Agenda and minutes

Received from Alan Begg, Valerie Easmon-George and George Sharkey.

If you have a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest* in an item of business:

·         if it is not yet on the council’s register, you must declare both the existence and details of it at the start of the meeting or when it becomes apparent;

·         you may choose to declare a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest that is already in the register in the interests of openness and transparency. 

In both the above cases, you must leave the room without participating in discussion of the item.

If you have a personal interest in an item of business and you intend to speak or vote on the item you must declare both the existence and details of it at the start of the meeting or when it becomes apparent but you may participate in the discussion and vote on the item.

*(a) Employment, etc - Any employment, office, trade, profession or vocation carried on for profit or gain.

(b)   Sponsorship - Any payment or other financial benefit in respect of your expenses in carrying out duties as a member, or of your election; including from a trade union.

(c)  Contracts - Any current contract for goods, services or works, between you or your partner (or a body in which one of you has a beneficial interest) and the council.

(d)   Land - Any beneficial interest in land which is within the council’s area.

(e)  Licences- Any licence to occupy land in the council’s area for a month or longer.

(f)   Corporate tenancies - Any tenancy between the council and a body in which you or your partner have a beneficial interest.

 (g)  Securities - Any beneficial interest in securities of a body which has a place of business or land in the council’s area, if the total nominal value of the securities exceeds £25,000 or one hundredth of the total issued share capital of that body or of any one class of its issued share capital. 

This applies to all members present at the meeting.

None.

The members of the Board present noted the following:

(a) Minute 97(f) – that a letter of representation had been sent to MHCLG outlining the Board’s concerns that even those staff on a modest salary would be affected by the introduction of the £95k exit payment cap.

(b) Minute 98 – that a letter of representation had been sent to the MHCLG requesting a delay to the implementation of the proposals in the McCloud consultation, from April 2022, in view of the administrative impact on the current work of the Council, especially considering the impacts of Coronavirus.

(c) Minute 99 (e) – that the current risk register, attached as Appendix B to the Forward Plan of business had been updated with agreed actions from the Covid-19 checklist. The register would be submitted to the Board every six months for review.

AGREED to recommend that the minutes of the meeting of the Board held on 15 September 2020 be approved as a correct record.

Members expressed disappointment that there had been no improvement in persons joining the scheme in the period from August to October 2020. Members suggested that an emphasis on the fact that the pensions scheme was a good deal for contributors, with contributions matched by the employer, should be publicised to staff as part of the campaign to encourage applicants to join the scheme.  The Deputy Pensions Manager noted that new Council webpages devoted to the Pension Scheme would be going live in January 2021 and he hoped they would be a useful tool in recruiting new participants.

AGREED to recommend that the following points be noted:

(a) The number of members auto-enrolled into the Local Government Pension Scheme during the relevant period, as detailed in the report of the Corporate Director of Resources.

(b) The information in respect of the Internal Dispute Resolution Procedure, compliments and complaints.

(c) The new working arrangements for the Pensions Office and the impact that Coronavirus was having on Pensions services.

(d) The initial impact of the public-sector exit payment cap by government on members.

AGREED to recommend that:

(a) The draft 2019/20 Annual Pension Fund report, attached as Appendix 1 to the report of the Corporate Director of Finance, be noted.

(b) The 2019/20 Pension Fund Statement of Account, activities and performance, also as detailed in the report, be noted.

Members noted that the report was due to be considered by the Pensions Sub-Committee later that evening and had been submitted to the Board for observations before the Sub-Committee made its decisions.

Members present were generally of the view that the report was satisfactory.

AGREED to recommend that:

(a) The draft Investment Strategy Statement document, attached as Appendix 1 to the report of the Corporate Director of Resources, be noted.

(b) The changes specified in paragraph 3.3 of the report to reflect the new strategic asset allocation approved at the September 2020 Pensions Sub-Committee be agreed and that officers be authorised to publish the Statement thereafter.

AGREED to recommend that:

(a) That the contents of the report of the Corporate Director of Resources be noted.

(b) That the updated risk register, attached as Appendix B to the report, be noted and that officers be complimented on its production and content.

(c) That the Pension Risk Register be reviewed by the Board every six months.