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1.1 No apologies were received.
2.1 Board Members confirmed the following declarations of personal interest: Board Member In Receipt of Pension Contributor Bob Campbell Self Steve Harford Self Sister Rhian Hayden Mother Self and sister Ian Reese Self Clive Rogers Self Meirion Rushworth Self Jane Waters Brother Self Anthea Wellington Self and husband Daughter John Wright Self and wife Daughter 2.2 The CLO left the meeting.
3.1 The HoP outlined the report on the Greater Gwent (Torfaen) Pension Fund annual report and accounts 2021/22 and confirmed that it was very positive that the Fund would receive an unqualified audit opinion on the accounts. The HoP thanked colleagues who had been pivotal to the process of completing the annual report and accounts. 3.2 The HoP confirmed that the annual report and accounts were statutorily required to be published on the website by 1 December 2022, and they would be considered by Pensions Committee on 21 November 2022. 3.3 The HoP provided a brief update on Appendices 1 and 2 of the report. He updated members regarding investments of the Fund and the Wales Pension Partnership (WPP) and confirmed that the value of the Fund had increased to nearly £3.8bn during 2021/22. The Fund was cashflow positive, which was not the case for all pension funds. 3.4 The HoP confirmed that membership numbers had increased during 2021/22, as had the workload for the Pensions department. 3.5 JR added the following headlines from the ISA 260 report: · The outstanding work outlined within paragraph 5 of Appendix 3 of the report was now completed to her satisfaction. · Audit Wales intended to issue an unqualified audit opinion on this year’s accounts. There were no misstatements identified in the accounts, which remained uncorrected and there were a small number of misstatements in the accounts that had now been corrected by management. These were all presentational in nature and the notes affected were notes 7, 9, 14(a), 17(a) and 24. 3.6 JR thanked the HoP and his colleagues for their assistance during the audit process. 3.7 Following questions from the Board, the HoP made the following points: • The Chair referred to on page 13 of the agenda was the Chair of the Governance and Audit Committee. • Members of the Pensions Committee were referred to within Question 1 on page 15 of the agenda; however he agreed that members of the Pension Board should also be referenced. • Evidence of engagement regarding Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues was important; however it may not sit within the annual report and accounts. 3.8 The Pension Board praised the outcome of the audit and thanked officers and Audit Wales for their hard work. 3.9 The Pension Board: i. Reviewed the ‘enquiries to those charged with governance’ and noted management’s comments as per Appendix 1 of the report; ii. Reviewed the Pension Fund annual report and accounts as per Appendix 2 of the report and raised any significant concerns they wished to be brought to the attention of Pensions Committee; iii. Noted the audit position of the 2021/22 external audit of the Pension Fund annual report and accounts as set out within Appendix 3 of the report; and iv. Noted the requirement for the Chair of Pensions Committee to sign the Council’s Letter of Representation.
4.1 The date of the next meeting was noted. 4.2 The meeting ended at 2.25pm.
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