Archived decisions

AT A MEETING of the PENSION FUND PANEL held at The Castle, Winchester on 26 May 2005.

PRESENT:

Councillors: T.K. Thornber (Chairman); F. Allgood; B.D. Dash; M.F. Cartwright; P.R.C. Hutcheson; M. Kemp-Gee; A.R. Ludlow; J. Maxwell.

Co-opted members:

Councillor I. Carr (Test Valley Borough Council).

Councillor T. Blair (Portsmouth City Council).

Observers:

Pensioners' representative: Mr E.W. Hughes.

Contributors' representative: Mr D. Offord.

Independent adviser: Mr H. Cole.

1 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.

2 CHAIRMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS

      No Chairman's communications were received.

3 DEPUTATIONS

      No deputations were received.

4 MINUTES

      The Minutes of the meeting held on 23 November 2004 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

5 CO-OPTION OF NEW REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITARY AND DISTRICT COUNCILS

      The Panel considered a report of the County Treasurer (Item 5 in the Minute Book) regarding the appointment of Councillors Tom Blair and Ian Carr as co-opted members of the Panel representing the Unitary Authorities and District Councils respectively. Portsmouth and Southampton City Councils had agreed to share the appointment on a two-year rotating basis. Councillor Blair from Portsmouth City Council was nominated for the first two-year period. The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Local Government Association's Appointments Panel had nominated Councillor Carr from Test Valley Borough Council for an indefinite period.

      RESOLVED:

    (i) That Councillor Tom Blair of Portsmouth City Council be co-opted on to the Panel for a fixed two-year period from May 2005 to April 2007, with full voting rights.

    (ii) That Councillor Ian Carr of Test Valley Borough Council be co-opted on to the Panel, with full voting rights.

6 TRAINING FOR PANEL MEMBERS

      The Panel considered a report of the County Treasurer (Item 6 in the Minute Book) setting out the requirement for members of the Panel to have sufficient expertise and appropriate training to carry out their duties. The three-day course on `Local Government Pension Scheme Fundamentals' provided by the Local Government Pensions Committee was specifically designed for elected members. All new members of the Panel, in particular, should attend this course, as well as any other courses listed in the report that were considered appropriate. A training session provided by Capital International for the Panel in October 2004 had been particularly helpful and the Panel discussed whether it could be re-run.

      Mr H Cole, the Fund's independent adviser, reported that he had been invited to a meeting of pension fund advisers.

      RESOLVED:

      (i) That all Panel members consider the training options set out in Appendices 1 and 2 of the report and pass their requirements to the County Treasurer for action.

      (ii) That the County Treasurer ask Capital International to provide a further training session before November 2005.

      (iii) That Mr H Cole's attendance at the forthcoming meeting of pension fund independent advisers be endorsed.

7 DRAFT LOCAL GOVERNMENT PENSION SCHEME (AMENDMENT) REGULATIONS 2005

      The Panel considered a report of the County Treasurer (Item 7 in the Minute Book) concerning draft regulations issued by the Government for consultation which, if enacted, would revoke changes to the Local Government Pension Scheme that had been implemented from 1 April 2005. These changes included the phased removal of the 85-year rule, which had allowed employees to retire with unreduced pensions provided their membership plus age totalled 85, and the raising of the minimum retirement age for early retirement from 50 to 55. The implementation of these changes had enabled the Fund's actuary to set employer' contribution rates from 1 April 2005 onwards at about 30% lower than would otherwise have been necessary, reflecting the reduced underlying cost of future accrual benefits. If the revocation proceeds and the Government does not provide an alternative source of funding to cover these costs, an increase in employers' contribution rates from 1 April 2006 would have to be considered.

      The Local Government Pensions Committee had circulated to all local authorities a draft response to the Government's consultation on the revocation.

      RESOLVED:

    That the Local Government Pension Committee's draft response be endorsed.

8 EXCLUSION OF PRESS AND PUBLIC

      RESOLVED:

      That, by virtue of paragraph 7 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.

9 MANAGERS INVESTMENT POLICIES AND PERFORMANCE (CONFIDENTIAL)

      The Panel considered a confidential report of the County Treasurer (Item 9 in the Minute Book) summarising the fund managers' portfolios, their investment actions and performance returns over periods to 31 March 2005. The Panel received presentations from each of the fund mangers and used the report to question the managers about their actions and performance.
      [SUMMARY OF A MINUTE WHICH CONTAINS CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION]

10 ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL BACKGROUND (CONFIDENTIAL)

      The Panel considered a confidential report of the Panel's adviser, Mr Harvey Cole, (Item 10 in the Minute Book) on the economic and financial background and the possible implications for the Panel's investment strategy.

      [SUMMARY OF A MINUTE WHICH CONTAINS CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION]

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