Agenda item

A short report is presented listing the latest regulatory changes and developments.  The Head of Pensions will provide a verbal update of the recent activity since the last meeting for the Board to consider.

The Board is also asked to consider its Code of Conduct and Conflict of Interest Policy, in advance of annual review by the Committee in December.

The Head of Pensions updated that the Fund was still waiting for guidance on the public sector exit cap from HM Treasury. Other updates included that changes to reclamation of VAT on fund management costs would come into effect in 2018 and new DCLG investment regulations would facilitate asset pooling. Other updates included that the Fund had received its valuation results and early indications were that the Fund was well-positioned in line with the average in comparison to others. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) was undertaking a piece of work and would report back to the Scheme Advisory Board with its views on the impact of academisation of schools on LGPS Funds. The Fund was still awaiting guidance from the Scheme Advisory Board on insurance indemnity for the Local Pension Board, the Head of Pensions also advised that the Fund had met the Pensions Regulator (tPR) requirements on publishing scheme information. Members discussed the tPR checklist and considered it a useful tool to use in future annual reports.

The Board was asked to review its Code of Conduct and Conflict of Interest Policy which was due for review by the Wiltshire Pension Fund Committee on a yearly basis. It was considered that most members were comfortable with the policy document however it was noted that reference to the Scheme Advisory Board as a ‘shadow’ body was out of date. Cllr Newbury expressed concern that the Code of Conduct and Conflict of Interest Policy went beyond the statutory requirements, another key concern included that it was not clear what constituted a conflict of interest. It was also questioned whether it was expected that in meetings members should declare interests already on the Register of Interests when they were relevant to an item on an agenda. The councillor also did not agree with the format of the Register of Interest form in that it required a date, signature and separated the interests of the member and their partner.

The Chairman advised that he would review how the Conflict of Interest Policy and Code of Conduct compared to those for other Boards and would seek advice from the Council’s legal team about points raised.

Resolved:

To note the update on scheme, legal, regulatory and fund matters in the report.

To request that officers circulate the CIPFA guidance notes on investment pooling to members.

To request that the tPR checklist on publishing scheme information is used for the next Annual Report.

To request that Cllr Newbury submit his concerns with the Code of Conduct and Conflict of Interest Policy in writing to the Chairman of Board so that a comparison with the policies of other Local Pension Boards may be undertaken and that legal advice on the policy document may be sought in respect of these concerns prior to review by the Committee.

To request that references to the Scheme Advisory Board in the Code of Conduct and Conflict of Interest Policy are updated.