Agenda and minutes

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

An apology for absence was received from Mrs J Willis.  Mr D Harrison was Chair for this 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.

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 9 – Update on Sargeant Remedy and Immediate Detriment, and Agenda Item No 10 – 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 3 February 2021 (copy enclosed).

RESOLVED,           that the minutes of the previous meeting held on 3 February 2020 be agreed as a true and accurate record.

To note the Schedule of Future Meetings (copy enclosed).

Members noted that the next scheduled meeting of the Cumbria LGPS Local Pension Board would take place as follows:-

·      15 July 2021 at 1pm – venue to be confirmed

·      22 October 2021 at 1pm – venue to be confirmed

·      1 February 2022 at 1pm – venue to be confirmed

·      3 May 2022 at 1pm – venue to be confirmed

·      26 July 2022 at 1pm – venue to be confirmed

·      20 October 2022 at 1pm – venue to be confirmed

·      1 February 2023 at 1pm – venue to be confirmed

·      19 April 2023 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 31March 2021 and any performance monitoring issues of the Scheme to 31 December 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 comments associated with some risks had been amended to reflect progress over the past quarter. There had been no amendments to the scoring of any of the risks.  Additional information had been added to the ICT Security item on the risk register it noted that “In the event of a Cyber Attack the Administering Authority will notify the appropriate government agencies (Action Fraud and National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC)) and their guidance will be adhered to.  The Scheme would never make any payment to a third-party claiming responsibility for breaching the Scheme’s security arrangements”

·         LPPA Performance - In the quarter to 31 December 2020, performance against all of the KPIs had been 100%, against the SLA target of 95%.  Other than June and August 2020, performance has been 100% for every month since September 2019.  There continued to be a slow but steady increase in the membership registered for My Pension Online, with 43% registered at 31 December 2020 compared to 39% for the same period last year.

·               Legal breaches recorded/reported during the quarter – members noted there are no breaches to report for the quarter to 31 December 2020.

·               Scheme Discretions – members noted that no scheme discretions had been exercised during the quarter.

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

·               IDRP –  A stage 1 IDRP regarding the reclaiming of money which related to an overpayment of an injury award was considered by the then Chief Fire Officer and this was partially upheld and communicated to the appellant in September 2020. This has resulted in ongoing correspondence with the individual.  A stage 2 appeal was made and was under consideration.

·               Data Quality – The Scheme had benefited from the work undertaken before the pandemic, and data held by the Scheme continued to be of a good quality.  Using the scoring mechanism as set out by the Pensions Regulator, the Scheme reported that 98.3% of its common data was present and accurate and the scheme specific conditional data was scored as being 92.5% present and accurate.

·               Remedy to Sargeant Age Discrimination Case – There was a separate paper at Item 9 which provided an update on the Sargeant Remedy and Immediate Detriment.

·               Exit Payment Cap – In October, the Board were briefed on the government’s plans to implement a Public Sector Exit Payments Cap, and of the exemptions being considered for FRAs. The legislation came into force on 4 November 2020, however on 12 February, the Government issued the Exit Payment Cap  ...  view the full minutes text for item 58.

To note that the next meeting will take place on 15 July 2021.

The next meeting will be held on 15 July 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 provided the Cumbria Fire Local Pensions Board with an update on the remedies to the Age Discrimination finding by the Court of Appeal, in December 2018. This case related to the transitional protections offered to some older members of the 1992 and 2006 Fire pensions schemes, when the 2015 Fire Pension Scheme was introduced.

The Government consulted on the various options to remove the discrimination and published their response in February 2021. The Deferred Choice Underpin (DCU) had been confirmed as the remedy, meaning those in scope would have the choice between CARE or final salary benefits for the remedy period, at the point at which the scheme member retired.

Members noted that there were considerable risks associated with both action or inaction at the present time and the Council would be working closely with Local Pensions Partnership Administration (LPPA), the LGA, other FRA’s, partners and stakeholders to manage this and implement the changes.

RESOLVED,     that the Cumbria Fire Local Pensions Board noted the contents of this report.

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

The Chief Fire Officer updated the Board on current emerging issues, including:-

·      Potential White Paper on Fire & Rescue Services review

·      Police & Crime Commissioner Review

·      Local Government Review was discussed and the Chief Fire Officer agreed to share his response to the consultation with Board Members.

·      The O’Brien case was discussed as an emerging risk and it was agreed that this would be captured on the Risk register for the next meeting