Issue - meetings

1.    That the Committee members noted progress made towards the CPF Business Plan during 2016/17.

2.    That the Committee approved the Business Plan for period 17/18 to 19/20.

3.    That future versions of the Business Plan include more clarity on how the risk scores have been derived.

Mr Latham presented an update on the Business Plan and noted that Appendix A was “looking back” whilst Appendix B was “looking forward”. The new structure now included the Wales Pool JGC.  Mr Latham also indicated that the only change in the Pension Fund Management Team was that the newly formed Employer Liaison Team were to be shown separately as they would be undertaking the role of some of the Employers within the Fund with the provision of data to the Fund.

Mr Latham also noted to that the Employer Liaison Team also have their own specific  aims and objectives.  He highlighted the main challenges that the Pension Fund will face over the next three years.

The Operating Cost Budget for 2017/18 is dominated by Investment Management expenses but those costs should decrease as part of the pooling exercise. Employer Liaison Team expenses are also now shown separately.

Mr Latham asked the Committee to note the updated key risks in each of the sections plus the additional risk associated with the upcoming local elections.  It was also noted that whilst progress had been made with the risks around resourcing within the administration team, they are not yet fully addressed.  Increased burdens from national changes/initiatives e.g. GMP equalisation will require further resource.

Mr Latham said Workforce Planning (in terms of succession planning and structure of the teams) was going to be changing quite rapidly over the next 3 years so they need to think about the structure of the Employer Liaison/Administration teams especially as they need to respond effectively to members and employers given the increased level of information which will be provided on the new Member Self Service section of the Fund’s web-site.

Mr Owen asked about how the wording fits into the coloured bar on page 136. Mr Latham said that bar comes from risk register which is scored and turned into colours. Mr Owen asked if, in future plans, it can be more explicitly shown how it relates to the existing register (current risks and target risks). It was agreed to refine this in future business plans.

Councillor Bateman asked about the quality of data and what is a quality breach. Mr Latham said that they are Pensions Regulator breaches. Should they not meet the required targets/deadlines, the Fund will need to consider next steps which may be to refer back to Pension Fund Committee or if it’s considered severe enough, report it directly to the Pensions Regulator.

RESOLVED

1.   That the Committee members noted progress made towards the CPF Business Plan during 2016/17.

2.   That the Committee approved the Business Plan for period 17/18 to 19/20.

3.   That future versions of the Business Plan include more clarity on how the risk scores have been derived.