The Buckinghamshire Council Pension Fund Committee met on Wednesday 10 September 2025, at The Paralympic Room, Buckinghamshire Council, Gatehouse Road, Aylesbury HP19 8FF. The meeting included discussion of the Buckinghamshire Pension Fund Annual Report, an interim audit update, and breaches of the law. The committee was also scheduled to discuss the triennial valuation and a draft funding strategy statement.

Fit for the Future Consultation

Mark Preston, Assistant Chief Finance Officer (Pensions and Projects), was scheduled to provide a verbal update on pooling. This followed a joint HM Treasury and Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government letter sent to Buckinghamshire Council, stating that the business case submitted by Brunel as part of the government's proposed reforms to the LGPS had not been accepted.

The letter suggested that the authorities identify an alternative Pool to join and gave a deadline of end of September 2025 to make an in-principle decision with the preferred new pool.

Buckinghamshire Pension Fund Annual Report

James Gilliland, Pensions and Investments Accountant, was scheduled to present the Buckinghamshire Pension Fund Annual Report to 31 March 2025.

The report included the following highlights:

• Membership of the Fund increased by 2.36% from 88,601 at 31 March 2024, to 90,694 at 31 March 2025
• The Fund processed 1,442 retirements during 2024/25
• The Fund paid a total of £162,568,000 in pension benefits
• The Fund collected a total of £191,494,000 in contributions
• Net assets available to Fund benefits were £4,313,160,000
• On 31 March 2025, 98.3% of the Fund's assets had been transitioned to the Brunel Pension Partnership.

Buckinghamshire Pension Fund – 2024-25 interim Audit update report

James Gilliland, Pensions and Investments Accountant, alongside representatives from KPMG, were scheduled to present the Buckinghamshire Pension Fund – 2024-25 interim Audit update report.

The report included the following points:

• The Pension Fund Accounts and Net Assets Statement show that in the year to 31st March 2025 the value of the Pension Fund increased by £150m to £4.310bn.
• KPMG's Audit update for the Buckinghamshire Pension Fund for the year ended 31st March 2025 is attached as Appendix 2. The audit work is still ongoing but this interim report has been issued in order to provide the Committee with an update on the progress of the audit; the final report will be available when the Committee next meets in December.
• The formal sign off for the Pension Fund accounts will take place at the same time as the formal sign off for Buckinghamshire Council's accounts. On 12th November 2025 the Buckinghamshire Pension Fund Statement of Accounts 2024-25 will be presented to the Audit and Governance Committee.

Breaches of the Law

Claire Lewis-Smith, Pensions Administration Manager, was scheduled to present a report on breaches of the law. The report included the following information:

The Procedure for Reporting Breaches of the Law (Appendix 1) complies with the requirements of the Pensions Act 2004 and the Pensions Regulator's General Code of Practice. It details how individuals responsible for reporting and whistleblowing can identify, assess and report (or record if not reported), a breach of law relating to the Buckinghamshire Pension Fund. The procedure has been reviewed with only job titles & post holders updated. No material changes have been made.

Committee Training Update

James Gilliland, Pensions and Investments Accountant, was scheduled to present a Committee Training Update. The report included the following points:

• With the approval of the Training policy in June's meeting, members expressed an eagerness for training to be conducted face-to-face where possible, in a somewhat formal setting, as well as the other options available. Accordingly, officers have engaged Barnett Waddingham to undertake a Training assessment to discern members (and officers) training needs. The results of this assessment will allow the training opportunities to be tailored to members' needs.
• This training assessment will begin in September; members will have two weeks to complete the assessment, and the full results will be available at December's Committee meeting. Calendar invites for training sessions prior to each Committee meeting will be sent out to members, and members are requested to inform officers if they believe that there is a conflict with another council meeting.
• In addition, Barnett Waddingham's online training, Enlighten , consists of several modules, and this e-learning is a valuable support to other training provided elsewhere. As at 28 August, four Committee members have logged in, and Councillors Robert Carington and Kathryn Gibbon have completed three and six modules respectively.

• Since the beginning of the 2025-26 Financial year, the following training sessions and other meetings have been attended by Pension Fund Committee members:

  • 24/6/2025 - Pension Fund Committee induction training - Barnett Waddingham - Councillors Alan Bacon, Sherrilyn Bateman, Robert Carington, Alex Collingwood, Ed Gemmell, Kathryn Gibbon, & Matthew Walsh
  • 24/6/2025 - Pension Fund Committee induction training - Mercer - Councillors Alan Bacon, Sherrilyn Bateman, Robert Carington, Alex Collingwood, Ed Gemmell, Kathryn Gibbon, & Matthew Walsh
  • 3/7/2025 - Brunel Oversight Board - Councillor Robert Carington, Councillor Alex Collingwood

Forward Plan

James Gilliland, Pensions and Investments Accountant, was also scheduled to present the forward plan, which included the following items for the next meeting on 01 December 2025:

• Buckinghamshire Pension Board Draft Minutes
• Statement of Accounts and Audit Findings Report 2024/25 (inc. Audit Findings Report)
• Carbon Metrics Report
• Pooling Update
• 31 March 2025 Triennial Valuation
• Investment update item
• Pension Fund Performance