Issue - meetings

8.1       The Board considered a report by the Chief Finance Officer introduced by Dave Kellond (DK), Compliance and Local Improvement Partner, together with exempt information contained in a later agenda item.

8.2       The following points were highlighted to the Board:

1)    A letter issued by Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) on 10 March 2025, addressing the issue of mid-valuation assessment of contribution rates in light of apparent surpluses.

2)    Government makes clear it was not intended for use in order to manage surpluses or deficits and there will be a consultation that will follow later in the year.

3)    The SAB Secretariat published a summary note of Nigel Giffin’s opinion noting that the summary has not been drafted or endorsed by Nigel Giffin KC.

4)    Government launched a consultation regarding Access and Fairness. The consultation relates to a range of proposals including survivor benefits, death benefits, gender pensions gap and opt-outs.

5)    A draft response will be presented to the Pension Board and Pension Committee ahead of submission to government.

6)    Following Nigel Manvell’s retirement, there is now an employer representative vacancy on the Pension Board. Communications were sent to all Fund employers rather than targeted communications. Two expressions of interest have been submitted, and both will have an interview discussion on 30 June with a view to appointment by the Governance Committee in July ahead of the next Pension Board meeting.

7)    Members of the Board will shortly receive an annual request to review their register of interests for publication.

8)    An updated full privacy notice and summary privacy notice will be reported to Pension Committee to account for changes in respect to McCloud.

9)    A revised version of the Fund’s Governance and Compliance statement was due to be considered by the Pension Board and Pension Committee in June however in light of the significant upcoming changes, approval has been deferred to September 2025.

8.3       The Board discussed the Full Privacy Notice at Appendix 3 of the report and requested the notice be updated to reflect the following:

1)    Clarification of the statement “the Administering Authority may provide information about your pension benefits to your employer and to potential bidders for that contract when it ends or is renewed” be considered in terms of personal / anonymised data.

2)    Clarification around the statement “If this occurs, additional safeguards must be implemented with a view to protecting your personal data in accordance with applicable laws” in terms of wording to relay what will happen rather than what must happen.

8.4       The Board RESOLVED to note the report.