Agenda and minutes

To receive any announcements through the Chairman.

The Chair outlined the purpose of the committee as being to manage payments and balance the assets and liabilities of Wiltshire Pension Fund.    Regular reporting on performance trends across a set of key performance indicators was said to be necessary for the committee to meet this purpose.   Cllr Gordon King lent his support to the Chairs request for quarterly reporting to enable management of performance over time in a transparent way.

Officers stated that current reporting against basic metrics was bi-annual and would be quarterly in future.   Future input from the committee on the nature and presentation of key performance indicators was requested.

Resolution:

The reporting on basic metrics would be quarterly and the identification of key performance indicators would be developed by the committee.

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

Apologies were received from Cllr Tom Rounds and Cllr Philip Whitehead.

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

There were no Declarations of Interest.

To confirm the Part 1 minutes of the meeting held on 20 September 2018.

Resolved:

To confirm the Part 1 minutes of the meeting held on 20 September 2018.

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 5 December 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 7 December. 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.

There were no members of the public present.

To consider the Part 1 minutes, and recommendations arising, from the Local Pension Board meeting held on 11 October 2018.

The Board’s current Work Plan is available here

The minutes from the Local Pension Board meeting held on 11 October 2018 were considered.

Resolved:

To note the minutes of the Local Pension Board meeting.

An update from the Head of Pensions Administration on the Wiltshire Pension Fund Risk Register is circulated for Members’ to note.

Officers talked to the fund’s Risk Register that identified, described, quantified and allocated identified risk to a named Officer.   The only item on the Register highlighted as being of higher (red) risk was the pooling of assets through Brunel Partnership.   The Investment Manager would talk to this issue in detail under her update on Brunel Pension Partnership, Agenda Item 16.

Resolution:

The Committee noted the report.

A report from the Head of Pensions Administration updates the Committee on the latest regulatory and legal updates for the LGPS.

Officers talked to a paper that identified emerging regulatory issues and used a red, amber, green schema of higher, medium, lower risk to show the risk associated with each issue.   Issues of GMP Indexation, Cost Caps, Pensions Dashboard, Annual Report and Academies’ Review were discussed in terms of metrics and costs.  

Metrics designed to allow comparison of one fund to another were discussed in terms of definitions and standardisation, the pressures of ensuring positive presentation and the fundamental variability in the size of funds being compared.   It was concluded that meaningful metrics need to be defined according to the specific purposes of Wiltshire Pension Fund. 

Clarity about ongoing regulatory change and its corresponding impact on costs of were discussed in the wider context of the risk associated with non-compliance.   It was concluded that where future cost-pressures could be identified, their impact was more germane to future valuation than to current administrative costs. 

The Chair summarised the discussion as being about risk emerging from regulatory change and its likely cost, alongside complexity of data and its value in managing the fund.

Resolution:

The committee noted the report.

Members are asked to consider the revised LPB Code of Conduct Policy.

The Chair outlined an enquiry made about the Members Interest form.   The enquiry had recognised the legal obligations addressed by the form, but had queried the amount of information it placed in the public domain.   Legal services had devised a two-part form that distinguished between information under Part 1 that was in the public domain and Part 2 that was restricted to the Administering Authority.

Resolved

To approve the updated Code of Conduct and Conflict of Interest Policy Guidelines for the Local Pension Board, including the attached form for registering Members interests.

A verbal update by the Independent Governance Advisor.

Jim Edney, Independent Pension Fund Advisor, gave a verbal update on desk-research into how pension boards and pension committees define their roles and work together.   Despite overlap between boards and committees, there appears to be no established best practice in reducing duplication and optimising the relationship between the two meetings.   Common areas that boards lead on were communications and the monitoring of fund administration, whilst some committees provided boards with regular ‘assurance reports’ that are designed to avoid duplication. 

The Chair requested a meeting of Chairs and Officers in January 2019 to define the respective roles of the board and the committee and to discuss the working relationship between the two.

Resolution:

That a meeting be called to advance how board and committee clarify roles and working relationship.

A review by the Fund Governance and Performance Manager on training and the results of the recent exercises on Knowledge Assessment and Effectiveness.

Officers described how the Training Review was informed by three surveys conducted by Hymans-Robertson giving insight into National Confidence, Knowledge and Effectiveness of committees and boards.   This enabled the development of a training strategy for all committee members.   At this stage, results were being shared as headline results that indicate the value of targeting training on; actuarial methods, procurement, investment, administration and governance. 

The Chair thanked everyone for completing the surveys, expressed confidence in the exercise as giving a good representation of the committee’s knowledge and skill and noted the committee’s dependence on its various advisors.

Resolution:

To note the reports on Committee knowledge, understanding and effectiveness and that a training programme was to be developed in response to survey outcomes.

To note that the next regular meeting of the Committee will be held on 14 March 2019.

The date of the next meeting of Wiltshire Pension Fund Committee was to be held on 14 March 2019 10.30 am.

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 15 – 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.

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 83-88 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.

Resolution:

The frequency of future reports on key contracts and whether this report was best dealt with by board or committee would be decided at Wiltshire Pension Board meeting January 24 2019.

Resolution:

The committee noted the update

Resolution:

The committee noted the report.

Resolved:

To note the minutes and key decisions of the Investment Sub Committee.

To confirm the Part 2 (confidential) minutes of the meeting held on 20 September 2018.

Resolution:

The committee approved the Part 2 (confidential) minutes of the meeting held on 20 September 2018.

Presentations from Hymans-Roberton and the Investment Manager.

Hymans-Robertson talked to their slides on the 2019 valuation of Wiltshire Pension Fund as a training exercise designed to develop the committee’s knowledge of the valuation process.   The training covered the role of the actuary, data analytics, funding objectives, target basis, assumptions, future trends, prudence expressed as contribution levels and investment strategies.