Agenda item

To receive a report from the Director of Corporate Operations providing the Pension Fund’s Business Plan for 2023/24 to 2026/27 and other statutory statements for the Panel and Board’s approval.

The Panel and Board received a report from the Director of Corporate Operations providing the Pension Fund’s Business Plan for 2023/24 to 2026/27, along with other statutory statements for the Panel and Board’s approval. It was noted that cybercrime and climate change were identified as two key areas of risk within the business plan.

Members raised a number of comments on the content of the plan:

·         Members considered the distinction between Members of the Panel and Board and those who were scheme members was not clear. Following suggestion from the Members, it was agreed that this would be clarified in the plan and statements.

·         It was felt that there was some confused language about climate change in the report, particularly in regard to splitting the risks into ESG Risks, and a lack of clarity regarding the extensive range of issues involved.

·         It was suggested that the Conflicts of Interest policy should contain wording relating to the meaning of the Public Service Pensions Act 2013, in regards the Declaration of Interests by Panel and Board Members.

·         It was noted that some changes had been made to the Investment Strategy Statement based on advice from Hymans Robertson. The Panel and Board acknowledged that they had very minimal ability to influence actions taken by the large oil and gas companies and felt this should be more clearly reflected within in the statement.

• The Panel and Board asked that the Representation policy be updated to clarify the dates of term of the current Independent Adviser, with note that the position would be subject to formal tender at the end of the term. It was further noted that the table in Appendix One did not provide further detail of reasons for non-attendance at meetings, as it was considered an unwarranted intrusion of privacy.
• It was noted that training undertaken would vary by Member, as training was focussed upon the needs of each individual. It was heard that the reporting of this information was a statutory requirement, and did not make any judgement on the commitment of any individual Member.
• Members raised concern that whilst the Communication policy statement showed the percentage of members registered, it was not clear how many had logged onto the system. In response it was heard that this data was captured by the County Council, although this was not shown in the statement. 
• It was observed that the Annual benefit statement to members no longer contained details of the expression of wish upon death. It was heard that pension members could either log onto the portal or could telephone Pension Services to obtain this information. It was further noted that all nominations were subject to the discretion of the County Council Officers. Members heard that the County Council applied a best practice approach in the use of this discretion and would contact all next of kin and appropriate family members following the death of a member, with the majority of funds awarded in line with the wishes of the late member.
• It was observed that from 2025 onwards additional statutory information was required to be included in the annual benefit statements, and the Panel and Board asked officers to bring information to the next appropriate meeting on the costs of making these changes.

·         It was noted that no changes were proposed to the Governance Policy and Compliance statement.

·         In response to Members questions it was heard that briefing sessions with Policy Managers were expected to continue to be held remotely, asdoing so increased access to Fund Managers, particularly those based outside of the UK and delivered significant saving in travel time and costs, whilst providing fund managers with an hour of uninterrupted time to present and answer questions. It was suggested that flexibility in the approach would be helpful where briefings were planned from new or prospective Fund Managers, or those whose funds may not be performing as expected, where a face to face meeting may be beneficial. and therefore a flexible approach may be helpful. It was further noted that officers interviewed all Fund Managers in parallel, on a quarterly basis, to manage and maintain oversight of performance.

RESOLVED:

The Pension Fund Panel and Board approved the Business Plan for 2023/24 to 2026/27 (Annex 1 to the report) and the following documents that formed the Fund’s Governance Framework:

• Conflicts of Interest Policy

• Funding Strategy Statement

• Employer Policy

• Administration Strategy Statement – including Decision Matrix

• Investment Strategy Statement

• Representation Policy

• Communication Policy Statement

• Governance Policy and Compliance Statement