Agenda and minutes

To undertake the roll call and receive any apologies for absence.

There were no apologies for absence.  The Chair welcomed the newly appointed Chief Fire Officer, John Beard, to his first meeting.

To note the Terms of Reference and Membership of the Board (copy enclosed).

The Terms of Reference were noted.  There were no changes of membership to note.

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).  

Mr D Harrison declared a non-pecuniary interest.  Sellafield and Cumbria County Council have a contract for which Mr Harrison is the Contract Manager.

To consider whether the press and public should be excluded from the meeting during consideration of any items on the agenda.

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

Agenda Item No 8 – 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 receive the minutes of the previous meeting held on 22 October 2020 (copy enclosed).

RESOLVED,           that the minutes of the previous meeting held on 22 October 2020 be agreed as a true and accurate record.

To note the Schedule of Future Meetings:-

·      Wednesday 21 April 2021 at 1pm - venue to be confirmed

Members noted that future meetings of the Fire Local Pension Board would be held as follows:

·      21 April 2021 at 1pm – venue to be confirmed

To consider a report from the Chief Fire Officer (copy enclosed).

Members considered a report from the Chief Fire Officer which advised them of any material risk management, policy or governance issues and national regulatory changes to 31December 2020 and any performance monitoring issues of the Scheme to 30 September 2020.

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

·         Risk - The current risk register had 13 risks comprising 1 red risk (information security arrangements), 2 amber risks and 10 green risks.  The risk score associated with Pensions Administration services had been reduced from 12 (Amber) to 9 (Amber).  The score had previously been raised from 9 to 12 following a period of poor performance in early 2018/19.  Following action taken by LPPA to address the issue, performance had since returned to at or above the target performance levels and was considered sufficiently robust to reduce the score for the likelihood of the risk occurring from “4” (likely) to “3” (possible).

The comments associated with some risks had been amended to reflect progress over the past quarter including the proposed resolution to the Sargeant judgement. Other than the amended risk above, there had been no amendments to the scoring of any of the risks.

·      LPPA Performance - In the quarter to 30 September 2020, performance against all but one of the  KPIs had been 100%, against the SLA target of 95%, with all targets met resulting in an overall performance of 99.07% for the quarter. Other than June and August 2020, performance has been 100% for every month since September 2019. 

·      Legal breaches recorded/reported during the quarter – members noted there are no breaches to report for the quarter to 30 September 2020.

·      Scheme Discretions – the discretions policy had now had final sign off.  The policy was now available on the Council’s website.

·      Pensions Ombudsman – there had been no cases referred to the Pensions Ombudsman during the period.

·      IDRP – there had been no IDRP appeals received during the period.

·      Pensionable Pay – the pensionable pay analysis following the Booth v Mid and West Wales (2019) case was now completed with no pay elements amended.

·      Regulatory changes Remedy to Sargeant Age Discrimination Case – Officers awaited the outcome of the consultation and would advise the Board when further information had become available.  A paper had been completed by People Management and Legal Services upon implementation of the Immediate Detriment Guidance (Home Office guidance).  The briefing note highlighted the issues and concluded it would be prudent to wait until further guidance is issued to take action to address those who fall into the immediate detriment category. The recommendation was accepted by the Chief Fire Officer and subsequently the Trade Union’s were informed.

·      Public Service Pension Schemes – Governance and Administration Survey 2019 (published November 2020) - this survey by the Pensions Regulator seeked to assess how schemes are meeting the new requirements of the Public Service Pensions Act 2013 and provided an assessment of performance, understand barriers to improvement, and delve deeper into the top  ...  view the full minutes text for item 49.

To receive a general verbal update from the Chief Fire Officer.

The Group Finance Manager - Pensions, Investments and Insurance gave a verbal  update on the LPPA’s draft Budget 2021/22.  

A short discussion took place on the Sargeant judgement and proposed remedy, and included possible implications for Cumbria Fire  & Rescue Service.

To note that the next meeting will take place on 21 April 2021.

The next meeting will be held on 21 April 2021 at 1pm – venue to be confirmed.