Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

An apology for absence was received from Mr A Lamb. 

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

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 10 – Update on Sargeant Remedy and Immediate Detriment, and Agenda Item No 11 – 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 21 April 2021 (copy enclosed).

RESOLVED,               that the minutes of the previous meeting held on 21 April 2021 be agreed as an accurate and complete record with the following amendment:-

Minute 56 – Page 12 should read, that the minutes of the previous meeting held on 3 February 2021 not held on 3 February 2020.

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

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

·      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 30 June 2021 and any performance monitoring issues of the Scheme to 31 March 2021.

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

·               Risk - The current risk register had 14 risks comprising 1 red risk (information security arrangements), 3 amber risks and 10 green risks.  The comments associated with some risks had been amended to reflect developments over the past quarter. There had been no amendments to the scoring of any of the risks, however a new risk had been added relating to the O’Brien Judgement.

·         LPPA Performance - In the year to 31 March 2021, performance against ten 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.

·               Legal breaches– members noted there were no legal breaches reported to the Pensions Regulator for the quarter to 31 March 2021.

·               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 new IDRP procedure had been drafted and was discussed with Fire Trade Unions at the Joint Consultative Group (JCG) on 28 June. Following consultation and a review of feedback received, the new procedure would be launched. The fundamental change suggested was regarding the approach to Stage 2 appeals.  The new approach included an introduction of a panel approach for Stage 2 matters which was more aligned to best practice.

The Board were updated on developments regarding the Stage 1 IDRP discussed at the last meeting.  Since then, a Stage 2 appeal was received in April 2021, a Stage 2 panel met in June 2021, and a decision was made to not uphold the appeal.  However, it was recognised by the panel that the complainant had received below standard service which impacted on the timescales associated with the issue and was subsequently offered an amount in respect of non-financial injustice which they accepted.

Another Stage 1 IDRP was responded to in May 2021,  the complaint was not upheld. The complainant has since appealed to Stage 2 of the procedure.

·               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 94.6% present and accurate.

·               Remedy to Sargeant Age Discrimination Case – There was a separate paper at Item 10 which provided an update on the Sargeant Remedy and Immediate Detriment.

·               Pension Age Consultation – On 11 February, HM Treasury launched a consultation in which the government reconfirmed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 68.

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

Members considered a report from the Chief Fire Officer, presented the draft Annual Report of the Cumbria Fire Local Pension Board for 2020/21, for approval ahead of reporting to Council in accordance with the Board’s Terms of Reference.

RESOLVED,     that the Board agreed the Annual Report of the Cumbria Fire Local Pension Board for 2020/21 for presentation to the County Council in line with paragraph 2.3 of the Board’s Terms of Reference (Part 2Q of the Council’s Constitution).

To note that the next meeting will take place on 22 October 2021.

The next meeting will be held on 22 October 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.

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 Reform

The Chief Fire Officer and members of the Board expressed their thanks to Tracey Robinson for her support to the Board and the Cumbria Fire & Rescue Service noting that this is her last meeting before she leaves the Council.