Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED:  To note that there were no declarations of interests made by Members.

That the minutes of the meeting held on 14 June 2018 be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 14 June 2018 be taken as read and signed as a correct record, subject to the following amendment:

Delete bullet point 2 on page 7:  ‘the Annual Review of the Treasury function would be included in the agenda for the next meeting.’

To receive any public questions received in accordance with Committee Procedure Rule 17.

Questions will be asked in the order in which they were received.  There will be a time limit of 15 minutes for the asking and answering of public questions.

[The deadline for receipt of public questions is 3.00 pm, Friday 28 September 2018.  Questions should be sent to publicquestions@harrow.gov.uk  

No person may submit more than one question].

RESOLVED:  To note that none were received.

A representative from the Pensions Regulator gave a presentation regarding its role and powers in regulating the governance and administration of public service pension schemes.

Following questions, the representative stated that:

·                     the legislation relating to pensions regulation belonged to Central Government and not the Pensions Regulator.  The Regulator was sponsored by the Department for Work and Pensions;

·                     its powers had recently been enhanced.  The Regulator had the power to impose penalties, sanctions and take other enforcement action;

·                     its remit was governance and administration.  It did not have any say over investment decisions relating to individual pension funds.  The performance of investments was the remit of actuaries and the Fund managers, who would be responsible for monitoring and flagging up poorly performing investments;

·                     the Regulator would typically expect Pension Boards to meet a minimum of 3 times a year;

·                     there was a legal requirement to report any breaches.  In cases of a breach, it would be the employer and not the scheme that would be held responsible;

·                     in cases of outsourced pensions, the scheme would still be held responsible;   

·                     no cost-benefit analysis had been undertaken by the Pension  Regulator  with regard to the effectiveness and added value of the TPR  as this fell within the responsibilities of the DWP.  In any case, there were too many variables among different schemes to make such an analysis feasible.

RESOLVED: That the presentation be noted.

Report of the Director of Finance.

The Board received a report of the Director of Finance which provided a summary of the matters considered at the most recent meeting of the Pension Fund Committee.

The Chair stated that in order for the Pension Board to fully discharge its duties, it should be given access to all investment management performance monitoring data in relation to the Pension Fund.

A Board member asked why the CIVs had been established without governance mechanisms in place, ie, why was there no body with oversight of the work of the CIVs.

An officer advised that he had raised the above issue with officer representatives of the London CIV and would follow this up further.

RESOLVED:  That the report be noted.

Report of the Director of Finance.

The Board received a report of the Director of Finance which set out performance monitoring information for the quarter ending 30 June 2018.

Following questions and comments from Board members regarding deferred pensions, an officer advised that:

·                     he would look into the Pension Fund membership database to see how up to date it was and would report back to the Board on record keeping;

·                     the Council had a comprehensive and robust breaches policy and that no breaches had been reported at Harrow.  He added that the new reporting template would be circulated to all 31 employers in the Harrow scheme.

RESOLVED:  That the report be noted.

Report of the Director of Finance.

The Board considered a report of the Director of Finance which provided a 3?year review of the Board’s Work Programme.

An officer advised that he had circulated the training log to Board Members and would also circulate information about training sessions which were held prior to Pension Fund Committee meetings.

The officer added that he was still in the process of seeking a replacement nominee for the vacant position of employer representative (for Scheduled and Admitted Bodies) and would update the Board in due course.

RESOLVED:  That the report be noted.

RESOLVED:  To note that the next meeting would be at 2.00 pm on 5 December 2018.