Issue - meetings

66.1     The Board considered a report by the Chief Finance Officer introduced by Dave Kellond, Head of Governance and Compliance together with exempt information contained in a later agenda item.

66.2     The following points were highlighted to the Board:

1)    The Fund submitted its response to the Government’s consultation on Access and Protections on 22 December 2025.

2)    It is expected that the first Independent Governance Review (a requirement for administering authorities under The Local Government Pension Scheme (Amendment) Regulations 2026) in plenty of time before the deadline of 31 March 2028. The resulting report must be prepared and submitted to the Secretary of State and published by the Administering Authority.

3)    Actions are being undertaken to address the requirements under Local Government Pension Scheme (Amendment) Regulations 2026 to publish a Governance Strategy, Training Strategy and Conflict of Interest Policy, appoint a Senior Officer, appoint an Independent Person to the Pension Committee and carry out an Independent Governance Review.

4)    The draft Pension Administration Strategy was sent to scheme employers and other stakeholders for consultation, which ended on 16 January 2026. Responses were received and minor amendments to the strategy based on feedback have been incorporated into the final version which will be presented to the Pension Committee for approval on 26 February 2026.

5)    Neil Simpson’s term as a Scheme Member Representative on the Pension Board has been extended for a further 2 years until 28 February 2028.

6)    The Fund Actuary has prepared the indicative quarterly funding update as at 31 March 2025, rolling forward assumptions from the valuation and reflecting actual experience since March 2022.

66.3     The Board discussed how an independent adviser will be appointed to the Pension Committee.

66.4     The Board acknowledged the strengthened wording within the Pension Administration Strategy regarding i-Connect being the default system for employers and discussed whether charges could be applied to the remaining employers who have not onboarded with i-Connect to recuperate any additional administration costs incurred in relation to contributions being received outside of i-Connect.

66.5     The Board RESOLVED to:

1) note the legal and regulatory changes set out in the report; and

2) note the updates in relation to the Pension Administration Strategy, Pension Board membership and funding position.