The Local Pension Board of West Northamptonshire Council was scheduled to meet on 23 October 2025, at One Angel Square, Northampton. The agenda included discussion of the governance and compliance report, the external audit plan for the Northamptonshire Pension Fund, the gender pensions gap, a pensions dashboards update, an effectiveness review report and an administration report. The meeting was also scheduled to discuss the exclusion of press and public for certain items.

Pensions Dashboards Update and Matching Policy

The board was scheduled to discuss a report on the progress of connecting to the pensions dashboards infrastructure, with a deadline of 31 October 2025. The report pack included the Northamptonshire Pension Fund Data Matching Policy 2025, which had been approved by the Pension Committee on 2 October 2025.

The report noted that the fund is required to connect to the Pension Dashboards infrastructure by 31 October 2025 and be able to respond to requests from the public by 31 October 2026. The report pack stated that there were a number of activities that the Fund would need to undertake to connect to the Pension Dashboards infrastructure and to make data available to users, and that the Fund was continuing to work with its Additional Voluntary Contribution (AVC) providers Prudential and Standard Life to ensure members can easily access their details on the dashboard.

The Pensions Dashboards Update report stated that the Pensions Administration Standard Association (PASA)'s updated guidance had been followed in updating the Northamptonshire Pension Fund Data Matching Policy. The report pack noted that a full match would be established where National Insurance Number, surname/alternative surname and date of birth are matched against the data held within the pension admin system. In the absence of a national insurance number, a full match can still be achieved by matching additionally on Forename plus either Postcode or Email and Mobile.

Governance and Compliance Report

The board was scheduled to discuss a Governance and Compliance Report which identifies issues and developments relevant to West Northamptonshire Council's management and administration of the Northamptonshire Pension Fund.

The report pack noted that the report provided information on the following significant current issues which have an impact on the governance, management and administration of the Northamptonshire Pension Fund:

• LGPS England and Wales
• McCloud
• Pension Dashboards
• Scheme Advisory Board (SAB)
• The Pensions Ombudsman (TPO)
• The Pensions Regulator (TPR)
• Wider landscape
• Skills and knowledge opportunities

The report also provided details of immaterial amendments made to policies or strategies as a result of Officer reviews.

The report pack included the Northamptonshire Pension Fund Training Plan and the Access and Fairness Consultation Response. It also included proposed changes to Northamptonshire Council's management and administration of the Northamptonshire Pension Fund relating to reporting breaches of the law to the pension regulation policy, which were deemed minor.

2024-25 External Audit Plan for the Northamptonshire Pension Fund

The board was scheduled to discuss the 2024-25 External Audit Plan for the Northamptonshire Pension Fund. Grant Thornton (GT) act as the fund's external auditors, and have produced a plan of the upcoming audit 2024-25.

The report pack stated that the key risks and areas of focus for Grant Thornton are valuation of Level 3 investments and management over-ride of controls. Planning materiality for the financial statements was set at £68.25m, 1.89% of the gross investment assets as at 31 March 2024. Planning materiality for the fund account was set at £14.66m, 10% of prior year gross expenditure. The total audit fees for the year are £136,134, excluding IAS 19 letters for employer body auditors.

The Appendix A - Northamptonshire Pension Fund Audit Plan Year Ended 31 March 2025 noted that the government's strategy paper sets out its intention to streamline and simplify the local audit system, bringing as many audit functions as possible into one place and also offering insights drawn from audits, and that a new Local Audit Office will be established, with responsibilities for:

• Coordinating the system including leading the local audit system and championing auditors' statutory reporting powers;
• Contract management, procurement, commissioning and appointment of auditors to all eligible bodies;
• Setting the Code of Audit Practice;
• Oversight of the quality regulatory framework (inspection, enforcement and supervision) and professional bodies;
• Reporting, insights and guidance including the collation of reports made by auditors, national insights of local audit issues and guidance on the eligibility of auditors.

Gender Pensions Gap

The board was scheduled to discuss a report providing information regarding the Northamptonshire Pension Fund Gender Pensions Gap.

The report pack stated that in recent years, there has been growing attention on workplace equality, particularly regarding the Gender Pay Gap¹. This has led to increased interest in the gender pensions gap, which refers to the disparity in retirement income or wealth between men and women.

The report pack noted that the LGPS is one of the largest pension schemes in the UK, with around 6.7 million members (as at 31 March 2024), and around 74% of these members are female, and that in the Northamptonshire Pension Fund, 79% of members are female.

The report pack stated that, based on the Fund's data, for every £1 of pension paid to males, 45p are paid to females, and that this is clear evidence of a gender pay gap. The analysis conducted on the Fund's pensioners shows that female pensions are consistently lower than male pensions across all age brackets.

The report pack stated that the analysis conducted highlighted the following conclusions:

• A gender pension gap does exist in the fund with the gap being more prevalent at older ages but continues to exist at younger ages as well.
• The gender pay gap is a contributing factor.
• There is a significant difference in working patterns between genders, with females being more likely to be part-time workers – this results in less pension accrual.
• The pay and working pattern causes seem to appear from age 26-30 onwards.

The report pack stated that the Access and Fairness consultation, launched in May 2025, encourages funds to consider multiple reform proposals aimed at addressing the issue of the Gender Pension Gap, the reforms include:

• equalising survivor benefits regardless of gender.
• improving transparency through gender pension gap reporting.
• reducing opt-out rates (especially among women).
• recognising the impact of career breaks.

Effectiveness Review Report

The board was scheduled to discuss a report on the outcomes of the Pension Board effectiveness review and an update on the 2024 Effectiveness review action plan.

The report pack stated that the effectiveness review survey was issued to 4 members of the board to seek their views on a range of subject matters related to the current governance arrangements of the Northamptonshire Pension Fund. The survey was issued on 20 August 2025 with a deadline for responses by 10 September 2025, and all 4 members that received the survey provided responses.

The report pack stated that overall the assessment provided a picture of reasonable agreement, with more than half of responses stating agreement to the individual statements within 6 of the 7 sections, and that agreement levels overall across the 7 areas were overall positive, with 85% of all responses either agreeing or strongly agreeing to all statements, and that the highest scoring area was Management of Meetings at 97%. The section on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion had lower levels of agreement in comparison to the other 6 sections of the survey.

The report pack included the Effectiveness Questionnaire responses and the 2024 Effectiveness Review Action Plan Update.

Administration Report

The board was scheduled to discuss the Administration Report for the period 1 June to 31 August 2025.

The report pack stated that the purpose of the report was to update the Pension Board on:

• the administrative performance including performance against Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and contribution monitoring.
• the progress made on Business Plan key activities and the budget position
• the updates to the Fund's Risk Register.
• the Fund's admissions and cessations for the reporting period.

The report pack stated that during the reporting period, a total of 42 KPIs were monitored, and that of these, 69% were rated Green, 14% Amber, and 17% Red, indicating overall performance levels. It also stated that 100% of employer contributions for the reporting period were received on time, maintaining a consistent annual compliance rate of 100%.

The report pack included the Administration performance, Business Plan Updates, Financials, Admissions and Cessations and Risk dashboard.

The report pack also noted that one new employer, Fresh Start Catering Limited (Moulton Primary School), had been admitted into the Fund over the reporting period, and that one employer, Southfield Primary School, had ceased from the Fund.

Other items

The agenda for the meeting also included:

• Appointment of Chair and Vice-Chair
• Apologies for Absence
• Declarations of Interest
• Minutes of the meeting held on 2 July 2025
• Chair's Announcements
• Annual Report
• Northamptonshire Pension Fund Board Agenda Plan
• Exclusion of Press and Public
• Private minutes of the last meeting
• Member Engagement Survey
• ACCESS Update
• Valuation Update
• Urgent Business