Mr Paul Audu, Interim Head of Pensions and Treasury stated that the report provided an update on the consultation on the government had undertaken called “Local Government Pension Scheme (England and Wales) Next Steps on Investments”. He said the Government’s response was attached to the report. He informed members the Government was looking to press ahead with its plans to pool investments and there was a likelihood of LGPS pools to reduce from 8 to about 5 pools.

In response to comments and questions from members the following was noted:

·       Mr Audu confirmed there was a plan to deal with investments outside of the pool and said this would be reported back to the Committee and Board. He said the plan was to include the other investments in the LCIV where possible with an explanation as to why some of the investments were outside of the pool.

·       Mr Audu said that Pension Scheme was open to all employees and whilst staff were auto-enrolled, some members choose to opt-out of the scheme for various reasons.

The Pensions Committee RESOLVED to:

1.    Note the contents of the report; and

2.    Note the Government’s response to the consultation.

Mr Paul Audu, Interim Head of Pensions and Treasury stated that the report provided an update on the consultation on the government had undertaken called “Local Government Pension Scheme (England and Wales) Next Steps on Investments”. He said the Government’s response was attached to the report. He informed members the Government was looking to press ahead with its plans to pool investments and there was a likelihood of LGPS pools to reduce from 8 or 9 to about 5 pools.

In answer to comments and questions from members the following was noted:

• ACTION: Mr Thompson commented that the progress of this consultation should be added to the training programme as this as a significant development.

• Mr Jones said that the merger of pools could mean some consolidation in London, but one had to wait and see how this developed.
• Referring to paragraph 3.9, Mr Jones said 61% of the Pension Fund was already in pooled investments. He asked if the remaining was in private markets. Mr Audu said he would provide information to the Board in this regard.

The Pension Board RESOLVED to:

1. Note the contents of the report; and
2. Note the Government’s response to the consultation.