Agenda and minutes
Venue: Board Room 1 - Brent Civic Centre, Engineers Way, Wembley HA9 0FJ. View directions
Contact: Peter Goss - Democratic Services Manager Email: peter.goss@brent.gov.uk 020 8937 1353
No. | Item |
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Appointment of Chair Minutes: The Democratic Services Manager opened the business part of the meeting by explaining that the membership of the Board had been agreed by the General Purposes Committee on 27 May 2015 but this was before the selection of Mr David Ewart as the independent member proposed to chair the Board. The Board was therefore asked to agree to Mr Ewart chairing the meeting and his appointment would be confirmed at the next meeting of the General Purposes Committee.
RESOLVED:
that Mr David Ewart be appointed to chair the meeting of the Board. |
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Apologies for absence Minutes: None |
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Declarations of interests PDF 148 KB Guidance is attached.
Members are invited to declare at this stage of the meeting, any relevant financial or other interest in the items on this agenda. Minutes: Members of the Board noted the Conflicts of Interest policy for members of the Brent Pension board circulated with the agenda.
No declarations of interest were declared. |
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Constitutional matters PDF 73 KB Report attached. Minutes: Members of the Board discussed their terms of office, the frequency of meetings and the time of year they were scheduled for. It was felt that the term of office for members of the Board should be for an initial two year period and after that should be timed to fit with the re-evaluation timetable. The date of the next meeting of the Board was noted as being 2 February 2016. It was felt that there needed to be some momentum maintained in establishing the role of the Board. It was suggested that a further training session might be organised (see item below) and members of the Board encouraged to attend a meeting of the Pension Fund Sub-Committee (suggested as 28 October 2015 meeting). Further consideration could be given to whether two meetings a year was sufficient and the dates in the year for the meetings to be held and this could then be incorporated into the municipal calendar for 2016/17. In the meantime it was noted that additional meetings of the Board could be called if there was business to warrant it and with the agreement of the chair.
The Board noted that minutes of the meetings would be submitted to the Pension Fund Sub-Committee for information and that the Board would need to prepare an annual report for submission to the General Purposes Committee.
RESOLVED:
(i) that the membership (noting one vacancy still to be filled), terms of reference and arrangements for the Board, as set out in the report submitted and discussed at the meeting, be noted; (ii) that a quorum of 3 comprising at least one employer and one employee representative be agreed; (iii) that a programme of dates for future meetings be subject to further consideration. |
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Communication of Pension Board business back to employees and scheme members To consider the best means by which information can be communicated. Minutes: The Board noted that the current Council web site on Pensions provided a link to the administrators of the scheme, Capita’s web site. However this did not provide information about the work of the Board.
It was felt that an item should be included in the next edition of the pension newsletter explaining the establishment and role of the Board. Further consideration would need to be given to how the work of the Board could be communicated back to scheme members. |
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Development of a training strategy To develop and comment upon a training strategy designed to help all the Board members to acquire the knowledge and skills required to ensure their knowledge and understanding needs are met both collectively and individually and the Board meets its statutory requirement to be conversant with LGPS regulations, wider pensions regulation and the requirements of the Pensions Regulator.
Suggested next session: Training in The Pensions Regulator’s Code of Practice Minutes: The briefing held at the start of the meeting was felt to have been very useful. The Chair suggested that another session should be organised before the next meeting in February 2016 on the requirements of the Pensions Regulator and the duties of pension boards. After that a session could be held on the same date as the next meeting to consider an assessment of training needs for Board members.
RESOLVED:
that training sessions be arranged on a date before the next meeting of the Board and immediately prior to the next meeting on 2 February 2016. |
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Work plan 2015/16 To consider which of the potential work strands as contained within its terms of Reference the Board wishes to prioritise in order that it can plan accordingly and make best use of limited time, for example – • Considering the fund’s management, administrative and governance processes to ensure compliance with the Regulator’s Code of Practice • Ensuring that the fund’s policies setting out how it will exercise its discretions under the LGPS are up to date and compliant (Statement of Investment Principles and the Governance Compliance Statement) • Any other matters as requested by the administering authority. Minutes: The Board requested that the next Pension Fund Annual Report (for 2014/15) due to be submitted to the Pension Fund Sub-Committee be circulated to Board members.
RESOLVED: that the work plan for 2015/16 comprise reports to the next scheduled meeting of the Board on the governance and the administration of the pension scheme and an update on any cases referred to the Pension Regulator (and/or the Pension Ombudsman) and whether any action is required of the Board. |
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Any other urgent business Minutes: None. |
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Date of next meeting Minutes: Noted – 2 February 2016 |