The Worcestershire Council Pensions Committee was scheduled to convene to discuss several key items, including a valuation update, the fund's business plan, and risk management strategies. The committee was also expected to review governance and compliance matters, training initiatives, and the forward plan, as well as updates from LGPS Central Limited and a pension investment report.

Valuation Update

The committee was scheduled to note the 2025 Valuation Update, presented by Hymans Robertson, along with supporting information in Appendix 1 of the Public reports pack. This appendix contained exempt information. The committee was also scheduled to discuss a draft Funding Strategy Statement, also presented by Hymans Robertson, with supporting information in Appendix 2, and a draft brief guide to new admission bodies, found in Appendix 3. The Funding Strategy Statement set out how the fund intends to collect money from employers to ensure that there are sufficient funds to pay pensions to members and their dependants.

The draft Funding Strategy Statement (FSS) stated that the funding strategy objectives are to:

• take a prudent long-term view to secure the regulatory requirement for long-term solvency, with sufficient funds to pay benefits to members and their dependants
• use a balanced investment strategy to minimise long-term cash contributions from employers and meet the regulatory requirement for long-term cost efficiency
• where appropriate, ensure stable employer contribution rates
• reflect different employers' characteristics to set their contribution rates, using a transparent funding strategy
• use reasonable measures to reduce the risk of an employer defaulting on its pension obligations.

The draft brief guide to new admission bodies summarised information from the fund's admissions policy, and stated that new admission bodies participate in the Worcestershire Pension Fund in line with the policies set out in the FSS.

Business Plan

The committee was scheduled to review the Worcestershire Pension Fund Business Plan as of October 2025. The business plan is designed to be a reference point for everything happening at Worcestershire Pension Fund and in the wider LGPS landscape. The Business Plan included updates on:

• Administration
• Annual Benefit Statements
• Cessations
• National LGPS Frameworks – AVC review and legal support Pensions Administration and notary services.
• McCloud Remedy – Project progress
• Pensions Dashboard Programme – Project progress
• Valuation 2025 – progress

The Business Plan also detailed the work plan for 2024/2025 – 2026/2027, split across Administration, Governance, and Investments.

The Business Plan noted that Community Housing Group ceased as an active employer on 7 July 2025, and that the employer had accepted their surplus and exit credit amounts in a summary report.

The Business Plan also noted that the team had successfully implemented phase 1 of the ISP implementation for the Pensions Dashboard Programme, working alongside Heywoods over November 2024 to January 2025, and that phase 2 of the ISP had been implemented in May 2025.

Risk Register

The committee was scheduled to review the October 2025 Worcestershire Pension Fund Risk Register. The risk register is kept under regular review, and the February 2025 review added two new risks:

• WPF 37 The Fund fails to meet Government's requirements in relation to asset pooling contained within the Pensions Review Final Report, published on 27 May 2025
• WPF 38 Compliance associated with Pension Dashboard requirements.

A new risk, WPF 39, had been added to acknowledge and monitor the risk that LGPSC are unable to meet the Government's Fit for Future obligations by 31 March 2026 due to a lack of resource.

The mitigating actions had been updated for:

• WPF07, focusing on 'increasing administrative complexity or failure to comply with the Pensions Regulator', with an update on progress against McCloud remedy and the use of the determination to extend the deadline.
• WPF20, insufficient staff resource or remaining staff not having the skills to do their areas of work.

Governance and Compliance Update

The committee was scheduled to review the Governance and Compliance Update, and the Good Governance Position Statement, and to approve the Breaches of Law Policy 2025, WPF Cyber Incident Response Plan 2025, and Cyber Security Policy, and to note the Cyber Security Leaflet for Board and Committee Members 2025.

The Good Governance Position Statement summarised progress on how the council was taking forward the LGPS Scheme Advisory Board's (SAB) Good Governance workstream in anticipation of forthcoming statutory guidance.

The Governance and Compliance Update noted that the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) launched a consultation on 13 October 2025, focusing on proposed improvements to the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) in England and Wales. The consultation, open until 22 December 2025, included proposals on:

• Normal Minimum Pension Age (NMPA)
• Access for Mayors and Councillors
• Academies in the LGPS
• New Fair Deal Protections

Training Update

The committee was scheduled to review the Training Update including the Training Policy and Programme, and to note the Training and Conferences Calendar and the Pre-meeting training proposal.

The training delivered since the last Training Update included:

• 'Pensions Basics' training session for members of the pension scheme
• Employer forum across the week 03-07 November

The Training Update noted that as of October 2025, 49.9% of Active members, 30.8% of deferred members and 32.3% of Pensioner Members were registered to the member portal.

Forward Plan

The committee was scheduled to comment and approve the Forward Plan, which highlights the key areas anticipated to be reported in future meetings.

Exclusion of Public and Press

The committee was scheduled to exclude the public and press from the meeting for agenda items 13 - 15, as it was likely that exempt information relating to the financial or business affairs of particular persons (including the local authority holding that information) would be disclosed. The items to be discussed were the LGPS Central Limited Update, the LGPSC Budget Business Plan, and the Pension Investment Report.