Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Ms K Thomson. 

To note the Terms of Reference and membership of the Board.

The Terms of Reference were noted.  The Chair welcomed Lord Liddle to his first meeting and welcomed Councillor Archibald to his first in-person meeting and welcomed Ms Scott to the meeting.

Members are invited to disclose any disclosable pecuniary interest they have in any item on the agenda which comprises

1          Details of any employment, office, trade, profession or vocation carried on for profit or gain.

2          Details of any payment or provision of any other financial benefit (other than from the authority) made or provided within the relevant period in respect of any expenses incurred by you in carrying out duties as a member, or towards your election expenses.  (This includes any payment or financial benefit from a trade union within the meaning of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992.

3          Details of any contract which is made between you (or a body in which you have a beneficial interest) and the authority

(a)     Under which goods or services are to be provided or works are to be executed; and

            (b)     Which has not been fully discharged.

4          Details of any beneficial interest in land which is within the area of the authority. 

5          Details of any licence (alone or jointly with others) to occupy land in the area of the authority for a month or longer. 

6          Details of any tenancy where (to your knowledge)

            (a)     The landlord is the authority; and

            (b)     The tenant is a body in which you have a beneficial interest.

7          Details of any beneficial interest in securities of a body where

(a)     That body (to your knowledge) has a place of business or land in the area of the authority; and

(b)       Either –

(i)        The total nominal value of the securities exceeds £25,000 or one hundredth of the total issued share capital of that body; or

(ii)       If that share capital of that body is of more than one class, the total nominal value of the shares of any one class in which the relevant person has a beneficial interest exceeds one hundredth of the total issued share capital of that class.

In addition, you must also disclose other non-pecuniary interests set out in the Code of Conduct where these have not already been registered.

Note

A “disclosable pecuniary interest” is an interest of a councillor or their partner (which means spouse or civil partner, a person with whom they are living as husband or wife, or a person with whom they are living as if they are civil partners).

Ms C Scott made a disclosures of interest on this occasion.  She was a Non-Executive Director of London Pension Fund Authority which is a shareholder of LPPA.

To consider whether there are any items on the agenda for which the press and public should be excluded.

RESOLVED,     that the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of:

Agenda Item No 10 – Review of Administration Matters;

Agenda Item No 11 – LPPA Presentation; and

Agenda Item No 12 – Verbal Update on Emerging Issues

by virtue of paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 as the reports contain information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the Authority holding that information).

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the Cumbria Local Pension Board meeting held on  14 October 2021  (copy enclosed).

RESOLVED,     that the minutes of the previous meeting held on 14 October 2021 be agreed as a true and accurate record.

To note the Schedule of future meetings (copy enclosed).

Members noted the schedule of meetings of the Cumbria LGPS Local Pension Board.  A discussion took place regarding the possibility of meeting virtually.  It was resolved that future meetings may alternate between in person and virtual and as a starting point the next meeting of the Cumbria LGPS Local Pension Board would be held virtually.

To receive an update from the Director of Finance (Section 151 Officer)

Members considered a report from the Director of Finance (Section 151 Officer) which updated them on all aspects of the governance and administration of the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS).

Section 4 of this report summarised the work conducted, and decisions made by the Committee at its meeting held on 10 December 2021, in order that Board Members could review these as part of their legal responsibility to members of the Fund.

This report also advised members of other matters arising, including regulatory changes, since last reported to the Board. 

The Technical Finance Officer took members through the report, and highlighted the following:

·      Legal breaches – there had been no legal breaches reported to the Pensions Regulator during the period to September 2021.

·      Risk – there were no risks added to or removed from the risk register.  Two risk scores had been amended.  The Information Security target score had been adjusted from a likelihood score of 2 “unlikely” to 3 “possible”.  The overall target score had increased from 10 to 15.  The Pensions Administration Process risk score had been reduced from 3 “possible” to 2 “unlikely) this decreased the overall risk score from 9 to 6.

·      Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Responsible Investment Policy – an annual review had been undertaken and a small number of amendments have been outlined in the report, and it was acknowledged that this policy and the approach of the Fund remain broadly aligned.

·      Regulatory Changes – McCloud Resolution – there had been little progress on McCloud within the LGPS and the Board would be advised as further information becomes available.

A member remarked that they were supportive of the amendments made to the risk register and was keen to understand more about the Fund’s cyber security risks.  With the pending Local Government Reorganisation the member believed there were potential risks ongoing and some aspects should be included in the Risk Register.

The Group Finance Manager - Pensions Investments & Insurance confirmed that a cyber risk paper would be presented to the July meeting of the LGPS Board.

The Senior Manager - Pensions and Financial Services agreed that as more clarity emerged the risk register would be updated to include Local Government Reorganisation, and further commented that once the Shadow Authorities are formed it would become clearer how the new unitary authorities will be structured. 

A member noted the reporting changes in relation to Responsible Investment and in particular the expectation of the future requirement to report under the Taskforce for Climate related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).  The Chair remarked that this may be something that could be included in the work schedule of the Board, as a way of assisting in the governance process.

The Senior Manager - Pensions and Financial Services noted that the expected further information on TCFD from Central Government had been delayed.  She hoped that more detail would be available soon.

A member commented on the emerging risks, including Climate Change and queried whether global equity currency hedging was considered within the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 94.

Jo Darbyshire, Managing Director, Local Pensions Partnership has been invited to make a presentation to the Board.

The Managing Director LPPA gave an update with particular focus on Project PACE which was the replacement of the Pensions Administration system used by LPPA.  She outlined what it would mean for the Fund and its employers and explained that Cumbria LGPS was one of the Phase 2 clients, Phase 1 client migration was due to start in coming weeks so the process would be proven by the time Cumbria data is moved across.  She explained the rationale behind the project, the risks and mitigations in place and the governance that was required for a ‘go live’ decision to be made.

A member remarked that the project sounded very positive and asked whether, as the customer, Cumbria’s officers were involved in the management of the project.

The Group Finance Manager - Pensions Investments & Insurance noted that Project PACE was progressing with very positive customer engagement and that regular meetings took place.  It was noted that  customer engagement will be ongoing but the ‘Go Live’ or ‘No Go’ decision was for LPPA to make as it was their system.

The Managing Director, LPPA explained that lots of communications were being sent out and as the Cumbria Go Live date approached that would increase.

A member was pleased to hear about employer and payroll providers training session and wondered if an overview or visual of the project plan would be provided.

The Group Finance Manager - Pensions Investments & Insurance remarked that this would be included in the Monitoring Report.  He noted that any transition of data between systems contained risks but as Cumbria was part of Phase 2 any previous issues would have been overcome.

The Managing Director, LPPA commented that there may be an impact on performance however it was hoped that the this would be very small.

The Chair thanked the Managing Director for their update.

To note that the next meeting will be held on 13 April 2022.

The next meeting will be held on 13 April 2022 at 1pm and would be held virtually.

To receive an update from the Director of Finance (Section 151 Officer)

Members considered a report from the Director of Finance (Section 151 Officer), which provided an update on the following key areas of Pensions’ Administration.

·         The service provided and monitoring of LPPA with a further update to be provided by LPPA in their presentation at the next agenda item.

·         Employer Issues and measures taken to mitigate them.

·         Fund Discretions – nine were exercised in the quarter. 

·         Pension Ombudsman Opinions - none issued during the period.

RESOLVED,     that the Board noted the Pension Administration matters detailed in the report and requested further information and/or feedback to the Pensions Committee as appropriate.

Jane Watkinson, Operations Manager, Local Pensions Partnership has been invited to make a presentation to the Board.

Members received a verbal update from Mrs J Watkinson, Operations Manager - Local Pension Partnership Administration (LPPA).  The update included:

·         LPPA Performance to 31 December (provisional figures)

·         SLA Performance against KPI’s

·         Staff Turnover and recruitment for replacements

·         Satisfaction Scores

To receive a general verbal update from Director of Finance (Section 151 Officer).

The Senior Manager - Pensions and Financial Services updated the Board on current emerging issues, including:-

·      Valuation

·      Terms of Reference