Agenda and draft minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

No apologies for absence were received.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 26 November 2024.

The minutes of the meeting held on 26 November 2024 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 on Thursday 13 March 2025.

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 08:00 on Thursday 13 March 2025.

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 independent auditor’s report on the pension fund accounts for 2023/24.

Jackson Murray, Audit Partner at Grant Thornton, explained that a disclaimed audit opinion had been issued for the 2023/24 financial statements. Due to local audit backstop arrangements, the auditors were unable to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence over the corresponding figures and opening balances reported in the financial statements.

The findings report highlighted that no material misstatements were identified. Significant risks and control recommendations were discussed.

To receive a verbal update on Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) investment pooling from the Chief Executive of Brunel Pension Partnership.

Laura Chappell, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Brunel Pension Partnership (Brunel), acknowledged the persistent underperformance of the various portfolios and highlighted that Sally Bridgeland, Brunel’s recently appointed new company chair, was providing a strong challenge to the investment team to improve performance.

Local investment opportunities such as renewable energy initiatives, as well as an increase in private market investments were discussed.  The independent investment adviser emphasised the importance of ensuring that investments were consistent with the administering authority’s investment strategy and fiduciary duty.

The opportunities and challenges of the proposals in the government’s LGPS ‘Fit For The Future’ consultation were discussed. The key opportunities identified by Brunel were economies of scale, fee savings and improved risk management. The main challenges were the short time scales proposed by government and the need for additional resources to implement the proposed changes effectively.

A new Chief Investment Officer (CIO) had been appointed to replace David Vickers, who left the company in February 2025, and until they took up post the CEO would be the Acting CIO.

To receive a verbal update from Cllr John Beesley in his capacity as the Committee’s representative on the Brunel Oversight Board and as a member of the Scheme Advisory Board (SAB) for the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS).

Cllr John Beesley, the pension fund’s representative on the Brunel Oversight Board (BOB) and a member of the LGPS Scheme Advisory Board (SAB), updated the Committee on governance matters relating to investment pooling. 

The last meeting of SAB was held on 25 November 2024 and the next meeting was scheduled for Monday 24 March 2025. The main focus was the ‘Fit For The Future’ consultation.

The Local Government Association (LGA) was in the process of appointing a new Head of Pensions. Jo Donnelly, the current Head of Pensions, was due to leave in April 2025.

A key area of focus at the last BOB meeting was local investment. It was noted that the evolving devolution proposals from the Government could have significant implications for local investment.

To consider the quarterly report on the value and performance of the pension fund’s investments.

The value of the pension fund’s assets at 31 December 2024 was just over £4 billion. The total return from the pension fund’s investments over the quarter to 31 December 2024 was 1.8%, compared to the combined benchmark return of 3.8%. The total return for the year to 31 December 2024 was 10.4% compared to the benchmark return of 12.9%.

The largest driver of returns for the quarter to 31 December 2024 continued to be US equities, particularly the US mega-cap stocks.

The impact of the global economic environment on investments was discussed. The independent investment adviser was comfortable that no imminent changes to the asset allocation were required.

To approve the Pension Fund Treasury Management Strategy for 2025/26.

The committee approved the Treasury Management Strategy for 2025/26.

The strategy provided the framework for managing cash flows and temporary investments. The strategy remains unchanged from the current year and followed the treasury management strategy of Dorset Council, the administering authority.

To consider the quarterly report on pension fund administration.

Performance against Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) continued to be positive.

Opt-out data had been obtained from scheme employers. This was to establish the reasons why people had opted out and why people on zero casual hour contracts had not opted to join the scheme. Based on data from forty-two employers, which was approximately 43% of the membership, it was noted that 82% of eligible staff were in the LGPS, with a significant number of non-joiners being casual staff.

Efforts to clean and prepare data for the pensions’ dashboard were ongoing. Although the dashboard is not scheduled to go live to the public for another two years, the pension fund must connect with the dashboard by October 2025 to allow time for testing.

Progress on the McCloud remedy was discussed. Some of the required software had been delivered and was working, although some areas had yet to be delivered by the software provider. It was noted that the deadline of 31 August 2025 for completing the remedy work was not achievable for the fund.

To confirm the dates for the meetings of the Committee in 2025/26:

1.30 pm Tuesday 24 June 2025

1.30 pm Tuesday 9 September 2025

1.30 pm Tuesday 2 December 2025

1.30 pm Tuesday 17 March 2026

All meetings to be preceded by training for committee members 10am to 12.45pm.

1.30 pm Tuesday 17 June 2025 - County Hall, Dorchester.

1.30 pm Tuesday 16 September 2025 – County Hall, Dorchester.

All meetings to 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 any potential changes to investment management arrangements.

An update on implementation of the changes to investment management arrangements agreed at the previous meeting of the Committee November 2024 was given.