The Pension Fund Committee of Buckinghamshire Council met on Thursday 3 September 2026 to discuss the annual report for the 2025/26 financial year, review governance and compliance updates, and consider the fund's risk register. The meeting agenda also included updates on the Pensions Dashboards Programme, The Pensions Regulator's General Code of Practice, and the Fit for the Future reforms impacting the Local Government Pension Scheme.

Pension Fund Annual Report 2025/26

Richard Sultana, Head of Pensions & Investments, was scheduled to present the Pension Fund Annual Report for the year ending 31 March 2026. The report was expected to detail the overall management of the Fund, including governance and training, financial performance, fund accounts, net assets statement, investments, funding, scheme administration, and the actuarial report. Key highlights from the report were expected to include an increase in Fund membership to 91,224, the processing of 5,664 retirement tasks, and total pension benefits paid amounting to £176,940,000. The net assets available for Fund benefits were reported as £4,739,107,000. The report also detailed the transition of 98.6% of the Fund's assets to the Brunel Pension Partnership investment pools by 31 March 2026.

Governance and Compliance Update

Claire Lewis-Smith, Pensions Administration Manager, and Richard Sultana were scheduled to provide an update on governance and compliance matters. This included progress on the Pensions Dashboards Programme (PDP), which aims to provide individuals with access to their pension information online. Public sector pension schemes were required to connect to the dashboard by 31 October 2025, with the PDP anticipating phase two testing to continue until December 2026. The update was also expected to cover The Pensions Regulator's (TPR) General Code of Practice, which sets standards for pension scheme governance and administration. An independent review by Barnett Waddingham had identified areas for improvement, with progress detailed in an action plan. The committee was asked to approve the Training Strategy, designed to ensure that individuals involved in the Fund's management and decision-making acquire and maintain the necessary knowledge and understanding. Additionally, the appointment of Carolan Dobson as the Fund's Independent Person was recommended for approval.

Pension Fund Risk Register

Richard Sultana was scheduled to present an update on the Pension Fund Risk Register. This register is a key component of the Fund's governance and internal control framework, identifying, assessing, managing, and monitoring principal risks. The report highlighted a revised four-area structure for the register: Pensions and Investments, Pensions Governance, Pensions Administration, and Pensions Funding. Key updates were expected to include a new risk, RS-PI-21, concerning Pool selection performance, and progress on existing risks such as RS-PI-07 (Climate and ESG Risk), RS-PI-12 (Setting Scheme Benchmarks), and RS-PI-20 (Change of Pool), which detailed the successful transition from Brunel to the London CIV pool. Updates on RS-PG-01 (Cyber Resilience) and RS-PG-04 (Risk management not embedded) were also anticipated, along with progress on ensuring compliance with regulations for RS-PG-05 (Failure to adapt to changes in regulations).

Breaches of the Law

Claire Lewis-Smith was scheduled to present an update on breaches of the law. This included a proposed updated Procedure for Reporting Breaches of the Law, which aligns with the Pensions Act 2004 and The Pensions Regulator's General Code of Practice. The procedure details how individuals should identify, assess, and report breaches. The committee was asked to approve this updated procedure and comment on the breaches log for the period 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026. The log was expected to detail administration breaches and the status of contributions.

Other Agenda Items

The committee was also scheduled to review the minutes of the previous meeting and the draft minutes of the Buckinghamshire Pension Fund Board. An update on pooling transitions was to be provided by Mark Preston, Assistant Chief Finance Officer (Pensions and Projects). The meeting was also to confirm the date of the next meeting. Items 11 to 13 of the agenda concerned confidential matters, including confidential minutes and an action log update, for which the press and public were to be excluded.