Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Mr D Harrison (Mr S Ratcliffe substituting) and Mr M Nicholson.

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.  It was noted that this was Mrs J Willis last meeting as Chair and it would rotate to the Scheme Members.

RESOLVED,          that the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of Agenda Item No 11 – Update on Sargeant Remedy and Immediate Detriment, 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).

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).  

There were no declarations of interest made at this meeting.

To receive the minutes of the previous meeting held on 15 July 2021 (copy enclosed).

RESOLVED,           that the minutes of the previous meeting held on 15 July 2021 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 Fire Local Pension Board would take place as follows:-

·      1 February 2022 at 1pm – Conference Room A, Cumbria House

·      3 May 2022 at 1pm – Conference Room A, Cumbria House

·      26 July 2022 at 1pm – Conference Room A, Cumbria House

·      20 October 2022 at 1pm – Conference Room A, Cumbria House

·      1 February 2023 at 1pm – Conference Room A, Cumbria House

·      19 April 2023 at 1pm – Conference Room A, Cumbria House

A brief discussion was had about the possibility of remote meetings and the time of meetings.

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 September 2021 and any performance monitoring issues of the Scheme to 30 June 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 for clarification purposes, in particular the O’Brien and Sargeant risks and to reflect developments over the past quarter.

·               LPPA Performance - In the quarter to 30 June 2021, performance against the KPIs had been 98.8%, against the SLA target of 95%. 

·               Legal breaches– members noted there were no legal breaches reported to the Pensions Regulator for the quarter to 30 June 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 introduced following the consultation period.  The fundamental change regarded the approach to Stage 2 appeals.

The Board were updated on a Stage One Appeal and two Stage Two Appeals  that had been concluded during the quarter through the IDRP process.  The Stage 1 IDRP appeal had been upheld and the complainant had been notified.  The first Stage 2 Appeal had not been upheld by the panel.  However, whilst the complaint was not upheld it was deemed that the complainant had received below standard service  and was offered an amount in respect of this which they had accepted.  The second Stage 2 Appeal was also not upheld.  Again, whilst the complaint was not upheld, it was deemed that the complainant had received below standard service and the complainant had offered a resolution which is currently under consideration by the scheme member. 

·               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 98.4% of its common data was present and accurate and the scheme specific conditional data was scored as being 94.9% present and accurate, continuing the upward trend.

·               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.

·               The Pensions Regulator’s Consolidated Code of Practice – In March, the Pensions Regulator consulted on a proposed Code of Practice which consolidated 10 of the existing 15 existing Codes of Practice into one new Code.  The Pensions Regulator would now draft revisions to the Code of Practice based on the responses received from the consultation with the new Code unlikely to become effective before Summer 2022.

·               Administration Strategy Consultation – The final template pension administration strategy was published  ...  view the full minutes text for item 79.

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

The Board considered a report from the Chief Fire Officer which provided a summary of the training policy of the Fund - together with details of the Training Plan for the Board.

The training obligations and requirements of Board members (along with those of Officers) were reflected in the Cumbria FLPB training policy. In line with good practice the policy had been subject to an annual review and updated. As in previous years, the policy was designed to be dynamic and aligned to the work programme and changes to national policy.

Furthermore, Board Members were encouraged to undertake their own personal training for example through the Pensions Regulator’s Public Sector Pension Scheme Trustee Toolkit. The Training Plan proposed to ensure that Members are kept up to date on developments within the Sargeant and O’Brien cases and the associated amended regulations and also with any updates on the Pensions Administration issues.

Officers considered how best to provide this support to Members, for example, at the next meeting in February, the LGA would attend to provide an update on current issues which would include an update on the implications of the Sargeant and O’Brien cases for the Firefighters Pension scheme.

RESOLVED, that the Board

(1)      Considered and approved the updated Cumbria Fire Local Pension Board Training Policy;

(2)      Approved the specific training plan for the Board for 2021/22

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

Members considered a report from the Chief Fire Officer, which provided an update to Council for the period ended 30 September 2021 for approval ahead of reporting to Council in accordance with the Board’s Terms of Reference.  The report would be presented to the County Council on 13 January 2022.

A member queried if it was possible to have this update at an earlier County Council meeting.

The Technical Finance Officer noted that this meeting was held too close to the November County Council meeting so it was not possible to be on that agenda.

RESOLVED,             that the Board approved the draft update to Council for the six months ending 30 September 2021 report for presentation to the County Council on 13 January 2022.

To note that the next meeting will take place at 1pm on 1 February 2022.

The next meeting will be held on 1 February 2022 at 1pm.

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 remedy to the unlawful Age Discrimination found by the Court of Appeal, in December 2018. This case related to the transitional protections arrangements 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 (reformed) or final salary (legacy) 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:-

·      Local Government Reorganistion

·      Police & Crime Commissioner