Agenda item

The Board is invited to consider the report presented to the Pension Fund Committee on 3 December 2021 which included the results for both the Board and the Committee from the Skills and Knowledge exercise and an updated training programme and offer any comments back to the Committee.

The Board is invited to note the Strategic Planning and Budget Workshop now scheduled for 4 February 2022 to which all members of the Board are invited.

The Board was informed that there would be a special informal meeting of the Pension Fund Committee on 4 February 2022, to discuss the Annual Business Plan and Budget for the Fund. Members of the Local Pension Board would be invited to attend this meeting as observers and then feed any views on the proposed way forward to the March Pension Fund Committee meeting.

Issues identified to be discussed included the following:

a) Implementing the McCloud/Sargeant remedy

b) The Pensions Dashboard

c) An Employer Management System

d) Improving Communications to Scheme Members

e) Fund Governance including improved performance reporting and Member Training

f) Review of Additional Voluntary Contribution (AVC) provision

g) Re-tender of the Pensions Software

h) Taking forward the Implementation of the Climate Change Policy

i) The 2022 Fund Valuation including review of the Funding Strategy Statement and Strategic Asset Allocation.

A Board Member requested that implementing a cyber security policy be added to the items discussed.

Reference was made to Knowledge Assessment and Training assessment by Hymans Robertson, and the Service Manager for Pensions, Insurance and Money Management reported that it had been identified that there were a number of gaps in the skills and knowledge of the Committee and the Board as a whole. However, the Board’s level of skills and knowledge were higher than the Committees.

Discussion took place on the Training Policy and Programme and the Board was informed that there had been a low take up of the training. Members were reminded that all Members of the Pension Fund Committee were required to undertake either the LGA 3-Day Fundamentals Training Course, or the 9 key modules (5 Core and 4 Defined Benefit modules) of the on-line Trustee Toolkit Training produced by the Pension Regulator.

The Board was reminded that the Pension Fund Committee had agreed that the Training Policy would be updated to include the annual assessment process and include an escalation process to ensure all members were engaging appropriately with the training programme and displaying sufficient progress in acquiring the skills and knowledge or face removal from the Committee or Board.

The Service Manager for Pensions, Insurance and Money Management commented that training was important, to ensure those charged with managing the Pension Fund, which comprised over £3bn, had the necessary skills and knowledge to meet their statutory duties. It also mirrored the increased scrutiny of the governance arrangements of all Pension Funds from the Pension Regulator and Scheme Advisory Board.

The Board was informed that because of the results of the initial Knowledge Assessment exercise, the draft training programme has been reviewed, to include a series of training events linked to the valuation process reflecting the relatively low score for the Pension Fund Committee on this section of the Assessment (28%) and the impending 2022 Valuation process.

Reference was made to the December Governance newsletter which contained relevant training pieces and it was hoped that there would be greater participation from Members in the future.

Members of the Board were thanked for their responses to the training.

The Board noted the information contained in the report.