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 Thursday 13 October 2016 to be guaranteed a written response or no later than two clear working days before the meeting to receive a verbal response . 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 Board members prior to the meeting and made available at the meeting and on the Council’s website.
Minutes:
The Chairman invited Alison Craig and Theresa Fallon to speak to the meeting in respect of item 11 on the agenda relating to the Fund’s Risk Register.
Alison Craig requested that climate change risk be added to the Risk Register and that the public be given a channel to express concerns about fossil fuel investment to the Fund. Ms Craig also noted that the Fund’s Position Statement on Fossil Fuel Divestment had not been published on its website and expressed concern with the Fund’s investment in the oil and gas sector by way of its mandate with Legal and General.
Theresa Fallon expressed concern that she had not received a response to a letter sent to the Pension Fund Committee in July and had not yet met with the Chairman of the Committee to discuss its role in managing the Fund’s investments.
The Chairman apologised that the fossil fuel Position Statement was not available on the Fund’s website and advised that officers would look into this. The Head of Pensions reassured the meeting that the Fund was always keen to receive input from members and that it considered fossil fuel investment as part of its Statement of Investment Principles. It was confirmed that the AGM date for the Fund was in the Business Plan for 2016, and although the intention was to hold this by the end of the year, it depended on available resources.
The Chairman explained that the Wiltshire Pension Fund Committee was responsible for the Fund’s investments, however new investment regulations would come into effect in November and a new Investment Strategy Statement would need to be published by the Fund by April 2017. At that point the Board would be able to review whether the Fund was compliant with the regulations.
Resolved:
To thank the members of the public for attending and to investigate points raised in their statements.
To request that the Fund’s Position Statement on Fossil Fuel Divestment be published on the website.