Agenda and minutes

The Democratic Services Officer advised the meeting of the procedure.

Apologies were received from Cllr David Veale, Cllr Toby Savage and Wendy Weston.

At this point in the meeting declarations of interest are received from Members in any of the agenda items under consideration at the meeting. Members are asked to complete the green interest forms circulated to groups in their pre-meetings (which will be announced at the Council Meeting) to indicate:

(a) The agenda item number in which they have an interest to declare.

(b) The nature of their interest.

(c) Whether their interest is a disclosable pecuniary interest or an other interest,  (as defined in Part 2, A and B of the Code of Conduct and Rules for Registration of Interests)

Any Member who needs to clarify any matters relating to the declaration of interests is recommended to seek advice from the Council’s Monitoring Officer or a member of his staff before the meeting to expedite dealing with the item during the meeting.

Councillor Anketell-Jones declared a non-pecuniary interest as a member of Greenpeace.

There was none.

David Searby of Fossil Free B&NES made a statement to the Committee. A copy of it is attached as an appendix to these minutes.

A Member asked whether the Committee complied with the rules of political proportionality following the recent resignation of the Chair, Councillor David Veale, from the Conservative Group.

Advice was taken after the meeting, which is as follows. The Council agreed a table of political proportionality at its 2018 Annual General Meeting. In accordance with this the Conservative Group has the right to nominate three Members to the Committee, including the Chair. No notification has been received from the Conservative Group that it wishes to replace Cllr Veale as the Chair or as a Member of the Committee. He therefore remains both. The Committee remains properly constituted in accordance with the Council’s constitution, and the validity of its decisions is not affected by Cllr Veale’s resignation from the Conservative Group.

The public and exempt minutes of the meeting of the 7^th December 2018 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

RESOLVED to note the public and exempt minutes of the Pension Board meeting of 8^th November 2018.

The Head of Business, Finance and Pensions presented the report.

He drew attention to the comments of the Pension Board on the proposals (Appendix 2); the Board had had a long debate about the proposals its meeting on 7 March. A wider consultation on the proposals had been held following the Committee’s discussion at the December meeting; a summary of responses attached in Appendix 1. Employers had generally been supportive. He drew attention to the suggestion that voting rights be extended to the Parishes representative, on which Members were invited to decide.

The Chair suggested that the Committee should debate and vote on the recommendations one by one.

2.1a Reduction in B&NES members from 5 to 3

Some Members objected to this proposal because of the legal responsibility of B&NES as the administering authority of the Fund and because it would cause a reduction in democratic accountability.

Another said that she had always believed that 5 B&NES representatives were too many.

Cllr Pearce said that he was agnostic about this proposal, because it did not address the concern of Bristol CC that its representation on the Committee did not match the proportion of the Fund’s assets and liabilities attributable to it.

The recommendation was put to the vote and was carried by 5 votes with one abstention.

2.1b Addition of a further Independent Member

Responding to the Chair, the Head of Business, Finance and Pensions confirmed that this recommendation was independent of the recommendation to reduce the number of B&NES Councillors on the Committee; each recommendation was independent of the others.

Members felt that the existing Independent Members made a valuable contribution to the work of the Committee.

The recommendation was carried by 10 votes in favour and none against.

2.1c Addition of an Academy representative to the Committee

This recommendation was carried by 10 votes in favour and one against.

2.1d Establishment of Brunel Working Group as a sub-group of the Committee

This was approved by 9 votes in favour with one against and one abstention.

2.e (i and ii) Proposed changes to Terms of Reference of the Avon Pension Fund Committee and the Avon Pension Fund Board

Agreed with one abstention.

2.2 Proposed election process for the new Academies representative and Independent Member if agreed by the Council

This was agreed by 10 votes in favour and none against.

2.3 Extension of voting rights to the Parishes representative

A Member said that Town and Parish Councils were not large employers and together did not have many employees in the Fund.

Members said that the views of non-voting Members were listened to and did affect outcomes. Non-voting Members were able to participate in workshops and attend the same training as voting Members.

Members agreed that voting rights should not be extended to the Parishes representative by 3 votes in favour and 5 against.

The Pensions Manager presented the report.

After discussion, the Committee RESOLVED to approve:

1. The draft Communications Policy Statement;

2. the draft ICT Strategy;

3. the draft Performance Standards;

4. the draft Customer Service Charter;

5. the draft Schedule of Additional Admin Charges;

6. the draft Schedule of Chargeable Services;

7. the draft Pensions Administration Strategy and annexes for the Avon Pension Fund for consultation with Employers.

The Head of Business, Finance and Pensions presented the report.

After discussion it was RESOLVED to approve the 3-year Service Plan and Budget for 2019-22 for the Avon Pension Fund.

The Investments Manager presented the report.

RESOLVED to note:

1.  the progress made on the pooling of assets;

2.  the updated project plan for the transition of assets.

The Investments Manager presented the report.

Members debated how far climate change and action of fossil fuels should inform the Policy. The Head of Business, Finance and Pensions suggested that the first steps were to gain a greater understanding of what the Fund could  do, the opportunities available and how that could be incorporated within the Investment Strategy. A Member felt that in general the Council was poor at consultation. He suggested that there should be workshops, other activities and use of social media to allow the public to become involved, so that campaigners did not need to attend every meeting urging it do to better. Another Member pointed out that the Fund was accountable to scheme members not the public, and that the Fund’s stance on fossil fuels had to be compatible with its fiduciary duty to members. This was not always understood by the public. The Head of Business, Finance and Pensions said that climate change was a risk that the Fund had to take account of in its Investment Strategy. He also suggested that communication to public and members was a fundamental issue.

RESOLVED to agree the plan for the Strategic Investment Review.

The Technical and Compliance Advisor presented the report.

RESOLVED:

1. to note the current position regarding the developments that could affect the administration of the Fund;

2. to note the proposed response to be sent to the MHCLG consultation on ‘Fair Deal’.

The Finance and Systems Manager (Pensions) presented the report.

RESOLVED to approve the Treasury Management Policy as set out in Appendix 1.

The Assistant Investments Manager presented the report.

RESOLVED to note draft Minutes of the Investment Panel meeting of 27 February 2019 in Appendix 1 and Exempt Appendix 2.

The Assistant Investments Manager presented the report.

Mr Turner presented the Mercer Quarterly Investment Review.

RESOLVED:

1.  to note the information set out in the report;

2.  to note the LAPFF Quarterly Engagement Report.

The Pensions Manager presented the report.

RESOLVED to note:

1.  membership data, Fund and employer performance for the 3 months to 31st December 2018;

2.  progress and reviews of the TPR Data Improvement Plan.

The Finance & Systems Manager (Pensions) presented the report.

RESOLVED to note:

1.  the administration and management expenditure incurred for 10 months to 31 January 2019;

2.  the Cash Flow Forecast at 31 January 2019.

The Investments Manager presented the report.

A Member suggested that there should be a workstream on ESG issues and that this should be highlighted in agendas.

RESOLVED to note the workplans and training programme for the relevant periods.