The Pensions Committee of Worcestershire Council is scheduled to meet on Thursday, 11 December 2025, to discuss a valuation update, a business plan, risk management, governance and compliance, and training. They will also be asked to exclude the public and press from the meeting for discussions on LGPS Central Limited¹ updates, the LGPSC Budget Business Plan, and a pension investment report, because these are likely to contain exempt information.

Here is a summary of the topics scheduled for discussion:

Valuation Update

The committee will be presented with the 2025 Valuation Update from Hymans Robertson, the fund's actuary. This includes initial funding results for the whole fund, and a draft Funding Strategy Statement (FSS). The funding strategy statement sets out how the council will collect money from employers to ensure that there are sufficient funds to pay pensions to members and their dependants.

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 funding strategy statement is reviewed in detail at least every three years ahead of the triennial actuarial valuation, and checked annually in the intervening years. Amendments may be needed due to material changes to the scheme benefit structure, advice from the fund actuary, significant changes to investment strategy, significant changes to the fund membership, or material changes to the affordability of contributions.

The report pack states that the Local Government Pension Scheme Regulations require an actuarial valuation to be carried out every three years, under which contribution rates for all participating employers are set for the following three years.

The committee will also discuss a draft brief guide to new admission bodies².

Business Plan

The committee will review the Worcestershire Pension Fund Business Plan as of October 2025. The business plan is designed to be a one-stop reference shop for everything going on at Worcestershire Pension Fund and in the wider LGPS landscape.

The business plan has been amended to ensure that it is clear how the structure of Worcestershire Pension Fund supports the delivery of the fund aims and objectives. It also details the work plan for 2024/2025 – 2026/2027, showing what is coming up either as regular or ad hoc deliverables for the fund, split across administration, governance, and investments.

The plan includes updates on:

• Annual Benefit Statements: The fund has delivered annual benefit statements for both deferred and active members online for 2025/2026. 99.7% of eligible members were issued an annual benefit statement, however 91 members have not received one due to lack of information being received from employers.
• Cessations: Community Housing Group ceased as an active employer on 7 July 2025.
• National LGPS Frameworks: The fund has been liaising with Worcestershire County Council procurement team and has started the process of gathering information from providers in respect of consultancy services associated with AVCs³ framework, and legal services framework.
• McCloud Remedy: The team have reviewed membership and in particular the in-scope members impacted by McCloud. Work had progressed and resulted in a reduction in the number of cases requiring remedial action. The Pensions Committee had agreed to extend the completion of McCloud remedial work until August 2026.
• Pensions Dashboard Programme: The team have successfully implemented phase 1 and phase 2 of the ISP implementation. They have received approval from the PDP to connect to the eco system on 31 October 2025, and are working with AVC providers to ensure they send the necessary data.
• Valuation 2025: The administration team have provided membership data so that Hymans Robertson could produce contribution modelling results for larger employers. The fund have received the 'whole fund results' from Hymans Robertson and senior officers have held discussions with the actuary. The fund are currently reviewing the current iteration of the Funding Strategy Statement.

Risk Register

The committee will review the October 2025 Worcestershire Pension Fund Risk Register.

A new risk, WPF 39, has 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.

Mitigating actions have been updated as below:

• Update to WPF07 focusing on 'increasing administrative complexity or failure to comply with the Pensions Regulator'. An update on progress against McCloud remedy and the use of the determination to extend the deadline.
• Update to WPF20 Insufficient staff resource or remaining staff not having the skills to do their areas of work. Head of Pensions Administration is leaving on 2 November 2025 however due to focused upskilling over the last 2 years, business as usual will be able to be maintained during the recruitment period. Recruitment for the Head of Pensions Administration role has been completed, with the successful candidate starting on 3 November 2025. This appointment created a vacancy for the Membership Manager position within the fund; recruitment for this role is also complete, and the new manager will commence on 1 December 2025.
• WPF29 failure to deliver member communications in line with regulatory requirements. Annual Benefit Statements were delivered via the member portal as default this year with those who had opted out issued a paper version. To ensure all members were aware of the change in delivery, and following guidance from Hymans Robertson, every member received a letter advising how to register or access their ABS.

The risk register has undergone a review to ensure it is appropriate especially in the current and future pensions landscape. Further reviews are required and will be continued following proposed training sessions being undertaken by officers in the coming months.

The fund arranged a training session with Hymans Robertson's Governance and Projects Team, which took place on 30 September 2025. This session helped ensure that the knowledge and understanding of the officers was challenged, particularly on how they manage risk, so that they remain vigilant to the changing risk landscape.

Governance and Compliance Update

The committee will review the Governance and Compliance Update, and the Good Governance Position Statement. They will also be asked 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 update includes topical updates on LGPS England and Wales, including:

• Normal Minimum Pension Age (NMPA): Proposal to increase the NMPA to 57, in line with the Finance Act 2022.
• Access for Mayors and Councillors: Proposal to re-admit councillors and mayors in England to the LGPS, reversing previous exclusions.
• Academies in the LGPS: Suggests formalising the criteria for applications for directions into legislation, and proposes removing the need for Secretary of State consent when all criteria are met.
• New Fair Deal Protections: Aims to implement Fair Deal protections for outsourced workers, ensuring continued access to the LGPS after staff transfers.
• Funding Strategy Statement (FSS) guidance: A revised draft of the Funding Strategy Statement (FSS) has been prepared in collaboration with the fund's actuary, considering the updated guidance produced jointly by the Scheme Advisory Board, CIPFA⁴, and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

The Good Governance Position Statement October 2025 is the latest statement of where the council are as they await the finalisation of the Pension Schemes Bill.

The committee will also receive an update on the 2025 Cyber Security Review. As part of this, they will receive a Cyber Assurances session for Board and Committee members delivered by Heywoods, and a session with Worcestershire County Council for assurances to be delivered on November 19th. In addition to these sessions, an online Cyber Security training session is planned to be delivered by AON.

Training Update

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

The training delivered since the last Training Update has included:

• Our 'Pensions Basics' training session for members of the pension scheme has been offered to all active employees, 8 sessions have been delivered this last quarter (165 attendees). Responses from the feedback survey gave an average rating of 4.59/5.00.
• Employer forum took place across the week 03-07 November, the sessions included Pensions Administration update, Pensions Investment update, Employer Responsibilities, Data Quality and Pensionable Pay Workshop, Employer lifecycle and sessions hosted by Hymans to discuss 2025 Valuation.

As of October 2025, the following percentage of registrations to the member portal are as follows:

The committee will also receive an update on progress in mitigating risks, including:

• WPF02 insufficient knowledge amongst members of the Pensions Committee/Pension Board/Investment sub-committee
• WPF03 Failure of officers to maintain a sufficient level of knowledge/competence to act in accordance with our roles and responsibilities matrix.
• WPF27 Incorrect calculation of benefits through human error or delayed notification of a death.
• WPF 21 Failure of business continuity planning.

Forward Plan

The committee will comment on and approve the Forward Plan.