The Pensions Committee of Staffordshire Council is scheduled to meet on 19 December 2025 to discuss investment benchmarking, audit results, and the funding strategy for the Staffordshire Pension Fund. The meeting will cover the results of investment benchmarking undertaken by CEM Benchmarking, the results of an audit of the Staffordshire Pension Fund, and the Fund's draft Funding Strategy Statement.

Funding Strategy Statement

The committee will be presented with a draft Funding Strategy Statement (FSS) for the Staffordshire Pension Fund. The FSS is a document that sets out how the council plans to meet its pension obligations to its employees.

The draft FSS Covering Report explains that the Funding Strategy Statement is designed to:

• ensure that employer contributions are set to cover the accruing cost of benefits
• manage the volatility of employer contributions
• ensure the long-term solvency of the pension fund.

The report pack includes a presentation from Hymans, which is scheduled to be discussed during the meeting.

Staffordshire Pension Fund Audit Results

The committee will discuss the results of an audit of the Staffordshire Pension Fund. The report pack includes the Staffordshire Pension Fund Audit Results Report 202425 and the ISA 260 Staffordshire Final Pension Fund Committee - Draft. ISA 260¹ is a standard relating to communication with those charged with governance.

CEM Investment Benchmarking

The committee will receive a presentation on the CEM Investment Benchmarking Results 2024 25. CEM Benchmarking² is an organisation that provides benchmarking services for pension funds. The CEM Investment Benchmarking 2024-25 report is scheduled to be discussed.