The ACCESS Joint Committee met to discuss the ongoing government pension review and its impact on the ACCESS pool¹, as well as to review the pool's investment performance and risk register. The committee agreed to recommend the inclusion of an additional milestone within the 2025/26 Business Plan to address the scenarios developed in response to the Ministerial letter received on 9 April 2025. Additionally, the committee noted the paused or continued workstreams within the non-listed theme of the 2025/26 Business Plan.

Project Castle and Government Pension Review

Kevin McDonald from the ACCESS Support Unit (ASU) updated the committee on Project Castle, noting developments since the last meeting, including an informal virtual committee meeting in April and a written update in May. The government did not support the business proposal submitted by ACCESS, prompting a joint letter from the Section 151 Officers² and a joint letter from the Chief Executive Officers of the ACCESS Authorities to ministers, seeking clarification.

Mr McDonald outlined the exploration of a merger option, supported by the government, including questionnaires sent to other pools to assess their alignment with ACCESS preferences and their appetite for admitting additional Administering Authorities. The results were undergoing review with support from Hymans Robertson to recommend a course of action at the next formal meeting.

The committee discussed the need for an in-principle agreement on the direction of travel by the September meeting and the development of scenarios in response to the Ministerial letter received on 9 April 2025, which would require an additional milestone in the 2025/26 Business Plan. Informal and formal discussions with other pools regarding potential mergers had occurred, and a virtual update would be organised if needed. Representatives from the Treasury and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government planned to contact each of the ACCESS Administering Authorities in June.

The committee discussed the importance of Administering Authorities having appropriate governance in place to decide upon the Committee's recommendations, in order to achieve an in-principle agreement by the government's deadline of 30 September. It was noted that the government currently had an implicit authority to dictate the fund membership of pools, but the new Pension Schemes Bill would make this authority explicit. Consideration would be given to moving the September meeting a week earlier to allow more time for the Administering Authorities to consider the Committee's recommendations.

The committee resolved to note the report and recommend to ACCESS Authorities the inclusion of an additional milestone within the 2025/26 Business Plan as detailed in paragraph 5.1 of the report.

Alternative Assets

Alistair Coyle from the ASU introduced a report outlining workstreams within the non-listed theme of the 2025/26 Business Plan that would be paused due to the future uncertainty of the Pool. The committee resolved to note the paused or continued workstreams.

Investment Performance

Sharon Tan from Suffolk County Council introduced the investment performance report. As of 31 March 2025, pool and pool aligned assets totalled £49.3 billion, representing 74% of all assets under management. Overall, the five-year investment performance continued to be encouraging. The committee noted the performance report.

Risk Register

Richard Smith from the ASU introduced the risk register report, outlining key updates related to Project Castle and associated Government Pension Review issues. The committee noted the matters highlighted in the report.

Business Plan, Budget & Risk Summary

At the previous meeting on 16 June 2025, Mr McDonald introduced the Business Plan, Budget & Risk Summary report and highlighted that the 2025/26 Business Plan was now dominated with work streams responding to the Government's pension review. He added that there were a lot of changes on the horizon, and the Plan would be kept under review.

In response to comments and questions at the meeting it was said that a budget update would be circulated before the next meeting to ensure Members were kept up to date. It was also noted that there were a number of external factors impacting upon the Pool that made accurate budgeting more difficult than normal, which could lead to additional charges and unexpected budget overspends, and that it was more important than ever to keep the Committee up to date with any significant budget challenges at this time.

The Joint Committee resolved to note the 2024/25 Business Plan summary, the 2024/25 financial outturn, the 2025/26 Business Plan update, and risk summary.