Agenda and minutes

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 24 June 2025.

The minutes of the meeting held on 24 June 2025 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 [email protected] by 08:00am on Thursday 04 September 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.   

One question, together with the response from the Chair of the Pension Fund Committee, is set out in the appendix to these minutes.

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  [email protected] by 08:00 on Thursday 04 September 2025.

Dorset Council Constitution – Procedure Rule 13

There were no questions from councillors.

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 agree the next steps in responding to government plans for the future of Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) investment pooling.

Dorset Council and the 20 other administering authorities in the ACCESS and Brunel Pension Partnership investment pools had been directed by the Government to make a “decision in principle” by 30 September 2025 which of the other six Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) investment pools they wished to work with.

Decision

That the Committee:

1. Endorse the officer recommendation that Local Pension Partnership Investments (LPPI) is the preferred pool Dorset wishes to work with and that government are informed of this decision in principle by 30 September 2025.
2. Instruct officers to develop a plan for communicating the decision to key stakeholders and the wider public.
3. Note that officers continue to encourage other Brunel funds to join the preferred pool to build critical mass and to maximise the benefits of scale for the transition.
4. Establish a ‘Steering Group’ of officers, independent investment adviser, Committee chair and vice-chair meet on a frequent basis reporting back to other Committee members as appropriate between quarterly meetings.
5. Invite key personnel from the preferred pool to attend the Committee’s next quarterly training session in November 2025 and/or officers will arrange a site visit to the preferred pool’s headquarters for Committee members.

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 30 June 2025 was just over £4.2 billion. The total return from the pension fund’s investments over the quarter to 30 June 2025 was 3.6%, compared to the combined benchmark return of 3.7%. The total return for the year to 30 June 2025 was 7.3% compared to the benchmark return of 9.1%.

Markets continued to see high levels of volatility over the quarter to 30 June 2025. This was largely driven by uncertainty around the US trade tariffs.

To consider the quarterly report on pension fund administration.

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

Annual benefit illustrations for active and deferred members had been sent out along with the annual newsletter. There had been a lot of positive member engagement and interest in the LGPS member presentation training sessions.

A letter had been sent to 15,910 members who were not believed to be in scope of the McCloud ruling. A large number of member enquiries had been received due to this piece of work.

The latest software delivery for the McCloud remedy work had been received on 3 September 2025. Testing continued and a project plan to address the rectification cases would be developed.

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

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 2 December 2025 – County Hall, Dorchester.

1.30 pm Tuesday 17 March 2026 – County Hall, Dorchester.

All meetings to be preceded by training for committee members 10am to 12.30pm.

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.