Agenda item

A report of the Director of Finance was presented to provide Members with updated versions of a number of governance policies for comment / noting, as appropriate.

Most of the Pension Fund’s governance policies were required to be formally updated every three years. At the last review, in December 2021, an overarching review of Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) governance had been expected for over a year, as a follow-on from work carried out on behalf of the Scheme Advisory Board. This review, which was expected to introduce the “Good Governance” proposals, had not yet taken place, but the governance issues fund and pool level were a key element of the Government’s recently issued LGPS (England and Wales) ‘Fit for the Future’ consultation.

The latest consultation was expected to mean further guidance on LGPS governance, and would be published in the New Year. In addition, the Fund was due to be working with a different pensions administrator from June 2025. Consequently, this was a ‘light touch’ review of the Fund’s governance policies, as further changes were likely to be required for some of them during 2025.

The following documents had been reviewed and updated (where necessary) based on the existing regulations and guidance:

·        Governance Policy and Compliance Statement.

·        Training Policy.

·        Conflict of Interest Policy.

·        Risk Management Policy.

·        Procedures for Reporting Breaches of Law.

·        Communication Policy.

·        Pension Administration Strategy and Charging Policy.

·        Fund Officers’ Scheme of Delegation.

The documents were shown at Appendices A to H of the report.

ORDERED that:

·        The information provided was received and noted.

·        The revised governance policies would take immediate effect.