Agenda and minutes

The Chairman will announce details of the arrangements in case of fire or other events that might require the meeting room or buildings evacuation.

The Chair announced details of arrangements in the case of fire or other event that would require the evacuation of the meeting room.

(if any) – receive.

Apologies were received from Mo Jones.

Members of the Board are invited to disclose any pecuniary interest in any of the items on the agenda at this point of the meeting.

Members of the Board may still disclose any pecuniary interest in an item at any time prior to the consideration of the matter.

There were no disclosures of pecuniary interests.

To approve as correct the minutes of the meeting held on 7 October 2015 and authorise the Chair to sign them.

The minutes of the meeting held on 7 October 2015 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

The Committee Officer advised that there were no minutes of the inquorate meeting held on 12 August 2015. A copy of the notes would be circulated to members of the Board.

Further to minute 12 DF explained that if the Board wished to consult with members the budget could be amended. The pension administration team contacted all scheme members annually and it would be possible to combine any message from the Board with whatever is sent at that time.

Officers would check on the timescales and advise the Board accordingly. If necessary an extra meeting could be arranged to agree the form of any communication to all scheme members.

Following the last meeting of the Board members met on 21 October 2015 to agree the work plan for the Board as the key aims of the Local Pensions Board. The following priorities had been identified:

·         Priority 1 – Fair Deal and TUPE Transfer;

·         Priority 2 – Review of Governance Compliance Statement, training and development strategy and how this is implemented;

·         Priority 3 – Tendering Processes for Fund managers;

·         Priority 4 – Pooled Investments;

·         Priority 5 – Risk Strategy Review;

·         Priority 6 – Pensions Administration Strategy and Benchmarking;

·         Priority 7 – Early Redundancy Gap – Impact on Pensions;

·         Priority 8 – Rationalisation of member Organisations and Impact on deficit payments.

Members had indicated that they would like to consider 2 priorities at each meeting, where time permits.

As agreed at the last meeting Board members had met to agree a work plan for the Board as the key aims of the Local Pension Board. The following priorities had been identified:

·         Priority 1 – Fair Deal and TUPE Transfer;

·        Priority 2 – Review of Governance Compliance Statement, training and    development strategy and how this is implemented;

·        Priority 3 – Tendering Processes for Fund Managers;

·        Priority 4 – Pooled Investments;

·        Priority 5 – Risk Strategy Review;

·        Priority 6 – Pensions Administration Strategy and Benchmarking;

·        Priority 7 – Early Redundancy Gap – Impact on Pensions; and

·        Priority 8 – Rationalisation of member Organisations and Impact on deficit payments.

The Board agreed the proposed work plan and asked that as far as possible 2 priorities be considered at each meeting.

The TUPE manual will be available for members of the Board at the meeting.

In the absence of Mo Jones it had not been possible to provide the TUPE manual. The Board agreed that the manual, if available should be circulated to the Board in advance of the next meeting.

Prior to the meeting training had been delivered by Hymans Robertson on TUPE transfer. The Board understood that they needed to be satisfied that the appropriate processes were in place and fit for purpose. Hymans Robertson had indicated that the following documents should be in place:

·         Admission Policy

·         Bulk Transfer (inc. Cessation) Policy

·         Admission Agreement

·         Employer’s Guide

·         Contractor’s guide

·         Bond Agreement template.

The Board have asked for a copy of these documents. DF advised that the Funding Strategy Statement covered the issue of Bulk Transfer (inc. Cessation) Policy.

Some concern was expressed that some of the older admission agreements might no longer be fit for purpose. In order to assess the level of risk the Board asked officers to prepare a list of all admitted bodies and the number of employees covered by each agreement.

The Board also agreed that the Head of Legal and Governance should be asked to provide an assurance that the current template Admission Agreements and Bond Agreements are fit for purpose.

Pensions Committee at its meeting on 24 November reviewed the Governance Compliance Statement. (http://democracy.havering.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=152&MId=3102&Ver=4)

At the same meeting the Pensions Committee approved the Havering Pension Fund Training Strategy.

Report attached.

DF advised the Board that she had not submitted a separate report on the Governance Compliance Statement has this had been covered at the 24 November 2015 meeting of the Pensions Committee and the report had already been circulated to the Board. The Board had raised no issues with the Statement.

A report had been submitted on Training and Development. The regulations were unusual in respect of training requirements. Members of the Pensions Committee required an understanding of:

·                Their responsibilities as an administering authority of a local government pension fund;

·                The fundamental requirements relating to pension fund investments;

·                The operation and administration of the pension fund;

·                Controlling and monitoring the funding level; and

·                Taking effective decisions on the management of the London Borough of Havering Pension Fund.

Members of the Local Pension Board were required by law to be conversant with–

·                The Regulations and any other regulations governing the LGPS

·                Any document recording policy about the administration of the Fund

and have knowledge and understanding of:

·                The law relating to pensions; and

·                Such other matters as may be prescribed.

Officers were recommending the Board to adopt the CIPFA Knowledge and Skills Framework for Public Sector Pensions to assess the level of their knowledge and identify training needs.

The Board agreed to complete the self assessment and return it to DF to help identify training needs. A report would be brought back to the next meeting in April.

The Chair asked that an item be included on each agenda to enable members of the Board to report on what training they had undertaken since the last meeting and what they had learned.

The minutes of the meeting of the Pensions Committee held on 24 November are attached. If you wish to see the reports they are available on the Intranet.

The Board noted the items considered by the Pensions Committee at its meeting held on 24 November 2015.

The minutes of the meeting of the Pensions Committee held on 15 December 2015 are attached. Copies of the reports can be found on the intranet.

Mark Holder reported on the deliberations of the meeting of the Pensions Committee held on 15 December 2016. He had brought the Board’s attention to the Internal Cash Management Policy and DF had explained the rationale behind the decision to change the upper limit.

The Board’s attention was also drawn to the presentations from two of the Fund Managers. Baillie Gifford already managed two of the Pensions Fund mandates and these would transfer to the Common Investment Vehicle. DF explained that it was the Government’s intention that all the Pension Fund Investments should be invested in Pooled arrangements to save on the cost of fund manager fees.

Mark Holder also referred to the request from UBS for the Pension Fund to increase its investment in the Triton Property Fund. DF advised the Board that members had responded to the Group Director Resources and Community and UBS had been informed that the pension Fund wished to increase its investment.

DF advised the Board of proposals being considered by the Scheme Advisory Board to separate the scheme manager function from the Lead Authority. Further details would be provided if the proposal developed.

HM Treasury had issued a consultation on proposed Public Sector exit payment recovery regulations. The consultation would close on 25 January 2016.