Agenda and minutes
PDF 134 KBVenue: Civic Offices, St Nicholas Way, Sutton SM1 1EA
Contact: Dominic Ryan, Committee Services Officer Tel: 020 8770 4990, Email: committee.services@sutton.gov.uk
Media
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Welcome and introductions Minutes: The Chair, Councillor Cryss Mennaceur, welcomed those present.
The Chair announced that the meeting’s audio would be recorded and available for playback following the meeting. |
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Apologies for absence and declarations of interest Minutes: There were no apologies for absence.
There were no declarations of interest. |
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Any urgent business To consider any items which, in the view of the Chair, should be dealt with as a matter of urgency because of special circumstances (in accordance with S100B(4) of the Local Government Act 1972). Minutes: There was no urgent business. |
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Minutes of the previous meeting To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 12 December 2023. Supporting documents:
Minutes: RESOLVED:
1. That the minutes of the previous meeting held on 12 December 2024 be agreed as an accurate record.
Members inquired about discussions during the previous meeting relating to the connection between IDRP complaints and cases backlog. Officers recognised that lessons needed to be learned from IDRP complaints and confirmed that there was a strong correlation between the two factors. |
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Pension Fund Business Plan and Budget Supporting documents:
Minutes: The Interim Head of Pensions Administration introduced the report.
Members inquired about the date of the dashboard and asked about the steps officers had taken to explore the options for potential suppliers. Officers detailed that all Local Government Pension Schemes (LGPS) were facing the same challenges and that officers will use LGPS national frameworks in order to procure systems providers.
The Committee discussed the workings of the software provider and asked Officers whether they believed that the provider would continue potential improvements whilst procurement for an alternative provider was ongoing. Officers stated that they had been transparent with the provider about the service deadline and had an improvement plan in place.
Members inquired about the ability to monitor the undertaking of training by Pension Board and Pension Committee members. Officers highlighted that Hymens produced a monthly report which was shared with individuals yet to complete aspects of the training.
The Committee asked for further information relating to transfers in and out of the scheme. Officers explained that this was primarily a result of a backlog of cases.
RESOLVED:
1. To approve the business plan for 2024-27. 2. To approve the budget for 2024-25. |
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Pension Administration Strategy Update Supporting documents: Minutes: The Interim Head of Pensions Administration introduced the report.
RESOLVED:
1. To note the update. |
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Pension Administration Performance Update Supporting documents:
Minutes: The Interim Head of Pensions Administration introduced the report.
Members noted previous challenges relating to unfilled positions and sickness within the pensions administration team. Officers confirmed that recruitment had been undertaken for previous roles and that the illness in question was an ongoing long-term, complex sickness. Officers also noted that work had been undertaken to adjust the structure of the team and additional recruitment was necessary for new roles.
Members discussed staffing further and asked whether officers recognised the structural need for less reliance on key individuals. Officers confirmed that the team did not want to become overly reliant on individuals. Additionally, officers highlighted that, through changes to the structure, the team had been better able to assign responsibilities and had placed a greater emphasis on developing individual’s skills and general reliance within the service. Members asked about the effect of workload pressure on the morale of the team. Officers detailed that they acknowledged potential frustrations and recognised the efforts of the pensions administration personnel. Officers stressed that work conducted to clear critical cases such as deaths or retirements were key to boosting team morale and were placing emphasis on this.
Members asked officers as to when they believed outstanding issues would be resolved. Officers said that they recognised that there will be moments of larger workloads such as through the London Borough of Sutton’s voluntary redundancy scheme and through immediate changes needed in individual cases more widely. Officers confirmed that they were taking steps in the next two quarters to solidify processes.
Members asked for clarification of Service Level Agreement (SLA) tracker numbers. Officers confirmed that there were 990 cases in which 74% were actioned on time.
The Committee inquired about the steps taken to engage more successfully with employers. Officers detailed that additional training can be offered to employers such as dealing with rare events and completing leaver forms.
RESOLVED:
1. To note the update. |
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Pension Administration Projects Update Supporting documents:
Minutes: The Interim Head of Pensions Administration introduced the report.
Members asked for further information about scheme specific data and how officers planned to improve this area. Officers confirmed that the present backlogs were a significant factor and highlighted that work was being carried out to correct potential data entry errors. The Committee sought clarification over how many individuals incorrect data was affecting. Officers noted that errors such as an incorrect postcode or telephone number of an individual were registered as a fail, which had affected the overall data. Officers recognised the need for more up to date information for members and detailed that work was being conducted to correct errors. The Chair asked officers to provide further detail on the progress of this work at the next Committee meeting.
The Committee inquired about the existence of a sharia scheme within Additional Voluntary Contributions. Officers said they would inquire and bring information back to the Committee.
RESOLVED:
1. To note the update. |
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Governance and Risk Update Supporting documents:
Minutes: The Interim Head of Pensions Administration and Assistant Director of Finance introduced the report.
Members ask about the consequences for an employer if they do not enter into insurance and encounter financial difficulty. Officers confirmed that employers do have the option not to join the scheme but emphasised that they aim to be transparent regarding the consequences. Officers confirmed that further work on this would be coming to a future meeting of the Committee as part of a funding strategy statement.
Members further discussed ill health insurance and questioned whether funds would be required to take on the cost of an employer facing difficulty or whether the fund would take steps to organise a way for an employer to meet costs through time. Officers detailed that, in the short-term during a transitional period, the fund would bear risk across all employers but that in the long-term then there would be greater flexibility over repayment.
Members asked whether insurance was previously offered by the fund. Officers confirmed that, before the funding strategy statement change, insurance was a component of the employer contribution rate.
The Committee inquired as to whether any cyber attacks had occurred given the red status of the risk. Officers stated that most councils experience minor attacks such as phishing but that no major attacks had occurred. Officers explained that the risk was labelled as red due to the impact of a cyber attack if one was to occur. Additionally, Members inquired as to how many providers had signed up to the Fund’s cyber policy. Officers stated that they would contact key providers to ensure that the correct protections had been utilised and speak to them about their best practice for the Fund to learn from.
Members discussed the following GDPR regulations and inquired about the location of the Amazon servers used. Officers said they would find this information and provide it to members.
Members highlighted Risk 29 relating to database software and asked officers if this could be updated to reflect discussions surrounding procurement and links to the dashboard. Officers detailed that they were able to update this.
RESOLVED:
1. To note the update and risk register. |
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Work Programme Update Supporting documents: Minutes: The Pensions Finance and Investment Manager introduced the report.
Officers noted the appointment of Aoifinn Devitt as the Chief Investment Officer at LCIV.
RESOLVED:
1. To note the updated Work Programme for the Committee |
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Investment and Manager Performance to 31 December 2023 Supporting documents:
Minutes: The Pensions Finance and Investment Manager introduced the report.
Regarding the Fund’s property allocation, Members enquired as to whether officers were looking to diversify, given that all three managers have underperformed. Representatives from Mercers confirmed that they were surprised by the underperformance and recognised the challenges facing markets. The benchmark for Invesco is based on inflation and is therefore quite high, which is an added challenge for that manager. The representatives detailed that they were hesitant to recommend moving money to other managers, given another challenge for property is high trading costs and stamp duty. They explained that the allocation to property is small in comparison to the overall size of the Fund. Currently the LCIV doesn't offer an equivalent fund. Officers highlighted that the La Salle fund was in the process of winding up and within the next year or so the remaining value (currently approx £10m) would have been returned.
Members highlighted that, at the previous meeting of the Committee, that Members approved investment in the London Fund and LCIV Housing Fund however they did not appear in the strategic allocation. Representatives from Mercers confirmed that reporting would begin when there were drawdowns.
Members inquired as to why the LCIV renewable infrastructure fund had been included on the list of Partners Group funds. Representatives from Mercers explained that it was included due to its relation to infrastructure. Representatives from Mercers confirmed that they could arrange the data in a different format if required.
RESOLVED:
1. To note the performance of the Fund during the quarter ended 31 December 2023. 2. To note the funding level as at 31 December 2023. |
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London Collective Investment Vehicle Update Supporting documents:
Minutes: The minutes of this item were exempt. |
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Exclusion of the public and press The following motion should be moved, seconded and approved if the committee wishes to exclude the public and press to deal with reports revealing exempt information: “That the public and press be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph X Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972.”
Minutes: The Chair proposed that the meeting enter an exempt session for the remainder of the meeting. This proposal was seconded by Councillor Drummond and agreed by the Committee. The meeting was then closed to the public and press.
RESOLVED: That the public and press be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972. |