Minutes:
Michael Prior (MPr), Chair of the Welsh Scheme Advisory Board (SAB), attended the meeting to discuss his experiences and knowledge acquired through his position.
The following items were noted of interest by the Board:
· Local Pension Boards did not exist prior to 2015 and the implementation of new legislation. Boards were therefore new in their experience and understanding of the roles they played;
· The Regulator would review the Pension Schemes of Public Sector organisations in the future to aid continuous improvement and sustainability. The Regulator recognised the importance of the cost incurred by Fire Authorities for the administration of the Pension Schemes as significant;
· Of the 45 Fire and Rescue Authorities throughout the country West Yorkshire Pension Fund (WYPF) provided the administration for 15 of them;
· Cardiff had experienced concerns following the O’Brian Judgment (allowances for on-call firefighters); and
· LGPS Boards operated similarly to that of a committee due to their ability to make decisions, whereas the LPBs for Firefighters Pensions Schemes did not.
MPr had reviewed the Board’s agenda and made the following comments and feedback based on his understanding of the Board’s current position;
· The Board had been demonstrating good practice by keeping training logs and monitoring the knowledge of Board members;
· The quorum issues experienced by the Board were understood and were not uncommon throughout the country;
· MPr felt the governance arrangements in place for the Board were good;
· Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Service was not the only one to experience a breach in relation to the publication of Annual Benefits Statements. A discussion was held around reporting of breaches. The Board was in agreement that if a breach appeared ambiguous they would err on the side of caution and report it as a breach. Cardiff Council had not reported a breach and had been contacted by the Regulator for not doing so;
· Mid and West Wales had an independent Chair, with the other two Boards having a rotating Chair annually. An independent Chair was in addition to the total membership of the Board and was a non-voting position.
Merging of Local Pension Boards
MPr stated it was likely through evolution of LPBs that Boards would merge, therefore Boards should make consideration for this potential alteration. Merged Boards would decrease the likelihood of meeting cancellation due to increased numbers and quorum.
Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Nottingham had created a joint Pension Board but this had been aided by the fire and rescue authorities (FRAs) concerned having a common scheme administrator.
It was highlighted that for Boards to merge successfully the following must apply;
· Consideration must be made for the division of membership amongst each of the parties;
· There must be the opportunity to discuss bespoke issues experienced by individual FRAs;
· each FRA would need to agree to establish the merged Board; and
· The FRAs would need to have a common, shared administrator.
In respect of the latter point, it was noted that Dorset and Wiltshire had the same administrator as Devon & Somerset.
Cornwall FRS had been interested in attending Board meetings for shared experience. While this might be possible on an informal basis, a merge with Cornwall would not be possible as Cornwall self-administered their Pension schemes.