The Pensions Committee of Cornwall Council is scheduled to meet on Wednesday 10 December 2025 to discuss several key items, including the draft Funding Strategy Statement, updates on the Cornwall Pension Fund's business, an update from the Brunel Pension Partnership, and an actuarial valuation. The meeting will also include discussion of information that is exempt from publication.

Funding Strategy Statement

The committee is scheduled to discuss and approve a draft Funding Strategy Statement (FSS) for consultation with scheme employers and the Department for Education (DfE). The FSS, prepared with Hymans Robertson, outlines the approach for collecting contributions from employers to ensure the Cornwall Pension Fund can meet its obligations to pay members' benefits.

The report pack states that the draft FSS summarises the fund's approach to funding its liabilities and references other key policies, and that it forms part of a framework that includes:

• The LGPS Regulations¹
• The Rates and Adjustments Certificate
• The Fund's policies on admissions, cessations and bulk transfers
• Actuarial factors for valuing individual transfers, early retirement costs and the costs of buying added service
• The Fund's Investment Strategy Statement

The report pack notes that the consultation will run from 15 December 2025 to 31 January 2026, and that the final version, along with an analysis of consultation feedback, will be tabled at the March 2026 Pensions Committee meeting.

Cornwall Pension Fund Business Update

The committee will also discuss updates on the Cornwall Pension Fund's business, covering investments, the benefits team, and governance.

Investments

The investment update will include a review of the fund's position as of 30 September 2025, including investment performance and responsible investment activity. The report pack includes performance details in Appendix 1, and responsible investment detail in Appendix 2.

According to the report pack, over the quarter to 30 September 2025, the fund's total market value increased by £77.3 million, to £2,662 million. Total fund assets produced a positive return of 3.2%, compared to a target of 5.0%, underperforming the total fund benchmark by 1.8%.

The report pack also notes that at the 30 September 2025, 90.8% of the fund's assets were in Brunel Portfolios.

The report pack states that the committee will also discuss the fund's responsible investment activities, including its engagement with companies on environmental, social, and governance issues.

The report pack notes that the fund has published a statement on its website in relation to the changes to LGPS pooling, stating:

As a member of the LGPS, your pension benefits will not be affected. The LGPS is a defined benefit pension scheme, which means your pension is based on your salary and how long you pay into the Scheme. Your pension is not affected by how well investments perform. The LGPS provides you with a secure and guaranteed income every year when you retire.

The report pack also notes that the fund has published its fifth TCFD Report².

The report pack states that the fund invited its scheme members to take part in a survey to find out their views on responsible investment and the fund's approach to responsible investment, and that some headline figures can be seen below:

• 27.3% of respondents thought they had a good understanding of responsible investment
• 60.6% of respondents believe that climate change will present a significant financial risk to investments in the next 10-15 years, with a further 9.0% believing it will present a catastrophic risk.
• Out of the four engagement themes put to respondents (Social, Environment, Governance, and Strategy, Risk & Communication), respondents thought that Environment was the most important theme, followed by Social.
• 19.4% thought it important that the Fund invests in sustainable assets and seeks to reduce the carbon intensity of its portfolios, with a further 25.0% believing it very important, and 36.2% believing it extremely important.
• Only 22.1% of respondents were aware of the Brunel Pension Partnership.

Benefits Team Update

The report pack states that the benefits team update will cover:

• Overview of the Fund
• Active Membership Movements
• Non-Active Membership Movements
• Unprocessed Leavers and Unclaimed Refunds
• My Pension Online (Member Self Service) update
• Measures of Administration Workload
• Summary of Death Grants paid
• Team update resourcing and recruitment
• Complaints/Compliments log
• Changes to Employers in the Fund
• Communications and Employer Training
• Pensions Dashboard Programme Update
• Update from South West Area Pensions Officers Group (SWAPOG) meeting

The report pack notes that as of 30 September 2025, there were 2,475 unclaimed contribution refunds, up from 2,402 at 30 June 2025.

The report pack also notes that the fund connected to the Dashboard ecosystem on 29 October 2025, ahead of the deadline required in the DWP guidance of 31 October 2025.

Governance Update

The governance update will cover a range of topics, including:

• Pension Board Update
• Payment of Contributions
• Risk Register
• Fund Attendance and Training Record
• Quarterly Training Survey Update
• Valuation Update
• Fit for the Future Governance Update
• Access and Protections Government Consultation
• Employer Risk Management Policy
• Policy on Academy Funding
• Cessation Policy
• Pension Fund Work Plan Mid-Year Review

The committee will be asked to approve the Employer Risk Management Policy and the Policy on Academy Funding.

The Employer Risk Management Policy sets out the administering authority's approach to assessing employer covenant risks and the impact of employer risks within the funding strategy.

The Policy on Academy Funding sets out the administering authority's funding principles relating to academies and Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs).

The report pack notes that the 'Access and Protections' Government Consultation covers the following areas:

• Normal Minimum Pension Age (NMPA)
• Mayors and Councillors
• Academies and Applications for Directions
• New Fair Deal

Brunel Pension Partnership Update

The committee will receive an update from a representative of the Brunel Pension Partnership, a collaboration of local government pension funds. According to the report pack, the update will cover:

• New interim CIO
• Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) Meeting
• COP30 expectations
• Business as usual

The report pack notes that Andrew November has joined Brunel as Interim Chief Investment Officer (CIO), and that Faith Ward, Brunel's Chief Responsible Investment Officer, attended the recent PRI meeting in Sao Paolo which was a precursor to the COP30 gathering.