Further to the Board’s statement of the 27th July 2020 on the status of local pension board meetings during covid restrictions, the emergency legislation that the government introduced to allow section 101 committees to meet remotely has not been renewed and ceased to have effect from the 6th May. This has led to some confusion over whether local pension boards should follow suit and return to face to face meetings.

The SAB wishes to make it clear that the position set out in the earlier statement remains unchanged. Legal opinion obtained by the Board in January 2015 concluded that local pension boards are not local authority committees and are not therefore subject to the same legal requirements and conventions as, say, an LGPS pensions committee. The legal requirement for section 101 committees to return to face to face meetings does not therefore apply to local pension boards who may continue to meet remotely, face to face or a combination of both as agreed locally.

Administering authorities who have established a combined committee and local pension board under Regulation 106(2) of the 2013 Regulations may wish to seek their own legal advice on how future meetings should be conducted.