The Pensions Committee of Shropshire Council were scheduled to meet on 20 June 2025 to discuss pension administration, corporate governance monitoring, and an introductory overview from Grant Thornton. The meeting was also scheduled to include exempt items regarding minutes from a previous meeting, an introductory overview by LGPS Central, and investment and governance updates.

Corporate Governance Monitoring

The committee was scheduled to consider a report informing them of corporate governance and socially responsible investment issues arising in the quarter from 1 January 2025 to 31 March 2025. The report included details of actions taken by the fund's stewardship partners, information on the government's response to the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) England and Wales: Fit for the future consultation, and potential impacts on the fund.

Members were asked to note and accept the report's details on voting and engagement activity, including reports from:

• LGPS Central¹
• Columbia Threadneedle Investments
• Local Authority Pension Fund Forum (LAPFF)

The report also covered the government's consultation on the Local Government Pension Scheme (England and Wales): Fit for the future. According to the report, the consultation covered:

1) Reform of asset pooling. 2) Boosting UK and local investment. 3) Strengthening Governance of both the Administering Authorities and LGPS Pooling companies.

The report noted that the Fund had submitted a response to the consultation in January 2025.

The report stated that administering authorities would be responsible for setting high level strategic asset allocation, but would be required to delegate implementation of the strategy to LGPS Central, and to take principal investment advice from them. The Fund would also be required to transfer all investments to LGPS Central by 31 March 2026, though the government accepted that not all investments would be physically transferred by that date.

The report also noted that the government had set out that Funds will need to set out local investment strategies in their Investment Statements going forward, and will be required to place a statement in their annual report on the impact of local investments.

The report stated that Committee Members will be required to have appropriate knowledge and skills, and that the Fund was arranging a mixture of training sessions for members.

Pensions Administration Monitoring

The committee was scheduled to receive a report providing monitoring information on the performance of the pensions administration team. The report included details on team workloads and performance, projects including McCloud and Pension Dashboards², regulatory changes, and work undertaken by the Scheme Advisory Board.

Members were asked to note the progress and completion of key activities from the business plan 2024-25, and the progress of the Pension Dashboard implementation.

The Committee was also asked to determine whether the implementation date for the McCloud Remedy could be delayed to 31 August 2026 for members where a rectification calculation needs to be undertaken. The report noted that the statutory guidance defines the McCloud implementation period to end on 31 August 2025, but that MHCLG had issued regulations providing a discretion to extend the implementation for certain classes of members to 31 August 2026.

The Committee was also asked to delegate to fund officers the authority to respond to the LGPS 'Access and fairness' consultation.

Introductory Overview by Grant Thornton

Mr Grant Patterson from Grant Thornton was scheduled to provide an introductory overview to the committee. The presentation was scheduled to cover the role and powers of auditors, the financial reporting framework, and how the audit would be delivered.

The presentation included a summary of local government structures in England, and the LGPS governance structure.

The presentation noted that the NAO Code of Audit Practice sets the scope of the work to be performed by the external auditor, including giving an opinion on the true and fair view of the financial statements, and commenting on arrangements for financial sustainability, governance, and improving economy, efficiency and effectiveness.

The presentation also noted that the CIPFA Code of practice on local authority accounting in the United Kingdom covers requirements for Pension Funds.