Agenda item

A report for the committee’s ongoing oversight of:

·       Scheme, Regulatory, Legal and Fund Update

·       Health Check Dashboard – To 31 December 2024

·       Administration KPI update including an update of the KPI Improvement Plan– 1 December 2024 to 28 February 2025

a)    McCloud and Pension Dashboard updates

·       Risk Register

·       Key Financial Controls highlights

·       Audit update – SWAP KC actions

·       Training plan 2025/26

Jennifer Devine, Head of Wiltshire Pension Fund, supported by other officers, presented the Headlines and Monitoring report. Detail was provided on the risk register, with it noted that the report included a summary from December which had been taken to the Local Pension Board in February, however some issues had been uncovered in the governance area, therefore this would be amended to be an amber risk. It was also noted that in appendix 3b was a draft Risk Management Policy for approval, which would conclude the work on the risk management framework and bring the Fund in line with Wiltshire Council Policy.

The Pension Fund Committee noted update on the Risk Register, with it acknowledged that the Fund Governance risk section would be reported as a higher risk at the next meeting.

Reference was made to the health check dashboard, with the only change noted that investment performance had now been updated to be green rated. It was also noted that a summary of the Key Financial Controls report would now be included within the HAM report with full granular detail to be taken to the Local Pension Board.

It was outlined that the pension fund accounts for 2022/23 had received their audit opinion and were now available on the Fund’s website. This was the final outstanding set of accounts from Deloitte. The final opinion was a disclaimer of opinion, effectively meaning the auditors could not provide an opinion. Furthermore, audit testing in preparation for the 2024/25 accounts was now complete by Grant Thornton with only low and medium recommendations made regarding the old system which was no longer in use. The timeline for audit was also outlined.

An overview of KPIs performance was provided, with it outlined that performance had improved since the last report at the end of December with it noted that the backlog had now decreased to 171 cases and there had been a lot of movement in the right direction. It was also noted that iConnect onboarding had gone well with only 20 employers remaining to onboard with the year-end process set to be smoother now the Fund had data for 147 employers. Detail was provided on the revised targets for 31 March 2025 and 31 August 2025 as well as an overview of where the Fund currently was. The Chairman noted the positive progress that had taken place.

The Committee discussed the report with clarity provided that on average it takes one hour each month to analyse the risk appetite scores. Reference was also made to training which would be offered by Barnett Waddingham and would be available to the Committee in the future. It was also noted that in regard to Key Financial Controls, budget monitoring reports were now being produced with a new process set up.

At the conclusion of debate, it was,

Resolved:

The Committee agreed:

a)    To note the Fund updates.

b)    To endorse the risk register in Appendix 3a & the summary of risk changes since the last review, as a true and fair view.

c)    To approve the draft Risk Management Policy.

d)    To note the update provided in respect of the SWAP KC audit recommendations 2024/25 and the audit strategy for 2025/26.

e)    To approve the proposals on Committee training as set out in the paper.