Agenda item

The Board is invited to review the position against the Annual Business Plan for 2022/23 as considered by the Pension Fund Committee at their meeting on 2 December 2022 and to offer any comments to the Committee.  The report includes the results of the National Knowledge Assessment, and the Board is invited to consider the results and priorities for future training.

The Board was asked to review the position against the Annual Business Plan for 2022/23 as considered by the Pension Fund Committee at their meeting on 2 December 2022 and to offer any comments to the Committee.

The report also included the results of the National Knowledge Assessment, and the Board was invited to consider the results and priorities for future training.

Reference was made to data quality scores which were very good.  It was hoped that the introduction of the national Pensions Dashboards would increase awareness of pension provision and make it easier for scheme members to keep track of all pension benefits and how to keep their details up to date.

In relation to cyber security, the score had remained as Amber in light of the breaches already reported this year, and the need to strengthen the monitoring arrangements in respect of the wider cyber risks.

Stewardship Code was on Red, in relation to the appointment of a new Responsible Investment Officer. The Board was informed that interviews would be taking place next week so this key measure of success would be carried over.

The Board was informed that Oxfordshire County Council’s Staff Climate Action Group had submitted correspondence asking the Pension Fund Committee to consider climate change suggestions. The Board was informed that a response to this request would be reported to the next Pension Fund Committee.

In relation to Scheme Member Engagement Policy, as reported on an earlier agenda item, an Engagement Policy was being developed and implemented.

In relation to the Budget, there was an underspend with the delays in the recruitment of staff across the service being a contributory factor. The underspend will grow if there are any further delays in the recruitment process.

The Board was informed of the National Knowledge Assessment results which had Oxfordshire first out of the sixteen Funds in terms of having a top score of 62.5 and with 100% engagement. The overall score for the Board was higher than that for Pension Fund Committee Members.

Areas of weakness were Pension investment which was understandable for the Board as a regulatory body, and Accounting and Audit Standards which would be concentrated on in terms of training.

The Board asked that Members of both the Board and the Pension Fund Committee continue to be invited to seminars and conferences as there was a correlation between training and scores in the assessment.  

Based on the results of this assessment and with individual Committee and Board results, a training plan would be developed which would be presented to the Pension Fund Committee at the March meeting.  

The Board noted the report and that Pension Fund Committee had agreed the following:

(1) That the Committee reviewed progress against each of the key service priorities as set out in the report.

(2) That approval be given to the further actions to be taken to address those areas not currently on target to deliver the required objectives.

(3) That the provisional results from the National Knowledge Assessment be noted.

(4) That approval be given to holding a 2023/24 Business Planning session on the morning of Friday 3 February 2023.