Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

There were no apologies for absence.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 18 March 2025.

The minutes of the meeting held on 18 March 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 Thursday 19 June 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.   

Three questions, together with their responses from the Chair of the Pension Fund Committee, are 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 Thursday 19 June 2025.

Dorset Council Constitution – Procedure Rule 13

Two questions, together with their responses from the Chair or the Pension Fund Committee, are set out in the appendix to these minutes.

To receive a deputation – to be presented by deputation lead Mr Ferguson.

A deputation was received from the Dorset Palestine Solidarity Campaign, calling for a commitment to divest the pension fund from “companies complicit in Israel’s genocide in Gaza and violations of international law and human rights against Palestinians.”

To consider the Committee’s response to the deputation received by full Council from the Dorset Palestine Solidarity Campaign.   

A report from officers responding to the actions called for in the deputation was considered.

The primary duty of the Committee was to ensure that contributions to the pension fund from scheme members and their employers were invested appropriately to make returns sufficient to pay pensions when they fell due, without the need for additional contributions in the future.  Legal opinion commissioned by the Local Government Pension Scheme Advisory Board (SAB) was that decisions could be made for non-financial reasons if two conditions were met: (1) that there would be no significant risk of financial detriment to the pension fund resulting from the decision and (2) that any decision had the support of scheme beneficiaries.

The Committee were sympathetic to the case presented in the deputation and some Committee members supported action to divest. Other members wanted further details of the likely financial implications of divestment and evidence of scheme member support before further action could be considered. It was agreed to amend the report’s recommendations to include an investigation into the financial implications of divestment in further detail.  It was also agreed to write to all local Members of Parliament seeking stronger action from the UK government regarding the matters raised in the deputation.

Decision

That the Committee:

1. Continues with its current approach to responsible investment and to favour engagement with companies rather than divestment from them but investigates further the financial implications of divestment from companies engaged in the activities identified in the deputation.

2. Continues to endorse Brunel Pension Partnership's exclusion of “controversial weapons” (such as anti-personnel mines, chemical and biological weapons) and companies non-compliant with Principle 2 of United Nations Global Compact on Human Rights (UNGC) from their actively managed equity and bond portfolios.

3. Investigates the costs and benefits of a survey of scheme members’ views on non-financial factors as part of the next review of the Investment Strategy Statement following the conclusion of the triennial actuarial valuation.

4. Writes to all local Members of Parliament seeking stronger action from the UK government regarding the matters raised in the deputation.

To consider the draft pension fund accounts and the independent auditor’s audit plan for 2024/25.

The Pension Fund draft accounts for 2024/25 had been completed and were included in Dorset Council’s full draft accounts. The Audit and Governance Committee were due to consider the draft accounts on 30 June 2025. The audit plan of the council’s independent auditor, Grant Thornton, was due to be considered at the same meeting.

To consider the quarterly report on pension fund administration.

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

Scheme employer financial penalties had significantly increased in the last year. The majority of penalties related to academy outsourced payroll functions and were a result of poor and/or late data submitted to the fund.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) had announced an ‘Access and Fairness’ consultation on changes to the LGPS. Topics covered by the consultation included addressing survivor pensions, death grants and the Gender Pension Gap in the LGPS. The consultation close date was 7 August 2025. Discussions had already taken place with scheme employers at a recent employers meeting.

The key proposals of the Government’s ‘Fit for the future’ consultation were highlighted. These included the requirement for a governance and training strategy, a conflict-of-interest policy and a senior LGPS officer to be appointed within each administering authority.

An external Integrated Service Provider had been appointed to enable connection to the Pensions Dashboard by the October 2025 deadline.

The deadline of 31 August 2025 for completing the McCloud remedy work would not be met as the required software was still in the test environment and a number of errors had been flagged and delivery of the software into the live system would not yet go ahead.

Decision

That the provision of the McCloud data in Annual Benefit Illustrations was deferred until 2026.

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 March 2025 was £4.1 billion. The total return from the pension fund’s investments over the quarter to 31 March 2025 was -0.4%, compared to the combined benchmark return of -0.1%. The total return for the year to 31 March 2025 was 4.7% compared to the benchmark return of 7.4%.

Markets saw high levels of volatility over the quarter to 31 March 2025. This was due to growth fears that arose because of uncertainty around the US tariffs. Positive returns were achieved in Europe and the UK as investors switched out of US stocks.

The administering authorities of ACCESS and Brunel Pension Partnership had received a joint letter from the Minister for Pensions and Local Government advising the partner funds to join other pools by 30 September 2025. This was part of the government’s pooling consolidation plan to reduce the number of LGPS pools.

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

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 9 September 2025 – County Hall, Dorchester.

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 12.45pm.

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.

There were no urgent items.

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 progress made to date in responding to government plans for the future of LGPS investment pooling.

Progress made to date in responding to government plans for the future of Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) investment pooling was discussed as was the Committee’s representation on the Brunel Oversight Board. 

Decision

That Cllr Andy Canning replaces Cllr John Beesley as the Committee’s representative on the Brunel Oversight Board.

To consider any potential changes to investment management arrangements and to note progress in implementing any previously agreed changes.

The transition from UK equities active to UK equities passive was now complete.

To consider the contract for the provision of independent pension fund investment advice.

Decision

That the option to extend the current contract for the provision of independent pension fund investment advice to 31 December 2026 be taken.