The Staff and Pensions Committee met to appoint a chair and vice-chair, discuss governance and policy updates, review pension administration activities, and consider employers joining and leaving the pension fund. Councillor Michael Bannister, Portfolio Holder for Customer and Localities, was appointed chair, and Councillor Robert Gisbourne was appointed vice-chair of the committee. The committee approved the report on employers joining and leaving the pension fund.

Government Action Plan and Pooling Reform

Chris Norton, Head of Investments, Audit and Insurance, presented a report on the government's response to the 'fit for the future' review and the implications for the Warwickshire Pension Fund. The report provided an overview of actions being taken to implement the recommendations from two externally led reviews undertaken by AON, which assessed the fund's governance against the Pensions Regulator's general code of practice and the Scheme Advisory Board's good governance review expectations.

Key points from the government's review included:

• Confirmation that the Border to Coast Pension Partnership, of which Warwickshire is a part, has government support. Other pools, such as Access and Brunel, are facing uncertainty, with partner funds potentially needing to join other pools.
• Confirmation of the split between investment strategy (remaining with individual funds) and investment implementation (managed by pools).
• Emphasis on local investment, clarified as literally local or regional, requiring funds to work with local economic development entities and set local investment targets.
• The activation of the 2021 Scheme Advisory Board Good Governance Report, including triennial reviews of pension fund governance to ensure minimum standards are met.

Councillor Norton also addressed a question about the structure of the pension fund committees, explaining that the Scheme Advisory Board and the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) are looking for committees solely dedicated to pension fund matters, separate from other council business. He noted that achieving this would require constitutional changes and a review of how pension fund business is handled.

Pension Fund Regulatory and Policy Updates

Alistair Wickens, Technical Specialist – Pension Fund Policy and Governance, presented a report updating the committee on changes to pension fund policies and regulatory updates. The committee was asked to approve the policies appended to the report.

The updated policies included:

• Communications Policy: This outlines how the fund communicates with stakeholders, including members and employers. Changes included adding a risk to delivery section and updating wording to reflect the new Engage member self-service website.
• Breaches Policy: This outlines the process for stakeholders to report breaches of pensions legislation to the Pensions Regulator. Updates aligned with recommendations from the full governance review, including stating the policy's objectives and outlining risks to delivery.
• Data Retention Policy: This outlines measures to comply with data minimisation legislation. The policy was reproduced with a new review date, as there were no changes to the Local Government Association (LGA) template on which it is based.

Regulatory updates included:

• A consultation by the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) on improving fairness and transparency in the LGPS, including aligning survivor pension benefits, removing the age 75 limit on pension death grants, and addressing the gender pensions gap.
• The LGPS Governance Conference 2026, scheduled for January 2026 in Cardiff.

Councillor Christopher Kettle asked about significant changes from previous documents and whether changes were marked in bold. Alistair Wickens clarified that changes were not marked in bold, but updated sections were listed in the report.

Pension Administration Activity and Performance

Lisa Eglesfield, Pension Administration Service Manager, presented the Pension Administration Activity and Performance Report, providing updates on business-as-usual tasks and project work.

Key highlights included:

• Member Self-Service Portal: An update on the member self-service portal, Engage, which launched on 29 April, offering increased functionality for members around retirement planning and security.
• Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): An overview of the fund's performance against key performance indicators, with nine of 16 KPIs meeting the 95% target.
• Pension Breaches: An update on pension breaches recorded over the last 12 months, including two red breaches related to the failure to implement the McLeod age discrimination remedy¹ within the firefighter pension schemes and a disclosure breach where an employer failed to inform casual employees of their right to join the pension fund.
• National Dashboard Project: An update on actions related to the National Dashboard Project, a government initiative to enable individuals to access their pension information online.

Councillor Beanie raised concerns about a slight drop in processing and paying death grants (KPI B16) and asked for clarification that this wasn't impacting families. Lisa Eglesfield confirmed that the fund endeavours to have high results in this area, but cases can be complicated, requiring the fund to ensure payments are made to the correct people.

In response to a question about how to encourage council colleagues to sign up and update their forms, Lisa Eglesfield said that information is provided each year on the annual benefit statement, and members can update their details via the member portal.

Fire Local Pension Board Minutes

Lisa Eglesfield presented a report summarising the main points of discussion and updates on actions from the Fire Local Pension Board meeting held on 10 February.

Key updates included:

• Age Discrimination Remedy (McCloud): West Yorkshire Pension Fund confirmed they were unable to meet the 31 March 2025 deadline for implementing the remedy, mainly due to late regulatory and software updates.
• Second Modified Retained Exercise (Matthews): The project, which allows firefighters who worked as retained officers between April 2000 and June 2000 to purchase pension service, is ongoing, with calculations continuing.
• Risk Register: Updates to risks within the Firefighter Pension Risk Register and actions taken in advance of a review against the new code of practice issued from the Pensions Regulator.

Employers Joining and Leaving the Pension Fund

Lisa Eglesfield presented the usual report detailing employers joining and leaving the pension fund. The fund comprised 242 employers at the end of March, split between scheduled bodies, resolution bodies, and admitted bodies. Two new academies and two new parish councils joined the scheme, while two employers ceased membership due to the end of a contract.

In response to a question about whether councillors have the power to prevent new staff from joining the local government pension scheme or to lower pay rises to compensate for pensions, Lisa Eglesfield clarified that regulations dictate which employers can join the fund, with varying rules for different types of bodies.

Councillor Kettle moved to approve the report, and the committee approved the report.