Agenda and minutes

The minutes of the meeting held on 19 June 2015 were taken as read, confirmed and signed subject to the following amendment to minute item 7;

·         The Board noted that the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Chairman, had the ability to organise additional meetings of the Local Pension Board if it was deemed necessary.

The Chief Executive reported that no questions had been received under Standing Order 35.

The Chief Executive reported that no questions had been received under Standing Order 7(3) and 7(5).

There were no items for consideration.

The Chairman invited members who wished to do so to declare any interest in respect of items on the agenda for the meeting.

No declarations were made.

The Board considered a report of the Director of Corporate Resources, regarding the performance of the Pension Section against its performance indicators.  A copy of the report, marked ‘6’, is filed with these minutes.

Arising from the discussion the following points were noted:

·         The Section continued to experience delays in the processing of payments and benefits within the targeted timeframe but it was hoped that the recent recruitment of additional staff would help improve the Section’s response rates. 

·         The introduction of the Career Average Revalued Earnings (CARE) scheme had caused significant challenges to employers providing year - end data to the Pension Section. This in turn made it difficult for Pension Section administrators, including Leicestershire, to produce annual benefit statements by the required deadlines. The Pensions Regulator was now monitoring fund’s performance. 

·         Updated pension systems enabled active members to access annual benefit statements online and produce their own estimates. Under new arrangements, members of the scheme would continue to receive online annual benefit statements each year and could request one additional estimate to be produced manually by the Pension Section. In line with other local pension administrators, a charge of £100 would be made for further manual estimates. 

·         There was an expectation for fund members to compare their CARE pay shown in their annual benefit statement to the actual pay that their pension contributions were based upon. It was suggested that fund members could use their P60 to check this figure, and those who had received reduced pay through sickness or maternity were advised to check with their employer if they thought the figure used appeared inaccurate.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

The Board received a report by the Director of Corporate Resources, the purpose of which was to inform the Board of the current workload issues within the Pension Section and the measures introduced to address them.  A copy of the report, marked ‘7’, is filed with these minutes.

The Director reported that the increased complexity of the scheme, tighter deadlines for the production of annual benefit statements, and greater freedom of choice for members accessing their pension had resulted in the Section’s resources becoming over stretched. It was hoped that the recruitment of additional staff would enable some of the work pressures to be alleviated.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

The Board received a report by the Director of Corporate Resources, the purpose of which was to inform the Board of the Pension Section’s draft Joint Administration and Communication Strategy.  A copy of the report, marked ‘8’, is filed with these minutes.

The Director reported that the Strategy, which detailed the expected quality and performance standards of the administering authority and Fund employers, alongside how the Pension Section was expected to communicate with different parties, would be consulted upon before its adoption in April 2016.

In response to questions, the Director advised the Board in regard to the respective responsibilities of the Local Pension Board and the Local Pension Committee. The Director added that information would be provided to the Board at its next meeting which would explain recent developments following the government announcement relating to the Local Government Pension Fund at the summer budget. A representative from Hymans Robertson, which acted as Actuaries for the Fund, would also be invited to attend the Board’s meeting in March 2016 to explain how the valuation of the Funds’ investments affects the overall valuation of the scheme.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

The Board received a report by the Director of Corporate Resources, the purpose of which was to inform the Board of the procedure to follow when reporting suspected breaches of the law to the Pensions Regulator.  A copy of the report, marked ‘9’, is filed with these minutes.

The Director said that the requirement to advise the regulator of suspected breaches was not new, but the procedure which had been developed by the Pension Fund was based on a code of practice recently produced.

Members of the Board recognised that the Fund’s procedure stated that they, as members of the Local Pension Board, had a responsibility, alongside various other persons, to report information breaches. Some members felt that due to a lack of training they had received, they were not currently in a position to do so. The Director confirmed that members would be invited to attend future training sessions to address the issue.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

The Board received a report by the Director of Corporate Resources, the purpose of which was to inform the Board of the combined pensions and investments risk register which was used to monitor and control emerging risks.  A copy of the report, marked ‘10’, is filed with these minutes.

The Director confirmed that the Board would be made aware of any significant risks as they were identified.  

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted

The Board considered proposed dates of meetings for 2016.

RESOLVED:

a)    That the next meeting of the Local Pension Board be held on Monday 14 December at 9.30am;

b)    That the dates of meetings in 2016 are as follows, all to be held at County Hall, commencing at 9.30am –

Friday 4 March 2016

Friday 3 June 2016

Friday 16 September 2016

Friday 2 December 2016