. The update included that the final sign off for the full Wiltshire Council Accounts for 2019/20, 2020/21 and 2021/22 continued to be delayed. Additionally, work had been conducted on the accounts and annual report for 2022/23, however work had recently paused, with the auditors being chased for a progress update.

It was outlined that the new Evolve system went live in November 2023, however this had since changed from green to amber on the quarterly financial performance dashboard as the reconciliation and implementation of the system had not been smooth and had caused significant problems to the accounting team. Issues had included that the team had been unable to post journals and daily processes, however this was now possible.

Detail was provided regarding cashflow, banking and capital calls that the single approval limit for payments had been an issue due to the Council accounts not being signed off therefore meaning the limit could not be increased. The Treasury team in the Council had however provided an update that progress had been made and changes are expected to be applied to the limit.

Reference was made to the budget forecast, with it noted that there was a forecast overspend of £44k against the original budget. This overspend includes an additional £49k of costs approved by Committee for the new office space. An additional cost of £50,000 is also forecast should the Committee approve the recommendation for investment in the Climate Opportunities Portfolio. It was noted that previously there had been uncertainty with the budget regarding the pay award, however this had now come to fruition in line with what was budgeted for, therefore meaning the cost risk was removed.

Detail was provided that since writing the report, one of the employers in the Fund was experiencing insolvency, with officers set to work with the company to work out what will happen in due course.

The Committee discussed the update, which included reference to the Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service Financial Audit Committee who had had concerns about information not being provided for auditing purposes. It was stated that this could potentially be related to the external auditors as the Fund had provided all that it could to the auditors.

Clarity was provided regarding mismatched records between Altair and SAP payroll and that though the difference had come down in February and March, this had increased in April due to the way the pension increase was applied to members.

It was questioned regarding the performance dashboard, whether payroll should be rated as a red rather than amber due to the experience of implementation. It was clarified this was treated as two separate issues with it rated red in the risk register but amber for progress made to align the two systems.

A question was posed regarding employer contributions as to why there were big variants and sudden peaks in June 2023  ...  view the full minutes text for item 150.

The Fund Governance Manager will present the results of SWAP’s Key Performance Indicator audits conducted in November.

Please note this report will follow as a supplement.

Richard Bullen, Fund Governance Manager, presented the results of SWAP’s Key Performance Indicator audits conducted in November. The presentation included that it had been a request of the Chairmen of the Committee and Board for KPIs to be audited to and provide insight as to whether reporting was operating in a consistent manner. SWAP had since completed the audit and provided reasonable assurance with 4 management actions identified.

It was noted that the one of the management points related to data extraction which is manually copied, and an action identified to improve the process and remove human error. The second point raised was regarding data accuracy, particularly in relation to opening and closing balances, with it highlighted in the previous Key Controls review that there were inaccuracies in the KPI data for aggregations and KPI work. It was however noted that this had since improved over the course of the year since March.

Other supplementary issues and observations included that the pensions administration strategy document which was currently being reviewed to ensure consistency and to make sure that reporting was improved based on feedback from members. Following the completed audit, an actions log would be created to conclude the recommendations made by SWAP.

The Committee discussed the update, with clarity provided on the use of pivot tables and Tableau to generate data, which is then put into spreadsheets.

At the conclusion of debate, it was,

Resolved:

The Committee agreed to:

·       Note the SWAP Audit Report 2024.

The Fund Governance Manager will present a draft audit plan for the Fund for the scheme year 2024/25 for approval.

Richard Bullen, Fund Governance Manager, presented a draft audit plan for the Fund for the scheme year 2024/25. The plan included recommendations split between standard audits and audits of fund innovations, progress improvements and new regulations. Detail was provided that it had been hoped that the new Pension Regulator Code of Practice would have been in place by now, however this was likely to be delayed until April 2024. As the Fund had not been audited on its compliance against the Code of Practice this year, the Fund would assess itself against the old code and ask SWAP to audit itself against that. An internal audit could then be undertaken on implementation of the new code once in place.

An update was provided regarding the Phase II Payroll Migration Audit, and the audit scope being prepared by SWAP. Regarding the Fraud case this year, it was stated that an audit was desired to determine whether exceptional circumstances exist for the Fund to adopt its own policy which supplements the Council’s whistleblowing policy and arrangements.

The Committee discussed the update, with comments received but not limited to that it was perceived that the internal audit work looked thin, to which officers noted that a lot of work would be picked up by a full KFC audit next year and that the Fund was looking to introduce a customer service excellence project. These would take into account internal controls and consideration of how customers are treated.

Regarding the SWAP workload, it was clarified that SWAP would be aware of the Payroll Migrations Audit and the KFC audit, however as it stood an auditor had not yet been chosen for the Fraud audit and SWAP might feel conflicted if requested to do this as they had undertaken the fraud review. The Chairman raised concern that the SWAP workload was unable to be responsive to ad hoc demands which might arise through the year. Officers noted that with big projects on the horizon, more support might be required and that it could potentially be beneficial for the Fund to have its own contract with SWAP.

A further discussion took place regarding the potential for the Fund to purchase additional hours from SWAP as well as discussing how the Fund was currently assessed by SWAP as part of the Council’s risk profile, even though it was financially separate. It was stated that the suggested plan was focused on what was needed to be done rather than what the Fund would like to be done.

The Committee believed that a way forward might be for Officers, Committee and Board to articulate what extra work could be conducted by SWAP for it then to be considered by the Audit and Governance Committee.

Clarity was sought regarding the Phase II Payroll Migration Audit, which was set to be completed 30 April 2024, which suggested that the auditors would be reviewing work while it was taking place. It was clarified by officers that 30 April was a hard  ...  view the full minutes text for item 152.

The Head of Wiltshire Pension Fund will present an “immediate payments” update following transfer of the fund payment process to Oracle.

James Franklin, Pension Administration Lead presented an “immediate payments” update following transfer of the fund payment process to Oracle. The update covered that there had been delays in Oracle going live, which meant that the first batch of payments failed and as a result emergency payments had to be made. Over 100 emergency payments went through but then when the payments were loaded to Oracle some were not removed meaning that circa 67 potential members received duplicate payments. It was outlined that the Accounts team now have received full data to work out the number of duplicates. The process had started to contact those who received duplicate payments, with the majority happy to return the money, however this had had a large impact on the Member Services Team having to deal with the issues. A full review would be conducted regarding the issue with an update set to be provided on what payments were made and what was missed.

It was outlined that the issue was caused as the template designed to load payments to Oracle was not working and only came three days before the Oracle go live date.  Furthermore, due to resource issues within the Evolve Team, communications were limited meaning it was not possible to obtain updates or manage the expectations of members. A positive development was noted that the internal payment system had now gone live and that there should not be any new members affected.

The Committee discussed the update, with assurance provided that the accounting team had all the necessary data and had been working to make sure that the code mapping was correct for ledgers. Assurance was sought by the Committee, to which officers noted that following the issue, Oracle now could run dummy payrolls and the risk was consequently lower with further checks also in place. It was outlined that risk is further being minimised by the pensions increase being ran on Altair and with Oracle to then be provided with a file to upload.

The impact caused by the duplicate payments was discussed and that the issue had impacted on all work within the department, however this would be mitigated by prioritising work. Feedback was also provided by the Committee that there was an impression that the process had taken a last-minute approach and that there had been a failure of communication.

It was questioned how further issues could be prevented from taking place when pensioner payroll is migrated to Oracle in 2024, to which officers were confident with the steps in place and that there would be more reporting requirements with notes to be shared to the Committee to provide comfort. A second meeting would be taking place with the Evolve team in January, after which a summary would be provided.

It was questioned whether the Evolve team formally understood their responsibilities, to which officers stated that they were aware of what was required and that a review would be required to understand what had gone right and wrong  ...  view the full minutes text for item 153.

To review the work plan for the committee.

The Committee discussed the Forward Work Plan.

It was,

Resolved:

To note the Forward Work Plan.

To determine the date of the next Committee meeting dates:

·       Investment focused meeting 29 February 2024

·       Administration focused meeting 28 March 2024

The dates of upcoming meetings were confirmed as 29 February 2024 and 28 March 2024.

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 16 – 20  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 16 - 20 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 23 November 2023.

The private minutes of the meeting held on 23 November 2023 were presented for consideration, and it was,

Resolved:

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

All Local Pension Board minutes to date were presented at the 23 November Committee meeting.

All Local Pension Board minutes to date were presented at the 23 November Committee meeting.

The Chairman called the meeting to a break at 11.42am and resumed at 11.50am.

The Head of Wiltshire Pension Fund and Pension Administration Lead will present the KPI Improvement Plan.

James Franklin, Pension Administration Lead presented the KPI improvement plan.

At the conclusion of debate, it was,

Resolved:

The Committee agreed to:

·       Approve timeline for inclusion in 2023/26 Business Plan noting success is dependent on the actions detailed in this Plan primarily successful recruitment and increased support and upskilling of current staff.

·       Approve reporting requirements.

To record the feedback of members following the BPP Investment Manager presentation held on 28 November 2023.

The Committee discussed the recent BPP Investment Manager presentation held on 28 November 2023.

At the conclusion of debate, it was,

Resolved:

The Committee agreed to:

·       Note the recent presentation by Brunel Pension Partnership.

Presentation by Operations Manager covering the Pension Payroll and National Fraud Initiative.

Mark Briggs, Operations Manager provided a training session to the Committee which covered the Pension Payroll and National Fraud Initiative.