A report was submitted to secure approval of the various documents which made up the Authority’s Corporate Planning Framework.  These were:

·       The Corporate Strategy which set out the Authority’s overall objectives and the actions that would be taken over the coming three years to achieve these.

·       The Medium Term Financial Strategy which set out a range of financial forecasts and a framework of rules within which the Authority would determine the resources it had available to fulfil its functions.

·       The Human Resources Strategy which set out the steps to develop, recruit, retain and develop a workforce to deliver the organisation’s overall objectives.

·       The ICT Strategy which set out how the Authority would improve the way it utilises technology.

·       The Equality and Diversity Scheme which set out the steps that the organisation would take in order to ensure that it meets its responsibilities under equality legislation.

The Fund Director informed Members that going forward an integrated report would be provided which would cover performance, the budget, targets, key objectives and the Risk Register; this would supersede the Performance Snapshot report.

A Member questioned whether there were any particular concerns with the ‘red’ areas within the Risk Register.

The Fund Director replied that with regards to the oversight of BCPP it was envisaged that this would reduce to amber after the first quarterly review.

With regard to the GMP reconciliation, this was out of the Authority’s hands as a response was awaited from HMRC.  There was potentially a significant financial impact.

With regard to the workforce, the Human Resources Strategy would address these issues.  By this time in the next municipal year the workforce age profile should have reduced.

J Bailey informed Members that two apprentices had recently been recruited to bring the total to three.  It was hoped that these apprenticeships would lead to jobs in the existing career grade scheme.

The Monitoring Officer reminded the Members that the Clerk to the Authority, and Chief Executive of BMBC, would be retiring at the end of May.  It was hoped that a successor would be appointed by the end of the week.  The new Chief Executive would need inducting into his/her responsibilities as Clerk to the Pensions Authority.

The Authority expressed thanks to Diana Terris and wished her all the best for the future.

The Chair expressed personal thanks to the Clerk for her pro-active approach to helping to solve problems over the years.  She suggested that the new Chief Executive be invited to an Authority meeting as soon as was practicable.

With regard to the ICT Strategy, Cllr Cox welcomed the plans to improve functionality and for the system to be more user-friendly and accessible but stressed the need for ways for members without internet access to be able to make contact.

The Head of Pensions Administration reassured Members that face-to-face appointments would continue to be available and an enhanced customer service telephone system would be implemented.

RESOLVED:  That:

i)       The following documents be approved as constituting the Authority’s Corporate Planning Framework:

·       The Corporate Strategy

·       The Medium Term Financial Strategy

·       The Human Resources Strategy

·       The ICT Strategy

·       The Equality and Diversity Scheme (subject to the correction of the typo on the cover page).

ii)      The Authority note that future reporting of corporate performance would reflect progress against the action plans within each of the above documents as well as performance against specific measures and changes in identified risks.