Agenda item

With reference to Article 5 of the minute of its meeting of 2 December 2016, the Committee had before it a report by the Pensions Manager which provided an update on any changes to the North East Scotland Pension Fund and the Aberdeen City Council Transport Fund strategies.

The report contained information on a consultation exercise in respect of the options for future Guaranteed Minimum Pension equalisation and indexation of public scheme members who reached State Pension Age after 5 December 2018; an update on Pension Fund staff appointments and the Pension Fund staff structure; the annual review of scheme documentation and the resulting revisions to policy; an update on training; the liquidation of an admitted body; and the Pension Administration Strategy 2017.

Ms Colliss, Pensions Manager, explained the requirement for additional posts and advised that the staff structure within the Pension Fund team was under review.  This was due to the size of the Fund; the need for succession planning; as the team was now dealing with more employer issues; and the additional work taken on from the Benefits Admin team, and it was likely that further requests would be brought to Committee in respect of additional posts.

Ms Colliss also highlighted the feedback from Members in respect of the September 2016 training and explained the position in relation to investment in property. 

The Committee discussed the liquidation of the admitted body and Ms Colliss explained that there had been no notification of the situation prior to the Fund receiving the letter in respect of the liquidation of the body.  She advised that staff worked hard to improve the communication with admitted bodies and that putting the Employer Relation Team in place would further assist with this.  She added that the upcoming Actuarial Valuation would also mean greater engagement with admitted bodies, and explained that staff would be visiting every employer and that they would be required to complete a form which would provide more detailed information in respect of any risks associated with the body.

The report recommended:-

that Committee –

(a)       review and approve the policy document changes noted in Appendix 2 to the report;

(b)       review and approve the Pension Administration Strategy 2017, as set out in Appendix 7;

(c)       approve the additional resources for the Pension Fund staff structure as detailed in section 5.5.1 of the report; and

(d)       otherwise note the remainder of the report.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations.

The Board resolved:-

to note the decision of the Committee.