Agenda item

Report of the Director of Finance.

The Board received a report of the Director of Finance, which set out the matters considered by the Pension Fund Committee at its meeting on 27 November 2018.

An officer informed the Board that due to the proximity of the meetings, the minutes of the Pension Fund Committee were not available for circulation to the Board.  The officer provided the following summary on the business considered at the Pension Fund Committee:

-               the Fund’s diversification had been achieved by investing globally;

-               the Pension Fund Committee had raised concerns with PIRC’s work on performance and the quality of data provided.  The Board was informed that PIRC would be invited to attend the next ordinary meeting of the Committee scheduled to be held on 12 March 2019 to discuss the concerns of the Committee;

-               a training session to discuss the risks in detail would be held on 16 January 2019.  Members of the Board would be invited to the training as it would provide an opportunity for members to comment on the Risk Register;

-               the discussion on the Local Government Pension Scheme Amendment Regulations had concentrated on the ability of employers to access surplus on exit of its members.  The officer reported that, to date, one contractor had terminated its contract with Harrow and a surplus of £18,000 had been paid to the contractor.  In response to questions, the officer stated that employers could potentially benefit from the volatility of the financial markets.  However, if the Fund was in deficit, the contractor would have to pay back into the Fund;

-               the performance of a fund manager would be discussed further at a special meeting of the Pension Fund Committee scheduled to be held on 16 January 2019;

-               the process for the provision and re-procurement of Investment Consultancy Services was ongoing and the Pension Fund Committee had delegated the decision to the Director of Finance following consultation with the Chair of the Committee;

-               attendance of the Chair of the Board during consideration of confidential business at meetings of the Pension Fund Committee had been raised and that the Chair of the Committee had referred to the advice previously received from HB Public Law, which the Committee needed to adhere to – Minute 272 of 7 March 2018 meeting of the Pension Fund Committee referred.

The Board expressed their concerns on the advice of HB Public Law regarding access to the private session of the Pension Fund Committee given that many other local authorities gave access.  A member asked if the Board could obtain independent advice.  Another member suggested that as the employer representative, he would have access to the meeting of the Committee and whether the Constitution needed amending.  The Chair requested reasons from HB Public Law to be provided to the Board given that the Pension Regulator had given a view that the Board should be allowed access to such confidential papers.

The Board requested that they be advised of topics of all training sessions so that they could decide on the relevance of it for the purposes of their work area.  The officer circulated a document to the Board setting out the training sessions.

RESOLVED:  That the report be noted and HB Public Law be requested to provide the reasons why the Board could not access the private session of the Pension Fund Committee.