The Local Pension Board was scheduled to discuss a range of topics related to the management and administration of the Durham County Council Pension Fund. These included updates on pension administration, regulatory changes, proposed scheme improvements, monitoring of pension fund breaches, internal dispute resolution procedures, and the future of LGPS pools¹. The board was also scheduled to discuss the Responsible Investment Policy during a session that was not open to the public.

Future of LGPS Pools

The board was scheduled to receive an update on proposed changes to the LGPS asset pools. A report on the Future of LGPS Pools noted that the government is taking forward a series of changes to the way investment pooling in the LGPS works, following its Fit for the Future consultation. The report stated that all pools were required to make a submission to the government indicating how they would develop their current arrangements to match the key future requirements of LGPS pools, as set out in Fit for the Future . These requirements included:

• Having an FCA² regulated entity
• Being able to manage assets internally
• Being able to act as the principal source of investment advice for partner funds
• Being able to manage and undertake due diligence on local investments
• Being able to manage partner funds' currently non-pooled legacy assets even if they remain on the individual fund balance sheet.

The report also noted that the government confirmed in April 2025 that two pools, ACCESS and Brunel, were not assessed as having a satisfactory plan to address the requirements as set out in Fit for the Future , and their 21 underlying partner funds would need to find new homes. The report stated that Border to Coast's 2030 Strategy explicitly contained a strand of activity to prepare to capture the benefits of greater scale for Partner Funds . The 2030 Strategy and supporting work by partner funds and the operating company included an agreed process for dealing with approaches by potential new partners. The report stated that the 21 Brunel / ACCESS Funds requiring a new home are beginning to approach the three pools who received a 'green light' for their pooling plans, with a view to joining one of those partnerships and that those funds must make a decision in principle by September 2025, with the ability to invest in their new pool on and from 1 April 2026. The report stated that to ensure that all LGPS Funds have an appropriate home, the government is bringing forward powers to direct individual LGPS Funds into specific pools. The report stated that as one of three partnerships given the green light for their plans, Border to Coast Pensions Partnership aimed to admit up to seven funds (one third of the 'orphaned' funds), to avoid the risk of direction and that the enhanced scale and increased assets under management will bring benefits to existing shareholders and safeguards against future rounds of scaling requirements.

LGPS Consultation: Scheme Improvements (Access and Protections)

The board was scheduled to discuss a consultation on proposed improvements to the LGPS relating to access and protections. The Consultation - Access Protections LPB Report outlined that the consultation covers four key areas:

• Normal Minimum Pension Age (NMPA): Increase from 55 to 57 from April 2028, with Protected Pension Age (PPA) for members meeting specific conditions. LGPS members with service before 4 November 2021 would retain access from age 55.
• LGPS Access for Councillors and Mayors: Proposal to reinstate LGPS access for elected members in England, aligning with Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Specific restrictions include no auto-enrolment, no additional employer-funded pension awards, and separate membership from other LGPS service.
• Academy Consolidation: Introduces criteria for Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs) to consolidate LGPS membership into a single fund, aiming for administrative efficiency.
• New Fair Deal: Removal of broadly comparable schemes; staff transferring under outsourcing arrangements to retain LGPS access. Introduction of a deemed employer model to reduce administrative burden of admission agreements and ensure seamless pension protection. Proposals include allowing previous outsourced staff to transfer final salary benefits back into LGPS and extending protected status to new staff on outsourced contracts.

Pension Fund Breaches Monitoring 2024/25

The board was scheduled to receive a report providing information in relation to breaches of the law and an overview of the operation of the Durham County Council Pension Fund's policy on management of breaches. The Report - Pension Fund Breach Monitoring 2024-25 included an extract of the fund's breach log for 2024/25, including the monitoring of compliance against key activities including the timely issuing of annual benefit statements, provision of pensions savings statements and publication of the annual report and accounts. The report detailed one issue relating to scheme member data, where Prudential had confused the email address for the pensions team with the email address for Durham's payroll team, resulting in the full fund schedule being sent to the payroll team. Prudential confirmed that they logged this with their data protection team and had also corrected the email addresses to ensure this does not happen again. The report stated that there were no breaches in the period which warranted reporting to the regulator.

Pension Administration Report

The board was scheduled to receive a report on the Fund's pension administration and service provision to members, as well as an update on key performance information. The Pension Administration Report Dec 25 included a number of performance indicators, with the aim of making the board aware of administration performance in key areas. Reporting was included for the second quarter of 2025/26, as well as the respective numbers for previous financial years. The data covers services to members in respect of retirement, deferment, helpline support, and online services. The report also included updated guidance for preparing the LGPS Fund Annual Report, containing provisions for standardised performance indicators to be used across the LGPS in England and Wales. The report stated that all Annual Benefit Statements for both active and deferred members of the scheme were made available ahead of the statutory deadline of 31 August 2025 and that in April 2025 the fund wrote to all of its c21,000 pensioners to notify those members of the annual increase. The report also stated that Durham County Council Pension Fund offers its members two providers of additional voluntary contributions (AVCs): Prudential and Standard Life and that the fund regularly monitors performance of all AVC providers to ensure that member's AVC benefits are processed within agreed SLAs. The report stated that officers of the fund continue to work closely with its software supplier with imminent updates to support the upload of data from employers, as well as delivery of a module to allow for the calculating of service for missing data in relation to the McCloud judgement³.

Regulatory Update

The board was scheduled to receive a report on developments in matters that are both Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) specific, as well as providing an update on non-LGPS specific matters which are of interest. The Regulatory Update Local Pension Board- Dec 2025 included updates on:

• Levelling Up White Paper – LGPS Local Investment Plans
• MHCLG Consultation – LGPS: Next Steps on Investments
• HM Treasury – Pensions Review – Terms of Reference: Phase One
• LGPS 'Fit for the Future' Consultation
• LGPS 'Access and fairness' Consultation
• LGPS Consultation: Scheme Improvements (Access and Protections)
• LGPS 'Fit for the Future' Technical Consultation
• Review of the LGPS 2022 Fund Valuations and looking ahead to 2025 Valuation
• Mandatory TCFD Reporting⁴
• Cost Control Mechanism & Review
• McCloud
• Department for Education (DfE) Guarantee
• LGPS Scheme Advisory Board (SAB)
• Non- LGPS Specific Matters

Internal Dispute Resolution Procedure

The board was scheduled to receive a report providing a summary of the outcomes of any internal dispute cases or Pensions Ombudsman cases in which the Pension Fund has been involved in during 2024/25. The Report - Internal Dispute Resolution Procedure 2025 stated that since April 2024, nine scheme members or their representatives have made an appeal under the Pension Fund's IDRP process and that of the nine applications, nine were reviewed at Stage 1 by the Fund's appointed Adjudicator, who in eight cases upheld the original decision. The report also stated that five of these cases were then progressed to be reviewed at Stage 2 of the IDRP Process, with four cases being turned down and one referred back to the employer. The report also stated that a further case was reviewed by The Pensions Ombudsman, who agreed that the fund had acted in line with regulations, however awarded a modest amount of compensation to the scheme member due to inconvenience.

Other Business

The agenda for the meeting also included:

• Apologies for Absence
• Declarations of Interest, if any
• The Minutes of the Meeting held on 13 March 2025
• Local Pension Board Membership Verbal Update
• Observations and Feedback from Pension Fund Committee held 5 December 2025
• Pension Fund Statement of Accounts Verbal Update
• Any resolution relating to the exclusion of the public during the discussion of items containing exempt information
• Date of Next Meeting 12 March 2026