Issue - meetings

To receive a presentation to provide an overview of the Pension Fund.

Councillor Wharf provided an overview of the membership arrangements for the Pension Fund Committee and noted that Councillor Andy Canning had been appointed as Chairman of the committee at the last meeting.

The committee received a presentation from the Service Manager for Operational Finance, to provide an overview of the Pensions Fund, following a request at the last meeting.  During the presentation, the following areas were covered:

·                What is the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS)?

·                What is a pension fund deficit?

·                Why do LGPS pension funds have deficits?

·                How big is Dorset’s deficit?

·                How is the deficit being tackled?

The Chairman felt that it was important to have the presentation at the committee in order for councillors to have the opportunity to be better informed of the issues and have the opportunity to ask questions.

The Chairman noted that as a former employee of Dorset County Council, he had a local government pension.  However he was not making a declaration of interest in respect of this item as it was a presentation only.  Councillor Lacey-Clarke noted that this situation also applied to him.

Councillors considered the issues arising from the presentation and during the discussion, the following points were made:

·                A request was made for a graph to show the aggregate pension deficits for the former councils and how this was changing

·                Reference was made to the McCloud ruling and it was noted that although there was not a material impact on the pensions deficit, the practicalities for the scheme were currently unknown

·                A point was raised with regard to relevant councillors needing to declare an interest when considering pension matters and it was thought that a dispensation could be granted to those members impacted by this

·                A point was noted that the pension fund was moving in the right direction in order to close the deficit

·                In response to a point raised, the Service Manager for Operational Finance provided figures on the returns on the fund for the last 12 months and as an average over the last 5 years.