Archived decisions
AT A MEETING of the PENSION FUND PANEL held at The Castle, Winchester on 28 May 2004.
PRESENT:
Councillors: T.K. Thornber, CBE (Chairman); B.D. Dash; Mrs. S.M. Glasspool; P.R.C. Hutcheson; A.R. Ludlow; J. Waddington; W.H. Wheeler.
Pensioners' representative: Mr E.W. Hughes.
Contributors' representative: Mr D. Offord.
Independent consultant: Mr H. Cole.
113 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
Members were mindful that, where they believed they had a personal or prejudicial interest in any matter to be considered at the meeting, they should, normally at the time of the debate, declare their interest and, having regard to the circumstances described in paragraphs 9, 10, 11 and 12 of the County Council's Code of Conduct, consider whether to leave the meeting whilst the matter was discussed.
Councillor T.K. Thornber declared a pecuniary interest in connection with the report on Equitable Life (Minute 121 below refers) and took no part in the discussion.
114 CHAIRMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS
No Chairman's communications were received.
115 DEPUTATIONS
No deputations were received.
116 MINUTES
The Minutes of the meeting held on 13 May 2004 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.
117 CHANGES TO THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT PENSION SCHEME - UPDATE
The Panel considered a report of the County Treasurer (Item 5 in the Minute Book) summarising the Local Government Pension Scheme (Amendment) Regulations 2004 which brought in the first phase of changes to the Scheme on 1 April 2004. The report also summarised draft Regulations issued by the Government for consultation on the second phase of more substantial changes to take effect on 1 April 2005 or later. The Panel noted the Government's decision to defer any increase in the employees' contribution rate and agreed to reaffirm its view that the rate should increase to 7% so that employees contributed something towards the cost of increased longevity.
RESOLVED:
(i) That the County Treasurer be authorised to submit comments to the Government on behalf of the Fund on the draft Regulations as set out in Section 3 of the report including reaffirming the Panel's view that the employees' rate should be increased to 7%.
(ii) That the remainder of the report be noted.
118 NEW INTERNAL DISPUTE RESOLUTION PROCEDURE - GUIDANCE AND PROPOSED ARRANGEMENTS
The Panel considered a report of the County Treasurer (Item 6 in the Minute Book) summarising guidance published by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) on the implementation of the revised Regulations governing the resolution of disputes between Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) members or their beneficiaries and their employers or the scheme administrators.
It was reported that if disputes were not resolved informally, there would be three stages to the procedure. Under the first stage, for disputes arising from the County Council's responsibilities as employer, it was proposed that appeals would be considered by the County Treasurer or a nominee, who would chair a Panel with two other officers; a legal officer from the Chief Executive's Department and the chief officer or a nominee from the employee's department. In cases where the appeal was against a decision by the County Council as administering authority, the appeal would be considered by the County Treasurer or a nominee.
The second stage for all cases, including those disputes between employees and other employers in the Fund, would continue to be the existing Pension Appeals Panel, with the third stage being the Pensions Ombudsman. The timescale for processing appeals through each stage was also set out in the report.
RESOLVED:
(i) That the proposed new arrangements for the resolution of pension disputes for County Council cases, and, at the second stage, all Fund members be approved.
(ii) That the remainder of the report be noted.
119 PENSIONS FOR COUNCILLORS - UPDATE
The Panel considered a report of the County Treasurer (Item 7 in the Minute Book) updating the Panel on pensions for councillors. The Panel noted that only 30 of the 70 qualifying County Councillors had opted to join the Scheme to date.
RESOLVED:
That the County Treasurer be asked to write again to the qualifying councillors who had not yet opted to join the Scheme setting out the arrangements including the option to backdate membership to 1 May 2003.
120 PART-TIME PENSION CLAIMS - UPDATE
The Panel received and noted a report of the County Treasurer (Item 8 in the Minute Book) updating the Panel that progress in resolving pension claims from part-time workers since the Panel's meeting on 26 November 2003 remained on target.
[COUNCILLOR J. WADDINGTON IN THE CHAIR]
121 EQUITABLE LIFE - UPDATE
The Panel considered a report of the County Treasurer (Item 9 in the Minute Book) summarising the conclusions of the Penrose Inquiry into the circumstances leading to the problems at Equitable Life and updating the Panel on other significant developments over the last year. The report considered whether the Fund as policyholder should take legal action against Equitable Life in the light of ongoing investigations by the Serious Fraud Office and Department of Trade and Industry.
The Panel also discussed the position of annuitants who were unable to move their annuities away from Equitable Life
RESOLVED:
(i) That the results of the continuing investigations by the Serious Fraud Office and the Department of Trade and Industry be awaited before any decision be taken on whether to start direct legal action against Equitable Life.
(ii) That the County Treasurer be asked to check whether any Hampshire Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVC) holders are amongst those annuitants who were unable to move their annuities away from Equitable Life.
(iii) That the remainder of the report be noted.
[COUNCILLOR T.K. THORNBER IN THE CHAIR]
122 EXCLUSION OF PRESS AND PUBLIC
RESOLVED:
That, by virtue of paragraphs 7 and 9 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public were excluded from the meeting for the following items of business.
123 COMPARISON OF PERFORMANCE WITH OTHER LOCAL AUTHORITY FUNDS (CONFIDENTIAL)
The Panel considered a confidential report of the County Treasurer (Item 11 in the Minute Book) comparing the Hampshire Fund's performance with other local authority funds included in the survey published by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) and the Society of County Treasurers (SCT).
[SUMMARY OF A MINUTE WHICH CONTAINS CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION]
124 ACTUARIAL VALUATION - 40-YEAR AMORTISATION PERIOD (CONFIDENTIAL)
The Panel considered a confidential report of the County Treasurer (Item 12 in the Minute Book) on the actuary's reasons for using a 40-year period to amortise the Fund's past service deficit.
[SUMMARY OF A MINUTE WHICH CONTAINS CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION]
125 ASSET ALLOCATION - ACTUARY'S COMMENTS ON HARVEY COLE'S PAPER (CONFIDENTIAL)
The Panel considered a confidential report of the County Treasurer (Item 13 in the Minute Book) on comments from the Fund's actuary Hewitt Bacon & Woodrow on a paper prepared by Harvey Cole on alternative asset allocations. The Panel had considered Mr Cole's paper in November 2003 and had asked that it be forwarded to the actuary for comment.
[SUMMARY OF A MINUTE WHICH CONTAINS CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION]
126 ADDITIONAL VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTIONS (AVCs) - REVIEW OF ARRANGEMENTS (CONFIDENTIAL)
The Panel considered a confidential report of the County Treasurer (Item 14 in the Minute Book) on proposals to defer the planned review of AVC providers until the Panel's meeting in November 2004.
[SUMMARY OF A MINUTE WHICH CONTAINS CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION]
127 FURTHER TRAINING FOR PANEL MEMBERS (CONFIDENTIAL)
The Panel considered a confidential report of the County Treasurer (Item 15 in the Minute Book) on suggestions for further training for Panel members, following the sessions provided by Deutsche in 2003.
[SUMMARY OF A MINUTE WHICH CONTAINS CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION]
128 PROPERTY (CONFIDENTIAL)
The Panel considered a confidential report of the County Treasurer (Item 16 in the Minute Book) on property issues that had arisen over the last six months. The Panel also received a presentation on the Fund's property portfolio from the property managers Savills.
[SUMMARY OF A MINUTE WHICH CONTAINS CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION]