Issue - meetings

41.1     The Board considered a report providing an update on various governance workstreams completed and changes affecting the LGPS and the ESPF introduced by GN and DK and drew the Board’s attention to the following:

Legal and regulatory changes

1) The Fund submitted a response to the letter from the Minister for Local Government in May. The request for evidence went to all pools with a short response time. 

2) Subsequent to the Fund’s submission of evidence, on 10 October 2024, the Head of Pensions was present at a meeting relating to the pensions review, attended by LGPS Officers of the access pool and representatives from HM Treasury, the Government Actuaries Department and Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

3) The Head of Pensions also joined a roundtable discussion of the PLSA LGPS Policy Committee together with Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury), Emma Reynolds and Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government), Jim McMahon.

4) On 17 September 2024, the Scheme Advisory Board (SAB) published a statement on Fiduciary Duties and dealing with lobbying. The purpose of the statement is to make clear SAB’s view on the flexibility decision makers have to respond to lobbying; the standards of behaviour expected when discussing what can be emotionally charged issues, and where to go for support if those standards are not being met.

5)  Further information is expected after the Chancellor’s 14 November Mansion House speech.

Funding

6) The Fund Actuary has prepared the indicative quarterly funding update as at 30 June 2024, rolling forward assumptions from the valuation and reflecting actual experience since March 2022, and is included as Appendix 3. The indicative funding report shows the funding position fall from 123% at the last valuation in March 2022 to 120% as at 30 June 2024. This does however represent a slight improvement from 118% in March 2024.

41.2     The Board RESOLVED to note the Governance report.