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The decisions as the council's minutes record them. A plain-language summary follows once it has been written.
Resolved: The Administration and Governance Update be noted.
Resolved: The Risk Management Policy be approved with recommendation. Recommendation: I. For the Pension Fund Manager to adjust the placement of the wording on Page 7 - The ‘Key Risk to the Effective Delivery This Policy’ and move to the Report. Once completed the document would be recirculated. II. Approve the Risk Management Policy to support the risk register and demonstrate best practice in the management of risk within the LGPS.
Resolved: The Data Quality Testing Report be noted.
Resolved: The WPP Update Report be noted.
RESOLVED to exclude the public for the following items of business on the grounds that there would be disclosure to them of exempt information under category 3 of The Local Authorities (Access to Information) (Variation) (Wales) Order 2007).
Apologies were received from: Cllr A Kennerley.
C Kenyon-Wade, D H Williams, E A Jones, and P E Lewis declared interests as members of the Local Government Pensions Scheme. These are personal interests, not prejudicial interests in accordance with Paragraph 12(b) (iv) of the Members Code of Conduct 2016.
The Chair was authorised to sign the minutes of the Pensions and Investment Committee meetings held on 06 October and 29 November 2023 as a correct record.
The Committee noted the Pension Board Minutes from 20 November 2023. And a verbal update was provided by the Chair of the Board: · · The Chair of the Scheme Advisory Board attended the last meeting of the Powys Pension Board and stressed that pooling could benefit from investments in the UK economy, but only if they provided proper returns. · Items suggested and discussed by the Board had been incorporated into the Risk Management Policy (Item 6 below). · The recommendation in Item 13 of the draft Board minutes, that the Administration Strategy Statement would be reviewed once the Pension Regulators general code of practices were in operation, which was expected to be in April 2024.
Councillors must say when they have a personal link to something being discussed, such as a job, a property or a family member. A prejudicial interest is one strong enough that the councillor usually leaves the room and takes no part.
Declarations are read from the minutes once they are published.
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Decision as recorded
Resolved: The Administration and Governance Update be noted.
The Committee reviewed the Update. The Pension Fund Manager highlighted the following: 2. Scheme Advisory Board (SAB) Updates 2.2 A Government pooing consultation response was provided by the Scheme Advisory Board, the Wales Pension Partnership WPP and Powys Pension Fund, and support full transparency within reporting in which documents would be shared. The Scheme Advisory Board were fully in support of comments made however a caution was given that work would fall to officers and investment colleagues. 2.3 thanks were given to all those that had completed the skills and knowledge survey. 2.4 Scheme Advisory Board website information. 3. Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) Updates 3.1 Department for Levelling up, Housing and Communities report had been published and noted that the overall market value of the LGPS fund had fallen with a decrease of 1.9% in 2023 with an 8% decrease in retirements compared with 2021/22. 3.2 the McCloud remedy had been in place since 01 October 2023, which applied additional checks to be conducted to adhere to legislation and ensure correct payments were made. Resource impacts were being monitored and expected to be significant, however technology tools and system processes were being implemented to elevate some of the pressure. 3.3 Concerns were raised regarding the communication around the abolishment of the lifetime allowance to all members, due to the scheme's complexity. 4. Pension Regulator 4.2 findings had been published regarding the independent review carried out by the Department of Work and Pensions on the Pensions Regulator (TPR). 4.3 a formal request has been received from the Pension Regulator (TPR) for the annual scheme return to be submitted by the end of January 2024. 5. a data check has been carried out by the Pension Team in preparation of the Pension Dashboard going live. 6. Risk Register 7. Breaches Register No new risks or breaches were reported. The latest risk to be added was around climate and nature, and they cycle of deep dives would begin in February 2024. A query was answered around training for members, the Pensions Fund Manager encouraged all to attend and noted that the WPP constructed training plans in conjunction with officer discussion. Inhouse training was considered through presentations and information provided in meetings and could be extended if necessary and noted that through the good governance project carried out by the SAB training logs may be published. A discussion was held around the high-level technical training recently received from WPP, and some Committee members felt that more background was needed for better understanding. It was moved and duly seconded to note the report and approve the risk register. Resolved: The Administration and Governance Update be noted.
Decision as recorded
Resolved: The Risk Management Policy be approved with recommendation. Recommendation: I. For the Pension Fund Manager to adjust the placement of the wording on Page 7 - The ‘Key Risk to the Effective Delivery This Policy’ and move to the Report. Once completed the document would be recirculated. II. Approve the Risk Management Policy to support the risk register and demonstrate best practice in the management of risk within the LGPS.
The Committee considered the report and draft policy, the Pension Fund Manager explained that the report provided more detail around the cycle practice for producing and managing the risk register. As mentioned earlier in the meeting training would be a key focus to ensure that all involved had the skills and knowledge to fully participate. Page 7 - The ‘Key Risk to the Effective Delivery This Policy’ section was discussed and queried if the document should contain risks, the Pension Fund Manager would consider the wording and the placement of the section and recirculate the document. It was moved and duly seconded to note the report and approve the Risk Management Policy. Resolved: The Risk Management Policy be approved with recommendation. Recommendation: I. For the Pension Fund Manager to adjust the placement of the wording on Page 7 - The ‘Key Risk to the Effective Delivery This Policy’ and move to the Report. Once completed the document would be recirculated. II. Approve the Risk Management Policy to support the risk register and demonstrate best practice in the management of risk within the LGPS.
Decision as recorded
Resolved: The Data Quality Testing Report be noted.
The Committee noted the Data Quality Testing Report for 2023. The Pension Fund Manager explained that each October data quality tests were undertaken with benchmarking checks against Pension Regulators. Comments had been received from the Actuary that data quality had been of a good standard. The regulator required the data to be tested against common (all pensions schemes) and scheme specific (LGPS) criteria. The overall percentage of tests passed for Powys’ common data was 98.5% (98.3% in 2022 and 97.7% in 2021). The data showed a gradual increase, which reflects members movements. A discussion took place around the address data bar which showed 97.48% within the graph, which was fully dependant data fields being completed in the correct format. The overall percentage of tests passed for Powys’ scheme specific data was 93.37% (91.95% in 2022 and 91.87% in 2021). The Committee were reassured that the Members Benefits bar showing 85.67% in the graph did not reflect what members were being paid but how historical records for internal aggregations were held and part of an internal data recording exercise. The Pension Fund Manager stressed that records could potentially be reconciled through a bulk exercise, otherwise they would be corrected over time. It was moved and duly seconded to note the report. Resolved: The Data Quality Testing Report be noted.
Part of an issue followed across 3 meetings
Decision as recorded
Resolved: The WPP Update Report be noted.
The Committee received the update, the Pension Fund Manager informed the Committee that there were no additional packs available as the papers from the Joint Governance Committee on the 13 December had not been published. 1.2 provided a link to the published 2022/23 WPP Report. 1.3 reinforced that the WPP provided regular quarterly training, with links available in the report. It was moved and duly seconded to note the report. Resolved: The WPP Update Report be noted.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED to exclude the public for the following items of business on the grounds that there would be disclosure to them of exempt information under category 3 of The Local Authorities (Access to Information) (Variation) (Wales) Order 2007).
RESOLVED to exclude the public for the following items of business on the grounds that there would be disclosure to them of exempt information under category 3 of The Local Authorities (Access to Information) (Variation) (Wales) Order 2007).