Terms of Reference and Delegated
Authorities
The London Borough of Newham Local Pension
Board
1) Introduction
1.1
The purpose of this document is to
set out the terms of reference for the local Pension Board of the
London Borough of Newham pension fund.
1.2
The Pension Board is not a committee
of the Council either under S102 of the Local Government Act 1972,
or any other statute.
1.3
The Administering Authority (London
Borough of Newham) including Pensions’ Committee, continues
to be make decisions and carries out other duties in the effective
Management of the London Borough of Newham pension fund.
2) Role of the Local Pension
Board
2.1
The role of the local Pension Board
as defined by sections 5 (1) and (2) of the Public Service Pensions
Act 2013, is to:
a.
Assist the London Borough of Newham
as Scheme Manager:
i.
to secure compliance with the LGPS
regulations and any other legislation relating to the governance
and administration of the LGPS
ii.
to secure compliance with
requirements imposed in relation to the LGPS by the Pensions
Regulator in such other matters as the LGPS regulations may
specify
b.
Secure the effective and efficient
governance and administration of the LGPS for the London Borough of
Newham Pension Fund; and
c.
Provide the Scheme Manager with such
information as it requires ensuring that any member of the Pension
Board or person to be appointed to the Pension Board does not have
a conflict of interest.
2.2
The Pension Board works to support
the Scheme Manager in agreeing areas of focus for the forthcoming
year and this is detailed in the Annual Business Plan, and where
required changes are agreed through-out the year through regular
Board Meetings, all areas are covered in the Annual Report for the
Local Pension Board.
2.3
The Pension Board will ensure it
effectively and efficiently complies with the code of practice on
the governance and administration of public service pension schemes
issued by the Pension Regulator.
2.4
The Pension Board will also help
ensure that the London Borough of Newham Pension Fund is managed
and administered effectively and efficiently and complies with the
code of practice on the governance and administration of public
service pension schemes issued by the Pension Regulator.
2.5
The Pension Board shall meet
sufficiently and regularly to discharge its duties and
responsibilities effectively.
3) Appointment of Members of the Pension
Board
3.1
The Pension Board shall consist of
an independent Chair and SIX voting members,
comprising of THREE employer representatives
and THREE scheme member
representatives;
3.2
Member
Representatives
a.
THREE Member representatives shall
be appointed to the Board through nominations put forward by the
London Borough of Newham’s three main Trade
Unions.
b.
Member representatives shall either
be scheme members or have capacity to represent scheme members of
the Fund.
c.
Member representatives should be
able to demonstrate their capacity to attend and complete the
necessary preparation for meetings and participate in training as
required.
d.
Substitutes shall not be
appointed.
3.3
Each member representative and
scheme member representative appointed shall serve for a
fixed 4 year period which can be extended for
further period(s) subject to re-nomination.
3.4
Employer
Representatives
a.
Eligible Employer representatives
shall be office holders or senior employees from within the
Funds’ current Employers or have experience of representing
scheme employers in a similar capacity. No officer or elected
member of the London Borough of Newham who is responsible for the
discharge of any function of the London Borough of Newham Pension
under the Regulations may serve as a member of the
Board.
b.
Employer representatives should be
able to demonstrate their capacity to attend and complete the
necessary preparation for meetings and participate in training as
required.
c.
Substitutes shall not be
appointed.
d.
THREE employer representatives shall
be appointed to the Board.
3.5
Employer representative shall be
appointed following a transparent recruitment process which should
be open to all employers in the Fund including Senior Officers
within the Fund’s main employer, the London Borough of
Newham. If there remains any outstanding Employer
Representative(s), the remaining Employer Representative(s) shall
be appointed following nomination of the London Borough of
Newham.
3.6
Each employer representative and
scheme member representative appointed shall serve for a
fixed 4 year period which can be extended for
further period(s) subject to re-nomination.
3.7
Each Board member should endeavour
to attend all Board meetings during the year and is required to
attend at least 3 meetings each year, 1 of which must be the Annual Meeting. Board members are not
allowed to send a substitute in their absence. In the event that a
Board member fails to attend 3 consecutive meetings’, that
individual will may be subject to disqualification. In the event
failure was due to some reason approved by the Board before the
date of the 3rd consecutive meeting, final decision of
disqualification will be made by the Chair and Scheme
Manager.
3.8
Board membership may be terminated
prior to the end of the term of office due to:
a.
A Scheme Member representative
appointed on the basis of their membership of the scheme is no
longer being a member of the Fund.
b.
A Scheme Member representative no
longer being a representative of the body on which their
appointment relied.
c.
A Scheme Member no longer holding
the office or employment or being a member of the body on which
their appointment relied.
d.
A Board member no longer being able
to demonstrate to the London Borough of Newham their capacity to
attend and prepare for meetings or to participate in required
training.
e.
The representative being withdrawn
by the nominating body and a replacement identified.
f.
A Board member has a conflict of
interest which cannot be managed in accordance with the Board's
conflict policy.
g.
A Board member who is an elected
member becomes a member of the Committee.
h.
A Board member who is an officer of
the London Borough of Newham becomes responsible for the discharge
of any function of the London Borough of Newham under the
Regulations.
3.9
The Board may, with the approval of
the Scheme Manager, co-opt persons who are not members of the Board
to serve on sub committees, particularly where this would add
skills and experience.
4) Appointment of Chair
4.1
An additional non-voting independent
member shall be appointed to chair the Pension Board. However,
the Pension Board is entitled to meet and conduct its business even
if the role of the independent member is vacant or he/she is
absent.
4.2
The Chair of the Board
shall:
a.
Ensure the Board delivers its
purpose as set out in these Terms of Reference;
b.
Ensure that meetings are productive
and effective and that opportunity is provided for the views of all
members to be expressed and considered, and
c.
Seek to reach consensus and ensure
that decisions are properly put to a vote when it cannot be
reached. Instances of a failure to reach a consensus position will
be recorded and published.
d.
Meet with the Chair of the Committee
a minimum of twice per year.
e.
Shall present the Boards Annual
Report and Business Plan at Pension Committee once a year for
noting from the Pension Committee
f.
Will review the Update from the
Pension Board Section of the Administration Update Report, prior to
Pension Committee and advise Officers if there is a requirement for
the Chair to present.
5) Quorum
5.1
The Board shall have a formal quorum
of 3 voting members of which at least one employer representative
and one Scheme Member representative must be present. In the
absence of the Chair, at any meeting, the members attending can
appoint a Deputy Chair for that meeting.
5.2
Advisers and officers do not count
towards the quorum.
6) Conflicts of Interest
6.1
All members of the Board must
declare to the London Borough of Newham on appointment and at any
such time as their circumstances change, any potential conflict of
interest arising as a result of their position on the
Board.
6.2
A conflict of interest is defined as
a financial or other interest which is likely to prejudice a
person’s exercise of functions as a member of the Board. It
does not include a financial or other interest arising merely by
virtue of that person being a member of the Scheme.
6.3
On appointment to the Board and
following any subsequent declaration of potential conflict by a
Board member, the London Borough of Newham shall ensure that any
potential conflict is effectively managed in line with both the
internal procedures of the Board's ‘Conflicts of
Interest’ policy and the requirements of the Code.
7) Board Review Process
7.1
The Board will undertake each year,
at its Annual Meeting, a formal review process to assess how well
it and its committees, and the members are performing with a view
to seeking continuous improvement in the Board’s
performance.
8) Advisers to the
Board
8.1
The Board may be supported in its
role and responsibilities through the appointment of advisers and
shall, subject to any applicable regulation and legislation from
time to time in force, consult with such advisers to the Board and
on such terms as it shall see fit to help better perform its duties
including:
a.
A Governance Adviser
b.
The Fund’s Actuary;
c.
The Fund’s
Administrator;
d.
The Fund’s Legal
Adviser;
e.
The Fund’s Investment
Manager(s);
f.
The Fund’s Investment
Adviser(s);
g.
The Fund’s Employer Covenant
Adviser;
h.
The Scheme Manager.
i.
Other advisers, so approved by the
Scheme Manager.
j.
The Pensions Regulator
8.2
The Board shall ensure that the
performances of the advisers so appointed are reviewed on a regular
basis.
9) Knowledge and Skills
9.1
Knowledge and understanding must be
considered in light of the role of the Board to assist the London
Borough of Newham in line with the requirements outlined in section
2 above.
9.2
A member of the Pension Board must
have capacity to become conversant with:
a.
The legislation and associated
guidance of the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS);
and
b.
Any document recording policy about
the administration of the LGPS which is for the time being adopted
by the London Borough of Newham Pension Fund.
9.3
A member of the Pension Board must
have capacity to gain knowledge and understanding of:
a.
The law relating to pensions,
and
b.
Any other matters which are
prescribed in regulations.
9.4
It is for individual Pension Board
members to be satisfied that they have the appropriate degree of
knowledge and understanding to enable them to properly exercise
their functions as a member of the Pension Board.
9.5
In line with this requirement
Pension Board members are required to be able to demonstrate their
knowledge and understanding and to refresh and keep their knowledge
up to date. Pension Board members are therefore required
to maintain a written record of relevant training and
development.
9.6
Pension Board members will undertake
a personal training needs analysis and regularly review their
skills, competencies and knowledge to identify gaps or
weaknesses.
9.7
Pension Board members will comply
with the Scheme Manager’s training policy.
10) Board Meetings – Notice and
Minutes
10.1
Democratic Services shall give
notice to all Pension Board members of every meeting of the Pension
Board. Democratic Services shall also ensure that a formal record
of Pension Board proceedings is maintained. Following the approval
of the draft minutes by the Chair of the Board, they shall be
circulated to all members of the Board for approval at its next
meeting.
10.2
There will be a minimum
of THREE Pension Board meetings a year with one Annual Meeting
being held at the beginning of the committee cycle. The meetings
are expected to be held during the day or evening, in a Town Hall
Committee room.
11) Remit of the Board
11.1
The Pension Board must assist the
Scheme Manager with such other matters as the scheme regulations
may specify. It is for scheme regulations and the Scheme Manager to
determine precisely what the Pension Board’s role entails.
The Pension Board will submit an Annual Business Plan which will be
approved in collaboration with Scheme Manager and approved by the
Pension Committee.
11.2
In accordance with the Regulations,
the Pension Board shall secure compliance with:
a.
The Regulations
b.
Other legislation relating to the
Governance and administration of the LGPS; and
c.
The requirements imposed by the
Regulator in relation to the LGPS, and
d.
To ensure the effective and
efficient governance and administration of the LGPS.
11.3
The Pension Board have no decision
making authority that is reserved for the Administering Authority
and Pensions Committee, however the Pension Board will review the
governance of decisions made by the Administering Authority and
Pensions Committee.
11.4
In matters relating to the
Investment of the Fund, information presented at committee is made
available to board, to provide opportunity to challenge processes
and governance on Investment decisions, however Pension Board are
not required to be sighted prior to a decision made by
committee.
11.5
In support of its core functions the
Board may make a request for information to the Pensions
Committee with regard to any aspect of the London Borough of
Newham’s function. Any such request should be logged by
officers to ensure a response is received and reasonably complied
with in both scope and timing. As part of the standing item at
Pension Committee, the Pension Administration Report will include a
section Update from Pension Board, any request will be stated in
this section of the report for noting by the Pension
Committee.
11.6
In support of its core functions,
the Board will make regular recommendations to the Pensions
Committee which should be logged by officers to ensure
recommendations are considered and a response made to the Board on
the outcome within a reasonable period of time. The standing item
at Pension Committee, the Pension Administration Report will
include update from Pension Board, any responses to recommendations
will be stated in report for noting and approving by the Pension
Committee.
11.7
Board members will be welcome at
Pensions Committee meetings as observers.
12) Standards of Conduct
12.1
The role of Pension Board members
requires the highest standards of conduct and therefore the seven
principles of public lifewill be applied to all Pension Board members and
embodied in their code of conduct.
a.
Selflessness
b.
Integrity
c.
Objectivity
d.
Accountability
e.
Openness
f.
Honesty
g.
Leadership
13) Decision making
13.1
Each member of the Pension Board,
other than the non-voting independent member, will have one vote
but it is expected the Pension Board will as far as possible reach
a consensus.
14) Publication of Pension Board
information
14.1
Scheme members and other interested
parties will want to know that the London Borough of Newham Pension
Fund is being efficiently and effectively managed. They will also
want to be confident that the Pension Board is properly
constituted, trained and competent in order to comply with scheme
regulations, the governance and administration of the scheme and
requirements of the Pension Regulator.
14.2
Up to date information will be
posted on the London Borough of Newham Pension Fund website
showing:
a.
The names and information of the
Pension Board members
b.
How the scheme members are
represented on the Pension Board
c.
The responsibilities of the Pension
Board as a whole
d.
The full terms of reference and
policies of the Pension Board and how they operate
e.
The Pension Board appointment
process
f.
Who each individual Pension Board
member represents
g.
Any specific roles and
responsibilities of individual Pension Board members.
14.3
The Board meetings will be open to
the general public (unless in accordance with paragraph below
there is a need to exclude the public from part (or all) of the
meeting to avoid the disclosure of exempt or confidential
information.
14.4
Pension Board papers, agendas and
minutes of meetings will be published on the London Borough of
Newham Pension Fund website
https://mgov.newham.gov.uk/mgCommitteeDetails.aspx?ID=1429
14.5
There may at the discretion of the
Scheme Manager be edited to exclude items on the grounds that they
would either involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as
specified in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act
1972 or it being confidential for the purposes of Section 100A
(2) of that Act and/or they represent data covered by data
protection legislation.
14.6
To the extent provided for in
paragraphs 14.3 and 14.4 above, the access to meeting and
information rules set out in Part VA of the Local Government Act
1972 shall be applied to the meetings of the Pension Board subject
to any variations at the discretion of the Scheme
Manager.
14.7
The Scheme Manager will also
consider requests for additional information to be published or
made available to individual scheme members to encourage scheme
member engagement and promote a culture of openness and
transparency.
15) Accountability
15.1
The Pension Board will be
collectively and individually accountable to the Scheme
Manager.
16) Expense Reimbursement
16.1
Board Members will receive an
allowance of £117 (co-opted members amount for other
committees) per meeting attended. No payment will be made for
non-attendance.
17) Budget
17.1
The Board is to be provided with
adequate resources to fulfil its role. In doing so the budget
for the Board will be met from the Fund and must be approved
by the Section 151 Officer.
18) Reporting Breaches
18.1
The Board should in the first
instance report its requests, recommendations or concerns to
the Pensions Committee. In support of this any member of
the Board may attend a Committee meeting as an observer.
18.2
Requests and recommendations to the
Pensions Committee should be reported under the provisions of paras
11.3 and 11.4 above.
18.3
The Board should report any concerns
over a decision made by the Pensions Committee to the Committee
subject to the agreement of at least 50% of voting Board members
provided that all voting members are present. If not all voting
members are present then the agreement should be of all voting
members who are present, where the meeting remains
quorate.
18.4
On receipt of a report under
paragraph 18.3 above the Committee should, within a reasonable
period, consider and respond to the Board.
18.5
Where the Board is not satisfied
with the response received it may request that a notice of its
concern be placed on the website and in the Fund's annual
report.
18.6
Where the Board is satisfied that
there has been a breach of regulation which has been reported to
the Committee under paragraph 18.3 and has not been rectified
within a reasonable period of time it is under an obligation to
escalate the breach.
18.7
The appropriate internal route for
escalation is to the Monitoring Officer and/or the Section 151
Officer (as appropriate).
18.8
The Board may report concerns to the
LGPS Scheme Advisory Board for consideration subsequent to, but not
instead of, using the appropriate internal route for
escalation.
18.9
Board members are also subject to
the requirements to report breaches of law under the Act and the
Code [and the whistleblowing provisions set out in the London
Borough of Newham's whistle blowing policy].
19) Review of Terms of
Reference
19.1
These Terms of Reference shall be
reviewed on each material change to those part of the
Regulations covering local pension boards and at least every
year.
19.2
These Terms of Reference were last
reviewed on 31st May 2023.
20) Definitions
20.1
The undernoted terms shall have the
following meaning when used in this document:
Term
Description
Administering Authority
Responsible for managing and administering the
Scheme in relation to any person for which it is the appropriate
administering authority under these Regulations.
Pension Board or Board
The
local Pension Board for the London Borough of
Newham London Borough of Newham for the London Borough
of Newham Pension Fund as required under the Public Service
Pensions Act 2013
Scheme Manager
The
London Borough of Newham as London Borough of Newham of the London
Borough of Newham Pension Fund.
Chair
The
Chair of the Pension Board
LGPS
The
Local Government Pension Scheme as constituted by the Local
Government Pension Scheme Regulations 2013,the Local Government
Pension Scheme (Transitional Provisions, Savings and Amendment)
Regulations 2014 and The Local Government Pension Scheme
(Management and Investment of Funds) Regulations 2009
Scheme
The
Local Government Pension Scheme as defined under LGPS
Pensions Regulator
The
UK regulator of work-based pension schemes.
the
Committee
The
committee which has delegated decision making powers for the Fund
in accordance with Section 101 of the Local Government Act
1972.
the
Fund
The
Fund managed and administered by the London Borough of
Newham.
21) Interpretation
21.1
Any uncertainty or ambiguity or
interpretation required relating to any matters contained in this
document shall be determined by the Scheme Manager.