Agenda and draft minutes

Please note this meeting may be filmed or recorded by the Council for live or subsequent broadcast via the Council’s internet site or by anyone attending the meeting using any communication method.  Members of the public participating in the meeting (e.g. making deputations, asking questions, making oral protests) should be aware that they are likely to be filmed, recorded or reported on.  By entering the ‘meeting room’, you are consenting to being filmed and to the possible use of those images and sound recordings.

The Chair of the meeting has the discretion to terminate or suspend filming or recording, if in his or her opinion continuation of the filming, recording or reporting would disrupt or prejudice the proceedings, infringe the rights of any individual, or may lead to the breach of a legal obligation by the Council.

The Chair referred Members present to agenda Item 1 as shown on the agenda in respect of filming at this meeting, and Members noted the information contained therein.

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence received from John Raisin, Keith Brown and Cllr Hymas

The Chair will consider the admission of any late items of Urgent Business.  (Late items of Urgent Business will be considered under the agenda item where they appear. New items of Urgent Business will be dealt with under item X below).

There were no items of urgent business.

A member with a disclosable pecuniary interest or a prejudicial interest in a matter who attends a meeting of the authority at which the matter is considered:

(i) must disclose the interest at the start of the meeting or when the interest becomes apparent, and

(ii) may not participate in any discussion or vote on the matter and must withdraw from the meeting room.

A member who discloses at a meeting a disclosable pecuniary interest which is not registered in the Register of Members’ Interests or the subject of a pending notification must notify the Monitoring Officer of the interest within 28 days of the disclosure.

Disclosable pecuniary interests, personal interests and prejudicial interests are defined at Paragraphs 5-7 and Appendix A of the Members’ Code of Conduct

The Public Service Pensions Act 2013 defines a conflict of interest as a financial or other interest which is likely to prejudice a person’s exercise of functions. Therefore, a conflict of interest may arise when an individual:

i)             Has a responsibility or duty in relation to the management of, or provision of advice to, the LBHPF, and

ii)            At the same time, has:

-       a separate personal interest (financial or otherwise) or

-       another responsibility in relation to that matter,

giving rise to a possible conflict with their first responsibility. An interest could also arise due to a family member or close colleague having a specific responsibility or interest in a matter.

At the commencement of the meeting, the Chair will ask all Members of the Committee and Board to declare any new potential conflicts and these will be recorded in the minutes of the meeting and the Fund’s Register of Conflicts of Interest. Any individual who considers that they or another individual has a potential or actual conflict of interest which relates to an item of business at a meeting must advise the Chair prior to the meeting, where possible, or state this clearly at the meeting at the earliest possible opportunity.

There were no declarations of interest.

To consider any requests received in accordance with Part 4, Section B, paragraph 29 of the Council’s constitution.

There were none.

Note from the Head of Legal and Governance (Monitoring Officer)

When considering the items below, the Committee will be operating in its capacity as ‘Administering Authority’. When the Committee is operating in its capacity as an Administering Authority, Members must have due regard to their duty as quasi-trustees to act in the best interest of the Pension Fund above all other considerations.

There were none.

To confirm and sign the minutes of the Pensions Committee and Board

meeting held on 2 December 2024 as a correct record.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 2^nd December 2024 be confirmed and signed as a correct record with a few minor amendments.

·         Jamie Abbott noted that the 17.5% on page ten of the report needed to be reviewed and would feedback the correct percentage if different. 17.5% was correct as this was the primary rate.

·         Taryn Eves explained that there were 30 - 40 Members who contributed to the AVC scheme, this would continue to be offered to member’s but officers would check on this with the legal team.

·         Officers noted a comment in regard to the splitting out of the expenses for the annual report.

·         Craig Pattinson queried KPMG regarding the context of what a qualified set of financial statements looked like. KPMG explained if you looked into the pension fund account statement there was a line item called profit and losses on disposal of investments, and changes in market value of investments – this was approximately £159023 in the accounts. This amount was due to changes in investment value from Qtr 3 to the closing balance, a result of delay in valuation update on illiquid assets. Specifically, in case of hiring a pension fund, a disclaimer of opinion was issued by the predecessor auditor in the last three years. KPMG determined that they did not have sufficient evidence over the opening balances because it was three years of qualifications from the past.

·         KPMG were able to obtain sufficient appropriate evidence  because they obtained direct confirmation from custodians on investment balances. Due to this they were able to check the completeness and valuation of those amounts from the closing balance. The funding would take the valuation figures at year end so they were comfortable over the funding report on that basis. Their actuaries looked into the funding documents and the calculation of present value of defined benefit obligations.

·         KPMG have discussed with officers the approach for next year, particularly around provision of information for journals and that hopefully that would help resolve the delay in providing the provision of information.

·         Craig Pattinson noted his concerns regarding the report and thought that care and consideration would be needed to  provide reassurances these errors were addressed.

·         Taryn Eves explained that the recommendation around the journals was picked out on the councillor accounts and officers would rectify that going forward. In terms of the other recommendations, these would be tracked and progress would be reported back to the committee. From a pension fund perspective, officers wanted to make sure that these were picked up before the audit started. It would likely take a few years to get to a position to get a full assurance over both opening and closing balances.

·         The key point for the KMPG team was that they were able to gain sufficient evidence over the current year end balance to provide a set of accounts. KPMG believe that the Council could look towards building improved assurance from next year.

RESOLVED

The Pensions Committee and Board is recommended:

3.1. Consider the contents of this report and any further oral updates given at the meeting by KPMG.

3.2. Note the Statement of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

There were none.

To note the dates of future meetings:

20 March 2025

The date of the next meeting was scheduled for 20^th March 2024.

Item 12 is likely to be subject to a motion to exclude the press and public from

the meeting as they contain exempt information as defined in Section 100a of

the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended by Section 12A of the Local

Government Act 1985); para 3 – namely information relating to the financial or

business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that

information) and para 5 – information in respect of which a claim to legal

professional privilege could be maintained in legal proceedings.

Item 12 is likely to be subject to a motion to exclude the press and public from the meeting as they contain exempt information as defined in Section 100a of the Local Government Act 1972.

To confirm and sign the exempt minutes of the Pensions Committee and Board meeting on 2 December 2024 as a correct record.

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the meeting held on 2^nd December 2024 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

There were none.