Issue - meetings

The Board are invited to consider the Governance Review which was presented to the March meeting of the Pension Fund Committee.  Council subsequently agreed to the proposed amendments to the Constitution of the Pension Fund Committee as set out in the proposal from Hymans Robertson.

The Board are invited to offer any comments on the process to fill the representative places on the new Pension Fund Committee, and to offer any comments in respect of the other recommendations of the Hymans Robertson report, so that these can be taken into account when the Committee further considers the findings at their June meeting.

The Board had been invited to consider the Governance Review which was presented to the March meeting of the Pension Fund Committee.  Council subsequently had agreed to the proposed amendments to the Constitution as set out in the proposal from Hymans Robertson.

The Board had been invited to offer any comments on the process to fill the representative places on the new Pension Fund Committee and to offer any comments in respect of the other recommendations of the Hymans Robertson report, so that these can be taken into account when the Committee further considers the findings at their June meeting.

Ian Colvin, Head of Public Sector Consultancy and Governance at Hymans Robertson LLP, gave a presentation summarising the report.  The Chairman suggested that the meeting discuss each of the recommendations in turn.

Recommendation 2

Sean Collins confirmed that this recommendation had been agreed by the Pension Fund Committee and had been adopted by Full Council.

Members discussed the number of places allocated to county councillors as well as city and district councillors and possible difficulties in reflecting political proportionality.  Sean Collins responded that whatever number one chose, there was potential for problems in certain scenarios.  He noted that the five city and district councils had no problem selecting just two representatives.  The Chairman added that political proportionality was a requirement since it was a statutory committee.

Sean Collins asked if Members wanted to reconsider the make-up of the Board now that the membership of the Pension Fund Committee had been broadened.  He recalled that they had previously targeted the academy sector but that they were now going to have representation on the Committee.

It was suggested that Members attend the June meeting of the Pension Fund Committee in order to introduce themselves to the new Committee members.  However, it was noted that the meeting would have to take place physically, not virtually, and due to social distancing requirements, there would be limited space at the meeting.  It was agreed though that it would be beneficial to have at least one Member attend the Committee meeting.

Sean Collins stated that he would initiate recruitment for both the Board and Committee and let people know that there were vacancies on both.  If there are more people interested than the places available, they will take into account the current membership and aim to balance the representation of different sectors.

Recommendation 1

Agreed.

Recommendation 3

Members supported the proposal to review the Terms of Reference of the Board and the Committee.  It was agreed that greater clarity on communication between the two bodies would be helpful.  In particular, they agreed that it would be beneficial to have a member of the Committee attend Board meetings in the same way that a member of the Board attends Committee meetings.

Recommendation 4

Agreed.

Recommendation 5

The criticism was raised that the Board had no opportunity to input into decisions of the Committee because there was no time for the Board to meet between the publication of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17

11.55am

This report will highlight the key findings from the recent governance review of the Fund undertaken by Hymans Robertson and set out any proposed issues to include in a future improvement plan.

1.       The Committee is RECOMMENDED to

a.       Provide any feedback on the findings of the report from Hymans Robertson,

b.       Ask the Officers in consultation with Hymans Robertson to provide a report to the first meeting of the new Pension Fund Committee in June 2021 on proposals to take forward recommendations 1, 3-10 from the report, subject to any comments in a. above, and

c.       Recommend Council to consider any changes to the Constitution of the Pension Fund Committee in light of recommendation 2 of the Hymans Robertson report, such that these can be taken into account in establishing the new Pension Fund Committee after the May 2021 elections.

The Committee was provided with a report which highlighted the key findings from the recent governance review of the Fund undertaken by Hymans Robertson which set out proposed issues to include in a future improvement plan.

Ian Colvin from Hymans Robertson attended the meeting and provided a summary of the findings. Members were informed that no significant weaknesses had been identified with the current governance arrangements, however, there were ten recommendations which covered good governance. 

Discussion took place on the recommendation relating to the future constitution of this Committee and Members were informed that this recommendation reflected the guidance from the Scheme Advisory Board and the significant changes to the Pension Scheme membership since the current Committee constitution was agreed.

The proposal was to widen scheme employer representation on the Committee to reflect active scheme membership but that this needed to be considered alongside the legal context of the Committee:

·       Oxfordshire County Council was the Administering Authority of the Fund and was responsible for its management and performance

·       The Committee was established under local government regulations and its membership should reflect the political composition of the Council as a whole, with the majority party on the Council, holding majority seats on the Committee.

The Committee discussed the potential model of the Committee which reduced the size of the Committee from the current 12 to 10, whilst increasing the representation of the scheme employers to reflect the scheme membership. It was noted that whilst the proposal was for County Council Members to have 5 voting members and the remaining 5 members to be non-voting, the Committee operated by consensus rather than formal voting.

Councillor Jo Robb referred to the recommendation which proposed consideration being given to the creation of a Governance Officer role at the Fund and Members were informed that this would be explored with Hymans Robertson and the Director of Finance to fully understand the requirement for this.

RESOLVED – (1)  That the findings of the report from Hymans Robertson be noted.

(2) That Officers in consultation with Hymans Robertson be asked to provide a report to the first meeting of the new Pension Fund Committee in June 2021 on the proposals to take forward recommendations 1, 3-10 from the report.

(3) That this Committee recommends to Council, consideration of any changes to the Constitution of the Pension Fund Committee in light of recommendation 2 (below) of the Hymans Robertson report, such that these can be taken into account in establishing the new Pension Fund Committee after the May 2021 elections.

[5 voting members of the County Council, 2 non-voting members of the Academy sector, 1 non-voting scheme member representative, 1 non-voting member of Oxford Brookes University and 1 non-voting member of District Council.]