Agenda and minutes

To receive declarations of disclosable pecuniary or non pecuniary interests, arising from business to be transacted at this meeting, from all Members present.

RESOLVED:  To note that there were none.

That the minutes of the meeting held on 5 February 2024 be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 5 February 2024, be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

To note any public questions received.

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, Thursday 25 July.  Questions should be sent to publicquestions@harrow.gov.uk

No person may submit more than one question].

RESOLVED:  To note that no public questions were put or petitions or deputations received.

To consider the appointment of a Vice-Chair to the Pension Board for the Municipal Year 2024/25.

RESOLVED:  That Gerald Balabanoff be appointed as Vice-Chair of the Board for the 2024/2025 Municipal Year.

Report of the Strategic Director of Finance

The Board received a report which provided Members with information relating to the administration performance of the Fund over the quarter ending 31 March 2024.

During the discussion, the following key points were highlighted:

·                 The Board enquired why the performance of the Administration Team had dipped, an Officer explained that this was due to resources deployed to support the rollout of the Council’s new payroll system, but it was expected for performance to be restored by December 2024.  New roles had also been created with the intention of these being filled by March 2025.

·                 Asked if the team’s composition could be explained further, an Officer highlighted that 3newposts had been created, there was a total of 12 people in the pension team and that more information could be circulated to Board Members on this.

·                 The Board wanted to know if collaborating with other Local Authorities to improve efficiencies by service sharing had been considered.  To which an Officer explained that this option had been considered, but other options were being considered.  The Officer continued to explain that it was beneficial to first get the Authority’s service working well before a potential service share and highlighted that sometime service sharing would not necessarily solve issues.

·                 Further discussion by the Board in relation to service sharing raised that Harrow’s team have been outstanding and that it was only in the last 2 years that the Board had seen a dip in performance and would be cautious to collaborate.  It was explained by an Officer that the scheme was constantly changing and that within the last 2 years payroll services had changed for Harrow schools.  This had meant an increased workload that dealt with numerous payroll providers from 33 different schools.

·                 An on-going complaint was yet to be resolved but discussions had been ongoing to get this resolved.

·                 All outstanding 2022-23 statements had been sent out and were on track for the 2023-24 statements to be sent out by 31 August 2024.  The Board requested that they be kept updated on the status of the reminder statements sent out especially at the stage of being traced.

RESOLVED:  That the report be noted.

Report of the Strategic Director of Finance

The Board received a report which reviewed the Pension Fund’s Governance Compliance Statement.  The document was last reviewed by the Committee on 31 July 2023.

During the discussion, the following key points were highlighted:

·                 It was noted that it was required to show how the fund complies with the regulations.  The was one non-compliance, which related to structure.  This was because not all representative positions on the committees were filled.

·                 It was required to document those scheme members who were members of the Pension Committees.  The Pension Fund Committee did not have a representative for the scheme members but did have Trade Union representatives who observe.

·                 Asked by the Board if a log was kept on the Board Members’ training, an Officer confirmed that training had to be logged as well as attendance within the annual report.

·                 Invites to the Pension Fund Committee were routinely sent to the Trade Union representatives and they had attended meetings in the past.  The Board raised concern there was not as much participation as there could be in the Pension Fund Committee.

RESOLVED:  That the report be noted, and the Governance Compliance Statement be approved for adoption.

Report of the Strategic Director of Finance

The Board received a report which updated the Board on the progress of the audit of the Pension Fund Annual Report and Accounts for 2022-23 and the audit plan for the 2023/24 accounts.

During the discussion, the following key points were highlighted:

·                 All audits from 22-23 were expected to be completed by September 2024, with fees estimated to be between £30,000 to £40,000.

·                 The audit fee had increased due to no longer being on the previous fee regime, fees for other authorities had also increased.

The Board wanted clarification on the fees, it was suggested that 151% was a large amount.  In addition, it was asked if the fee structure over the 5-year period would remain the same.  The Officer explained that the audit fees had been around £16,000 for a few years.  A review had concluded that there was a need for the fees to better reflect the work done on the audits and to match market conditions.  Every few years tendering for the audit work went out and there would be a possibility that Harrow Council might end up with a different auditor, but the same auditor had been used for a few years.

RESOLVED:  That the report be noted.

Report of the Strategic Director of Finance

The Board received a report which provided the Committee with a summary of the contents of the latest internal controls reports for the Fund’s investment managers.  The reports had been reviewed and shown that controls were operating effectively and, where exceptions had been identified and that there had been a satisfactory management response.

Having considered the confidential appendices, it was

RESOLVED:  That the report be noted.

Report of the Strategic Director of Finance

The Board received a report which updated the Board on the current position of the Fund’s investments in context of the Government’s requirements for pooling and on current developments within the London CIV.

During the discussion, the following key points were highlighted:

·                 Information had been received from Government on the proposal for public assets to be moved to private assets.  The London Asset pool totalled £46.1b and the LCIV had reported new assets of circa £1.5b.

·                 No new investments had been made with the LCIV in the last quarter.  The London Borough of Harrow had 53.5% of investments asset allocation with LCIV with 29% was in passive funds under the LCIV umbrella.  The Officer noted that it would not be difficult for LCIV to meet the Government’s target of putting public asset within a pool.

·                 The Board noted that the Chief Investment Officer role had a high turnover and that there should be stability with that role.  The Officer noted this concern and would feed this back to the LCIV.

·                 It was noted that a the LCIV had a new Chief Risk Officer and that a new Chief Investment Officer was to be recruited.  The Board raised that the Chief Investment Officer role should be a shared role, with a client and market side.  As well as this they expressed that they would want to feedback the key characteristics the Pension Board would like to see in the new chief investment Officer.

RESOLVED:  That the report be noted.

Report of the Strategic Director of Finance

The Board received a report which reviewed the Pension Board’s work to date, listed the forthcoming meeting dates and invited the Board to comment on a suggested work programme for the remainder of the 2024-25 Municipal Year.

Asked if progress had been made to find someone to fill the vacancy on the Pension Board, it was explained by Officers that progress had been slow but were hopeful that progress would be made to fill the vacancy.

RESOLVED:  That the report be noted.

To resolve that the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business, on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of confidential information in breach of an obligation of confidence, or of exempt information as defined in Part I of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972:

RESOLVED:  That in accordance with Part I of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items for the reasons set out below:

Exempt Appendices to the report of the Strategic Director of Finance.

The Board received and discussed the confidential appendices for the London CIV and investment Pooling update report.

RESOLVED:  That the appendices be noted.