This meeting of the Wiltshire Pension Fund Committee was scheduled to receive an update on the progress of the Fund's new administration system, hear a presentation on the Fund’s cyber security policy and consider its response to a government consultation into the future of the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS).

Payroll Migration Update

A report was scheduled to be provided by the Fund Operations Manager, Mark Briggs, concerning the completion of the migration of the Wiltshire Pension Fund's pensioner payroll from Oracle to Altair.¹ The report pack included the minutes of the preceding Local Pension Board meeting, where Mr Briggs had “informed the Board that a successful migration took place on 25 October 2024, and all issues have been fixed, the project just needs to be closed off”.

Government Consultation on the Future of the LGPS

A report was scheduled to be presented that provided further detail on the government’s consultation on the future of the LGPS, “LGPS – Fit for the Future”.

The report pack explained that the consultation “details proposals for significant change to the LGPS”, and said that the consultation suggested reforming the existing LGPS pools, boosting local investment by the LGPS and strengthening governance arrangements for the pools.

The report pack included a legal and regulatory update that contained an extract of an article by Melanie Durrant, a Partner at Barnett Waddingham LLP. This included a section on the “use of Public Sector Net Financial Liabilities (PSNFL ex)”, which said that:

“The budget contained a move to the use of PSNFL ex as a target for reducing debt by 2029-30… PSNFL ex also incorporates funded public sector pension liabilities and assets (including LGPS) which has caused a bit of excitement amongst some commentators who have interpreted it as being in support of the government’s desire to restructure the LGPS and direct its investment to UK growth assets.”

Cyber, Data Security & Business Recovery

A presentation was scheduled to be given by Mark Briggs, the Fund Operations Manager, which would include a summary of the Fund’s Business Continuity Plan and the Fund's cyber security policy for approval by the Committee.

The cyber security policy stated that “cyber risk is recognised as a real and growing threat” and “the aim of the Cyber Security Policy is to set out how the Fund intends to assess and manage cyber risk”. The policy went on to explain the Fund's approach to cyber governance, saying that “the Fund’s approach to cyber governance is to follow the Seek, Shield, Solve and Review framework”.

The report pack also included the minutes of the preceding Local Pension Board meeting, which said that “the Operations Manager explained that he was sufficiently confident in this area and that staff would receive appropriate training.”

Review of The Minutes of the Local Pension Board

The Committee was scheduled to receive the minutes of the meeting of the Local Pension Board held on 7 November 2024, along with a summary of the recommendations made by the Board.

One of the Board's recommendations was for the Committee to approve the cyber security policy that is described above, while the other was for the Committee to endorse the updates made to the Fund’s risk register, which is described below.

Risk Management Framework Update

The Head of Wiltshire Pension Fund, Jennifer Devine, was scheduled to provide an update concerning the progress of the Fund’s new Risk Management framework.

The report pack explained that:

“Following the introduction of Wiltshire Council’s new corporate risk management system, SWAP recommended that the Pension Fund align with this new framework as part of the key controls audit in June 2024.”

The report pack said that this had been challenging because of “some very key differences in the way the Pension Fund is governed, and the fact that an established risk register which managers were very actively engaged with already existed”. The report listed the key changes that had been made to align with the Council’s framework, saying that the changes had included setting the Fund’s risk appetite, using a 5x5 matrix to score risk and wording risks in line with Council guidance. The report recommended that the Committee approve the methodology for scoring the impact of risks.

Headlines and Monitoring (HAM) Report

The Committee was scheduled to receive an update on a range of aspects of the Fund’s activities, including the Fund’s risk register, administration Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), audit updates, legal and regulatory updates, and the health of the scheme.

The risk register listed a range of risks facing the Fund, including those relating to service delivery, financial management, fund governance, compliance with regulations, projects, reputational risks, resourcing and climate change risks.

Administration KPIs

The report pack included an analysis of the Fund’s administration KPIs, which described the performance of the Fund's administration system in processing a range of administrative tasks such as deaths, retirements, refunds, transfers in and out of the fund, divorce cases and complaints.

The report noted that the Fund was seeking accreditation from the Pension Administration Standards Association (PASA),² saying that “PASA accreditation status was being sought and this was the 'Gold Standard' for local government pension funds.”

SWAP Audit

The report pack explained that there were five outstanding recommendations from SWAP’s Key Controls audit in June 2024.

These recommendations included a request to “agree risk management arrangements”, to “create a log of the QA work that is taking place” on quality assurance, to complete the introduction of i-Connect, the Employer Scorecard and administrative charging for employers, to “update Altair complaint reporting”, and to review the KPIs being used and improve the accuracy of the KPIs.

Legal and Regulatory Update

The report pack included a “legal and regulatory update” that was an extract of the October 2024 edition of LGPS Pulse, a monthly newsletter from Barnett Waddingham LLP. This included information on McCloud, Pensions Dashboards, the Procurement Act 2023 and an update from the LGPC (Local Government Pension Committee).

McCloud

The update on McCloud explained that “annual statements this year do not need to include McCloud information”, and that software providers are “working to support funds in getting the relevant data onto the system and from our point of view, we are most interested in what data can be extracted for the 2025 valuation (in England and Wales).”³

Pensions Dashboards

The newsletter said that:

“A written statement issued by DWP on 22 October confirmed the existing timetable (31 October 2025 connection date for public service pension schemes).”⁴

Procurement Act 2023

The newsletter said that the Procurement Act 2023 had been delayed, saying that “the Procurement Act 2023 was due to come into force on 28 October 2024 but that has now been delayed until 24 February 2025. The Government has explained that the reason for the delay is to allow time to produce and publish a revised National Procurement Policy Statement.”

Scheme, Regulatory, Legal and Fund Update

The report pack said that “regulatory legal updates have been provided via Barnett Waddingham October 2024 LGPSPulse circular” and that “key additional strategic Fund updates have been incorporated within the Fund’s risk register section of this report.”

The report went on to say that:

“The Governmenthas launched the consultation “LGPS – Fit for the Future”, which details proposals for significant change to the LGPS. This important item is covered elsewhere on this agenda. The deadline to respond to the consultation is 16 January 2025.”

Key Financial Controls

An update was scheduled to be provided by the Investment and Accounting Team Lead, Chris Moore, concerning the Fund’s operational accounting arrangements.

The report explained that:

“Sign off for the accountson periods ending 2020/21 and 2021/22, 2022/23 continues to be delayed, the Pension fundaccounts form a part of the full Council accountsand the delay, which is due to an issue within the Wiltshire Council figures, has meant the pension fund accounts have not received their final audit opinion.”

Review of Actions Log

The Committee was scheduled to review progress on any actions requested by the Committee in previous meetings.

The report pack included a list of the outstanding actions from previous meetings, which included tasks such as providing Councillors with a simplified Covenant Risk document, producing an administration charging paper and developing a plan to embed the Fund’s risk register into Wiltshire Council's risk register.