24 March 2025, 2.00pm
Advisory Board
Meeting Information
Venue
18 Smith Square and video conference call
Combined agenda and papers
Meeting Items
Welcome, apologies and introductions
Meeting protocol and declarations of conflicts of interest
Interim arrangements in absence of Board Secretary
Fit for the Future consultation: next steps post consultation
AOB and date of next meeting
Meeting attendance
Attendees
- Cllr Andrew Thornton,
- Cllr Chris Weaver,
- Cllr John Beesley,
- Cllr Roger Phillips,
- John Neal,
- Tommy Bowler
- Cllr Andrew Thornton: stepped down as Scheme Employer Representative, attended meeting as Investment Committee Chair
Apologies given
Did not attend
Summary
Full details of the meeting and agenda papers can be found on the board meetings page. The minutes of the previous meeting, held on 25th November 2024, were approved and the main points arising from the meeting are shown below.
The Board received an LGPC update on key administration issues. The update covered the member benefits consultation expected to be released by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) in the coming months. The consultation was expected to cover survivor benefits, death grants, make buying pension to cover absences easier and fairer and introduce new Fair Deal into the LGPS regulations
Also discussed was the LGPC’s response to the consultation on inheritance tax and pensions, upcoming McCloud webinars for scheme members, dashboards and the proposed increase to normal minimum pension age (NMPA). On the issue of NMPA, it was agreed that the Board should wait for a proposal to come from MHCLG before deciding on preferred approach set out in the report.
The Board asked MHCLG officials if they could say when the government’s response to the Fit for the Future consultation would be published. This was expected “soon” and the Board were also advised that the discussions with individual pools about their plans (which were required to be submitted by 1 March 2025) were reaching a conclusion. In relation to the Good Governance elements of the consultation, the Board heard that the necessary legislation to implement the changes would be introduced in the second half of this year. It was anticipated that there was still much work for the Board to do to develop the new guidance envisaged in the proposals, for example updating the 2008 Governance Statutory Guidance (and resulting sub-guidance from that) and around the requirements of an administration strategy.
The Board discussed Government plans for local government reorganisation and the potential impacts on the LGPS. The Board expressed a desire for aligning workstreams given the current work being done on fund governance. It was also said that consideration could be given to the separation of the administering authority function and the creation of stand-alone administering authorities at the same time.
The Board noted the updated legal advice on the fiduciary duty which had been provided by Nigel Giffin KC. It was agreed that this advice was timely and would be very helpful for LGPS officers and pension committee members in understanding their duties. It was agreed that the Secretariat would publish a shorter note setting out what the team felt were the key elements of the advice. It was also agreed to consider what practical best-practice advice could be created on how funds can go about consulting members and employers – the need for which the new guidance puts great emphasis on.
The Board signed off on the procurement of a website upgrade, to be procured through the National LGPS Frameworks. The specification for the upgrade set out a number of improvements to the design and usability of the site, as well as ensuring the new site is created with full compliance with accessibility requirements.
The Board noted a good response to the invitation for volunteers to participate in a working group to scope out the new LGPS peer support offering. The Pensions Regulator would also join the group, which would also help inform the linkages to the new General Code as well as the separate independent governance review proposed by MHCLG in the Fit for the Future consultation. It is envisioned that the Board’s peer support offer would follow similar principles to LGA’s sector-led support services for member councils.
The Board noted the letter issued by MHCLG to administering authorities on 10 March 2025, concerning the use of interim contribution reviews and looking ahead to the 2025 local fund valuations. Ahead of the Board meeting, the Secretariat had meetings with the Government Actuary’s Department and the fund actuaries to see what could be done to manage expectations ahead of the 2025 valuation round. The Board agreed that is should offer some further guidance, building on the key messages being taken from the recently completed Funding Strategy Statement guidance and the Board’s earlier surplus statement.
In relation to the Gender Pensions Gap, the Board adopted a paper setting out a standard definition and reporting approach (including methodology) that could be adopted across LGPS and potentially beyond. This had been drawn up with input from the Pensions Equity Group as well as LGPS funds, member and employer representatives and fund actuaries. In the first instance, GPG reporting was proposed to be done via the 2025 local fund valuation reports but in the future it was hoped to develop more frequent reports, broken down by employer or sector. The Board also agreed to arrange a “roundtable” event to bring together in the summer the various stakeholders inside and across the public sector pensions world with an interest in this work.
In moving forwards with the next stage of the Code of Transparency project, the Board noted that the National LGPS Frameworks team were helping to develop a new framework for cost transparency template collection, cost data monitoring and benchmarking services. It is hoped that the new framework should start from April 2026 to allow a transitional period before the end of the Board’s contract with Byhiras (who manage the existing data collection system) in August 2026.
The date of the next Board meeting is 21st July 2025.
Was this page helpful?