Agenda item

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 the committee’s agenda and the meeting.  Others responded that individual Board members could make representations through Committee members but that the role of the Board was to scrutinise decisions after they were made and not to lead the Committee in its decision-making.

It was noted that the new composition of the Committee could lead to a new relationship with the Board.  It was agreed to review the relationship after six months.

Recommendations 6, 7, 8 and 9

Agreed

Recommendation 10

Sean Collins emphasised that this was about a more formal approach to training and assessment that would include the power to remove somebody if they were not properly engaging.  The recommendation was agreed.

Sean Collins agreed to take the report to the June Committee meeting back to the Board for further discussion.