The Fund Director presented a report which sought approval to changes to the membership of the Board and to determine arrangements for Chairing the Board.

Members noted the recruitment of three new members to the Board since the last meeting.  These were employer representatives Cllr Tony Damms from Sheffield CC, Cllr Tosh McDonald from Doncaster MBC and Andrew Gregory a Scheme Member representative.

In terms of the two remaining vacancies, it was recommended that the Board supported an amendment to the Constitution which would allow the remaining Scheme Member vacancy to be filled by any scheme member rather from the pensioner and deferred membership which had proved a bar to recruitment.

With regard to the employer vacancy, this had previously been seen as representing smaller employees but enquiries had failed to find anyone interested in the role.  It was therefore proposed to identify a senior HR/Finance manager from one of the District Councils to fill the position for a three year term.

Members were reminded that the position of Chair was still vacant.  At the last meeting members had indicated that they would prefer that the Chair came from amongst its members rather than being an independent.  But at that stage no-one was prepared to undertake the role.

Members were invited to consider whether any of them were prepared to undertake the role.  Should a member be prepared to do this, the Authority would appoint an Independent Advisor to the Board to work closely with the Chair in framing the agenda and work programme.

The Fund Director stated that should no member take on the role of Chair, the Authority as Scheme Manager would take steps to appoint an independent chair with the aim of having them in place for the next meeting of the Board.

G Warwick commented that he strongly believed that the Chair should come from within the Board’s membership.  He suggested that the decision be deferred until the October meeting of the Board and in the meantime the Board get together informally to discuss the matter.

Although stating that this was not an ideal situation, the Fund Director agreed.  He would proceed to recruit an independent advisor and if the Board could not find a Chair from within their membership the advisor would become the Chair.

It was agreed to hold an informal meeting of the Board in early September which would begin with a member only discussion followed by an induction/refresher session.

RESOLVED:

i)       That the Board support the proposed changes to the composition of the Board as set out in the report and the consequent changes to the Constitution of the board.

ii)      Note the appointment of the following Board Members

         a)  Cllr Tosh McDonald (Doncaster MBC) – Employer

         b)  Cllr  Tony Damms (Sheffield CC) – Employer

         c)  Andrew Gregory – Scheme Member

iii)     Defer the decision on the appointment of Chair to the October meeting of the Board.

iv)     Arrange an informal meeting of the Board to discuss chairing arrangements.

v)      Note the intention of the Scheme Manager to appoint an Independent Advisor in the event a member of the Board agreed to undertake the role of Chair.

vi)     Should no member of the Board be willing to undertake the role of Chair, note the intention of the Scheme Manager to appoint an Independent Chair.