The Hounslow Council Pension Board was scheduled to meet on 16 July 2025 to discuss the Pension Board's forward plan, review fund administration performance, and assess compliance with the Pensions Regulator's General Code of Practice, among other items. The meeting was also scheduled to include a review of the draft annual report of the board.

Here's a summary of the topics that were included in the report pack for discussion:

Annual Report of the Board

The Pension Board was scheduled to consider an outline of their annual work programme report for the year ending in March 2025. The report was intended to provide an overview of the work undertaken by the Pension Board, for presentation to the Pension Fund Panel.

The report was expected to cover the headings recommended in guidance from The Pensions Regulator (TPR), including:

• A summary of the work of the board
• Areas reported to the board for investigation
• Details of any conflicts of interest
• Areas of risk or potential concern
• Training and future training needs
• Work plan
• Expenses

Pension Fund Administration Performance

The board was scheduled to review a report from the West Yorkshire Pension Fund (WYPF) on the performance and benchmarking of their administration service between January and March 2025.

The report included:

• Performance data across various work types, including the number of cases, target days per case, and average time taken.
• An analysis of trends, performance, and areas needing attention for priority work areas, such as retirement and death processes.
• Information on the McCloud remedy[^1], workload volumes and staffing levels.
• The number of outstanding processes and their aging.

• An update on the shared service cost, noting an underspend of £735k.

  [^1]: The McCloud remedy addresses age discrimination found in 2015 changes to public service pension schemes.

TPR General Code of Practice (GCOP) Review

The Pension Board was expected to review and comment on completed modules of the code compliance toolkit and assess overall compliance with the TPR's General Code of Practice (GCOP). The report pack included a comparison of current and previous results to highlight any changes.

According to the report pack, more than half of the assessment had been completed, with a full report expected to be submitted to Hymans for review and a final report prepared for discussion by the board in July.

The General Code of Practice is designed to assess compliance under 5 main headings:

• The Governing Body
• Funding and Investment
• Administration
• Communications and Disclosures
• Reporting to the TPR

Pension Board Forward Plan

The Pension Board was scheduled to discuss and adopt its work programme for 2025/26. The plan is a 'live' document, subject to change throughout the year. The report pack also included details of training undertaken by board members, the Pension Fund Panel, and officers.

The report pack noted that the TPR's General Code of Practice (GCOP) requires the administering authority to ensure that the governing body has the skills, knowledge and experience to run the scheme effectively.

Pension Board Monitoring Report

The Pension Board was scheduled to note the monitoring that took place at the Pension Fund Panel on 16 June 2025.

This included:

• Breaches and late payments
• An update on the Pensions Dashboard Programme
• Proposed changes to the LGPS in the MHCLG consultation
• An update to the fund's Overpayment Policy

• An update on the 2025 actuarial valuation[^2]

  [^2]: Actuarial valuation is a triennial review of a pension fund's assets and liabilities to determine employer contribution rates.

The report pack also included the pension fund risk register and scoring matrix.

Compliance with Investment Review (Pooling) and Good Governance Guide

The Pension Board was scheduled to note progress on compliance with the government's good governance guide and investment review (pooling) requirements.

The report pack noted that the government's final response to the consultation included the expectation for pooling of investments and the implementation of the good governance guide.

The report pack also included a table outlining the actions required to meet the SAB's good governance recommendations.

Draft Pension Fund Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25

The Pension Board was scheduled to review the draft annual report and accounts for the London Borough of Hounslow Pension Fund for the financial year 2024/25.

The report pack noted that the draft annual report would be subject to review by the Council's external auditors, Forvis Mazars LLP, following the completion of the audit of the Pension Fund Statement of Accounts.

The report pack stated that the annual report provides an overview of key developments and performance during the year, as well as the Pension Fund's financial position as at 31 March 2025. It also includes an account of the activities and decisions of the Pension Fund Panel and the Pension Board over the reporting period.

Other Items

The agenda for the meeting also included:

• Apologies for absence
• Declarations of interest
• Approval of the minutes from the meeting held on 22 April 2025
• Any other urgent business