Issue - meetings

The item was introduced by Martin Griffiths, who gave a summary of issues relating to governance and policy. These included:

·       Governance failure had been given a red rating on the risk register, to go with cyber security, climate change and long-term assets not meeting expected valuations. A large amount of additional work was required due to several new areas of legislation relating to governance that had been introduced, such as the General Code of Practice. The Fund had 12 months to implement this work in order to comply with the new legislation. A report on this would be considered by the Pension Fund Investment Sub Committee in due course.

·       Recruitment and retention of permanent staff remained an issue. Three senior officer roles were being advertised, with a deadline for submissions in late April. Members were told an interim senior accountant and team leader had been appointed within the last week, but these were only temporary and it may be some months before a permanent replacement with the appropriate skills could be found. It was hoped interviews for a new Head of Finance would take place soon.

·       The cyber security policy had been updated. The risk management policy had been reviewed but no changes were deemed necessary. A review of the climate risk policy had been due but because of other work pressures this had been pushed back to the September Pension Fund Investment Sub Committee. The business continuity plan had been updated but further work was needed. A meeting on this topic was due to take place the following month.

·       Training sessions for Board and Committee members had been booked and details would be circulated in due course.

·       New employee contribution bands had taken effect from 1 April. This did not affect employers.

Members noted the contents of the report and update.