Agenda and minutes

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 29 November 2023.

The minutes of the meeting held on 29 November were confirmed and signed.

To disclose any pecuniary, other registrable or personal interest as set out in the adopted Code of Conduct.  In making their decision councillors are asked to state the agenda item, the nature of the interest and any action they propose to take as part of their declaration.

If required, further advice should be sought from the Monitoring Officer in advance of the meeting.

No declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests were made at the meeting.

Representatives of town or parish councils and members of the public who live, work, or represent an organisation within the Dorset Council area are welcome to submit either 1 question or 1 statement for each meeting.  You are welcome to attend the meeting in person or via MS Teams to read out your question and to receive the response.   If you submit a statement for the committee this will be circulated to all members of the committee in advance of the meeting as a supplement to the agenda and appended to the minutes for the formal record but will not be read out at the meeting. The first 8 questions and the first 8 statements received from members of the public or organisations for each meeting will be accepted on a first come first served basis in accordance with the deadline set out below.  Further information read Public Participation - Dorset Council

All submissions must be emailed in full to Joshua.kennedy@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk by 08:00am Thursday 29 February 2024.

When submitting your question(s) and/or statement(s) please note that:

·       You can submit 1 question or 1 statement.

·       A question may include a short pre-amble to set the context.

·       It must be a single question and any sub-divided questions will not be permitted.

·       Each question will consist of no more than 450 words, and you will be given up to 3 minutes to present your question.

·       When submitting a question please indicate who the question is for (e.g., the name of the committee or Portfolio Holder). 

·       Include your name, address, and contact details.  Only your name will be published but we may need your other details to contact you about your question or statement in advance of the meeting.

·       Questions and statements received in line with the council’s rules for public participation will be published as a supplement to the agenda. 

·       All questions, statements and responses will be published in full within the minutes of the meeting.   

No questions or statements from members of the public were made at the meeting.

To receive questions submitted by councillors.

Councillors can submit up to two valid questions at each meeting and sub divided questions count towards this total. Questions and statements received will be published as a supplement to the agenda and all questions, statements and responses will be published in full within the minutes of the meeting.

The submissions must be emailed in full to Joshua.kennedy@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk by 08:00am Thursday 29 February 2024.

Dorset Council Constitution – Procedure Rule 13

No questions or statements from Councillors were made at the meeting.

To consider any items of business which the Chairman has had prior notification and considers to be urgent pursuant to section 100B (4) b) of the Local Government Act 1972. The reason for the urgency shall be recorded in the minutes.

No urgent items were raised at the meeting.

To consider the external auditor’s report for 2020/21.

The Committee considered the final report of the independent auditor on the pension fund accounts for 2020/21 presented by Ian Howse, Audit Partner, Deloitte.

The auditor’s opinion was that the pension fund financial statements for 2020/21 gave a true and fair view of the transactions, assets and liabilities of the pension fund for the period and year end date, and had been properly prepared in accordance with the relevant accounting code of practice. The auditor also concluded that pension fund’s financial statements for 2020/21 were consistent with the pension fund’s annual report for 2020/21.

To confirm the dates for the meetings of the Committee in 2024/25:

26 March 2024

25 June 2024

17 September 2024

26 November 2024

18 March 2025

10.00 am Tuesday 26 March 2024 - County Hall, Dorchester.

1.30 pm Tuesday 25 June 2024 - County Hall, Dorchester.

1.30 pm Tuesday 17 September 2024 - County Hall, Dorchester.

1.30 pm Tuesday 26 November 2024 - County Hall, Dorchester.

1.30 pm Tuesday 18 March 2025 - County Hall, Dorchester.

All meetings from June 2024 will be preceded by training for committee members 10am to 12.45pm.

To move the exclusion of the press and the public for the following item in view of the likely disclosure of exempt information within the meaning of paragraph 3 of schedule 12 A to the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).

The public and the press will be asked to leave the meeting whilst the item of business is considered.

Decision

That the press and the public be excluded for the following item(s) in view of the likely disclosure of exempt information within the meaning of paragraph 3 of schedule 12 A to the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).

To consider the results of the listed equities review.

The Committee considered the results of review of the pension fund’s allocations to equity portfolios.

Decision

That the Committee:

·       maintains the pension fund’s existing allocation to UK equities until further detail about the Brunel UK active equity fund review is available (expected by September 2024);

·       transfers the pension fund’s holdings in Climate Transition Benchmark (CTB) passive equities to Paris Aligned Benchmark (PAB) passive equities;

·       investigates whether the smart beta portfolio can be made less carbon intensive; and

·       reviews current allocations to all active portfolios managed by Brunel Pension Partnership (Brunel), the pension fund’s Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) investment pooling manager in 12 months’ time.

To consider any potential changes to investment management arrangements.

The Committee considered a proposal from Brunel to apply the following limited activity-based exclusions to Brunel’s actively managed equity and corporate bond portfolios:

·       Thermal Coal Extraction revenues equal or greater than 50%.

·       Oil Sands Extraction revenues equal or greater than 25%.

·       Controversial Weapons and Non-Compliant with Principle 2 of United Nations Global Compact on Human Rights (UNGC).

·       Tobacco Production revenues equal or greater than 25%.

Any subsequent amendments to Brunel’s policies would be subject to the views of all its clients.

Decision

That the proposal was supported.