Apologies were noted as above.

The Chair welcomed the new Members to the Authority and also welcomed Neil Copley to his first meeting as Treasurer to the Authority.

To determine whether there are any additional items of business which by reason of special circumstances the Chair is of the opinion should be considered at the meeting;  the reason(s) for such urgency to be stated.

None.

None.

None.

A report was submitted to advise Members that there was one officer who was eligible to receive a loyalty award after achieving 25 years of continuous service with the Authority.

The Chair thanked K Roberts for her dedication to the Authority, noting that as manager of UPM her loyalty had been put to the test over the last few years.

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the Authority meeting held on 16 March 2017 be signed by the Chair as a true record.

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the meeting of the Investment Board held on 9 March 2017 be noted.

The Authority considered its Work Programme.

RESOLVED – That the Work Programme be noted.

None.

S Barrett gave a position statement on progress made with regard to LGPS pooling for new Members and an update on the current issues since the last meeting.

Following her attendance at the first meeting of the Border to Coast Pooling Partnership Joint Committee, the Chair confirmed that the amendment, supported by the Authority, regarding non-voting co-option had been included in the Constitution.

As agreed previously, the meeting with the Trades Union representatives ahead of each Joint Committee meeting would be arranged for the week before the meeting; the next meeting of the Committee was scheduled for 5 September 2017.

Cllr Sangar commented that a written update, rather than verbal, would be useful.  As a lot was happening in such a short time it would be useful to have something to refer to.

Cllr Wraith queried whether premises had been found for BCPP staff.

The Chair responded that a short list of approximately seven potential premises had been drawn up.  She, as Vice-Chair of the Joint Committee, would be inspecting the premises to ensure the suitability for any South Yorkshire staff who would be accommodated there.

Cllr Wraith queried whether the investment staff had all agreed to TUPE transfer and what the situation was with regard to staff who wouldn’t be transferring.

S Barrett replied that it was expected that the investment staff would decide for themselves; all would have the opportunity to transfer if they so wished.

With regard to the structural issues and what, if anything would need to remain in Barnsley, this was a separate process and had still to be decided.  Work was ongoing and would probably be finalised in the autumn.

A Frosdick updated Members on the situation regarding the Passenger Transport Pension Fund which would be transferring to the Greater Manchester Pension Fund in the near future, subject to the agreement of the Secretary of State.

Cllr Ellis confirmed that the Passenger Transport Pension Fund Committee had been involved in the process at all stages and were happy with the proposals.

G Boyington, Chair of the Joint Local Pension Board, commented that as the Board was a Joint Board with the Passenger Transport Pension Fund, the transfer would have implications for the Board’s Constitution as there was an employee and employer representative of the SYPTPF on the Local Pension Board.  A decision would have to be made as to whether to delete the two posts or substitute them for another employer and employee.

G Warwick queried whether Trades Union representatives were to be co-opted onto the Joint Committee or whether they would just be invited to the local pre-meeting.

S Ellis replied that this issue was being dealt with by one of the sub-committees; no decision had been made as yet.

G Warwick expressed his disappointment that Trades Union representatives were not allowed to participate in the governance of BCPP automatically.

RESOLVED:

(i)     That a written investment pooling report be submitted to each Authority meeting as necessary.

(ii)     That the report be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

The Authority considered the Q4 Performance Snapshot report.

The report was a summary of various information and statistics previously considered by the Authority’s Boards.

It was noted that:

·       Performance had not improved during the quarter due to the number of backlog cases in the system.

·       Investment performance had been strong.

·       17 new employers had joined the Scheme.

·       A further 33 new employers had registered for Epic.

With regard to performance, Cllr Wraith queried when performance would get back to where it was before the introduction of the UPM system.

G Chapman replied although he was confident performance would get back to where it was, the timescale was difficult to measure.  The reorganisation of the team had taken place and it was hoped there would be a period of continuous improvement over the next 12 months, however the improvement would be incremental.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

A report was presented to inform Members of the outcome of the self-assessment against the Principles for Investment Governance.

In October 2011, Members had adopted a system of self-assessment and had agreed to use a template to gauge compliance.

Members had been issued with individual copies in January 2017, to be completed and returned at the end of the financial year; 10 forms from the 11 issued had been returned (an improvement on the previous year).  In the main, the scores were either Very Good or Excellent and no areas of concern or development needs had been identified.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

A report was submitted to inform the Authority of the current position regarding Trades Union seats on the Corporate Planning and Governance Board and the Investment Board.

The Authority noted that three seats on each Board were allocated to Trades Union representatives for a three-year term.  The appointments were due for renewal.

The Trades Unions had requested that the Authority approve the following appointments for a term of three years:

GMB – Garry Wareick to the Corporate Planning & Governance Board and the Investment Board.

Unison – Nicola Doolan-Hamer to the Corporate Planning & Governance Board and the Investment Board.

Unite – Frank Tyas to the Corporate Planning & Governance Board and Doug Patterson to the Investment Board.

RESOLVED – That the Authority approve the continued appointment of Trades Union representation on the Authority’s Boards as detailed above, for a term of three years.

A report was considered which provided Members with a forward look at learning and development arrangements for 2017/18.

It was noted that pensions was a complex environment and training and development was essential for every Member, especially after the introduction of more demanding governance arrangements over the last few years.

Induction training would be offered to all new Members in the coming weeks together with the opportunity to attend a two-day course in September in York. For those who could not attend this, the three-day LGA Fundamentals training in Leeds would be offered.

In addition, all Members would be invited to generic training offered across the South Yorkshire Joint Authorities which included Risk Management, Audit Committees and Treasury Management.

Members were informed that the Pensions Regulator had developed an e-learning programme for public sector pension schemes.  The toolkit was available on the Regulator’s website and would be incorporated into the learning and development schedule.  A link to this would be provided for Members after the meeting.

G Warwick pointed out that the Strategy made no mention of Trades Union representatives.

Although Trades Union representatives were routinely invited to most training events, M McCarthy agreed to include this in the Strategy.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.