The Croydon Council Pension Board met on Thursday 13 November 2025, to discuss updates from the Local Government Pension Scheme Advisory Board and The Pensions Regulator, the Fund's risk register, and breaches of the law. They were also scheduled to discuss the representation policy, the annual report, key performance indicators, and the 2025 valuation.

2025 Valuation and Funding Strategy Statement

The board were scheduled to discuss the progress of the triennial valuation of the Croydon Pension Fund, effective from 31 March 2025. A draft version of the Funding Strategy Statement, FSS, was scheduled for review, having been approved by the Pension Committee on 16 September 2025. This draft was scheduled to be issued to participating employers for consultation, alongside their individual valuation results. The report pack noted that updated guidance for preparing and maintaining a Funding Strategy Statement was published in January 2025 by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), the Scheme Advisory Board’s Compliance and Reporting Committee, and the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA). The report pack also noted that the actuary had reviewed the funding assumptions as part of the 2025 valuation, and that these had been updated to reflect emerging experience and market conditions as at 31 March 2025. The report pack stated that a key output of the valuation is a measurement of past service liabilities at the valuation date to determine the funding level. It included the following table:

The report pack stated that, as at 31 March 2025, the past service funding position had improved from a funding level of 97% at the last valuation to 132%, based on assumed future investment returns of 5.9% pa.

The report pack also stated that the Fund actuary had recommended that contribution rates for Croydon Council could be reduced immediately by 3% from 23.2% of pay pa to 20.2% of pay pa.

Risk Register

The Pension Board were scheduled to review the Pension Fund Risk Register, which presents relevant risk scenarios, alongside an assessment of their likelihood, their impact, and appropriate mitigations. The report pack noted that the risks are rated on a scale of 1 to 5 on the likelihood of the risk occurring and its impact if it does, allowing a range of potential scores of between 1 and 25. The report pack stated that there are 15 risks on the main register, with 8 being significant risks for the Fund, and that when all of the planned future controls are in place, the significant risks could be reduced to 3. The report pack stated that no new risks have been added, no risks have all been updated and no risks have been removed.

Breaches of the Law

The Pension Board was scheduled to review the current Breaches of the Law log extract. The report pack stated that, in line with legislation and the Pensions Regulator's General Code of Practice, a Breaches Log is maintained by the Fund. The report pack noted that the extract of the current Breaches Log includes 18 items, and that since the Board last reviewed the log extract 3 new entries have been added regarding the August 2025 Annual Benefit Statements and failure to pay refunds within regulatory deadlines. The report pack also noted that 1 entry, number 17 concerning the 2023/2024 accounts, has been updated to reflect the audit opinions issued, and 1 entry regarding the August 2022 Annual Benefit Statements has been removed from the log extract as it is now over 3 years old.

Representation Policy

The Pension Board was scheduled to consider the reviewed Representation Policy. The report pack noted that the updated policy reflects the current composition of the Pension Committee and Pension Board. The report pack stated that the changes made were the designation of the Staff Side Representative as a voting member of the Pension Committee, and the introduction of a Voting Non-Council Employer Representative of the Pension Committee. The report pack also noted that there is currently no representative for members with deferred benefits, and that officers will consider how to address this in the future. The report pack stated that officers are seeking advice on capturing data concerning protected characteristics of the Board and Committee in an attempt to promote greater diversity of membership of these bodies.

Other Matters

The agenda included the following items:

• Minutes of the Previous Meeting
• Disclosure of Interests
• Urgent Business
• The Collective Investment Vehicle for London Local Authorities Pension Funds: Update
• Croydon Pensions Administration Team Key Performance Indicators and Pensions Dashboard Reporting for the Period June to August 2025
• Update on Pension Fund Annual Report and Financial Statements for years 2019/20 to 2023/24 and Annual Report and Financial Statements for 2024/25
• Local Government Pension Scheme Advisory Board / The Pensions Regulator Update

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