NORTH YORKSHIRE PENSION FUND GOVERNANCE COMPLIANCE STATEMENT

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1 NORTH YORKSHIRE PENSION FUND GOVERNANCE COMPLIANCE STATEMENT TABLE OF CONTENTS Section Pge 1 INTRODUCTION 2 2 GOVERNANCE ARRANGEMENTS 2 3 REPRESENTATION AND MEETINGS 4 4 OPERATIONAL PROCEDRES 5 5 KEY POLICY / STRATEGY DOCUMENTS 6 5 ASSESSMENT OF COMPLIANCE WITH BEST PRACTICE PRINCIPLES 6 1

2 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1 This Sttement hs been prepred by North Yorkshire County Council (NYCC, or the Council ) s dministering uthority of the North Yorkshire Pension Fund (NYPF, or the Fund ) in ccordnce with the requirements of the provisions of the Locl Government Pension Scheme (Amendment) (No.3) Regultions These Regultions describe the governnce rrngements of the Fund nd ssess them ginst set of best prctice principles, either confirming complince or providing n explntion of the resons for non-complince s pproprite. 2.0 GOVERNANCE ARRANGEMENTS Pension Fund Committee 2.1 Overll responsibility for the governnce of the LGPS, s it is orgnised nd operted in North Yorkshire resides with the Pension Fund Committee (PFC), committee of the Council, which hs been delegted the following powers: To exercise the powers of the Council to invest monies forming prt of the Pension Fund, including: to determine nd periodiclly review the Investment Strtegy of the Fund to ppoint mngers to mnge nd invest Fund monies on the Council s behlf to receive reports from the ppointed mngers, t lest once every three months, setting out the ction they hve tken under their ppointment to receive reports, t lest once every three months from the Investment Adviser, Investment Consultnt nd the Performnce Mesurer, regrding the investment performnce of the ppointed investment mngers nd the Fund overll from time to time to consider the desirbility of continuing or terminting the ppointments of ny orgnistions involved in the investment of the monies of the Fund nd / or dvising / reporting thereon to pprove Sttement of Finl Accounts nd ssocited governnce sttements for submission to the Audit Committee from time to time reporting to the Executive To exercise ll the Council s powers s dministering uthority for the North Yorkshire Pension Fund, subject to ny specific instructions tht might be given from time to time by the Council To crry out the Council s functions relting to locl government pensions scheme (LGPS) under the regultions. 2

3 Advisory Pnel 2.2 NYPF hs estblished n Advisory Pnel with its own terms of reference which widens representtion mongst the Fund s stkeholders. The Pnel s terms of reference s follows: to represent ll stkeholders of the North Yorkshire Pension Fund, in prticulr the contributing Employing Bodies to the Fund to express the views of stkeholders to the PFC on mtters of policy to liise with the North Yorkshire Pension Fund Officers Group (NYPFOG) Independent Professionl Observer 2.3 In order to provide n independent ssessment of the Fund s governnce rrngements the PFC hs ppointed n Independent Professionl Observer (IPO). The IPO reports nnully to the PFC on the level of complince of the Fund ginst the CLG s best prctice principles, nd lso offer dvice on governnce relted mtters. Functions Delegted to Officers 2.4 The Council s constitution sets out the duties of the Corporte Director Strtegic Resources in reltion to the Fund. Essentilly, the Corporte Director cts s the Tresurer of the Fund (nd is referred to s such in the reminder of this Sttement) providing informtion nd dvice to the Committee whilst lso mnging the dy to dy ffirs of the Fund. 2.5 In prticulr the Tresurer is required to mnge from dy to dy the Fund, including: the exercise of the Council s function s dministering uthority, where such exercise does not involve use of discretion the power to seek professionl dvice nd to devolve dy to dy hndling of the Fund to professionl dvisers within the scope of LGPS regultions to chnge the mndte of fund mnger, in consulttion with the Chirmn nd t lest one other Member of the PFC, in circumstnces when not to do so would led to rel, or potentil, loss in vlue of the Fund s investments. Any such ction to be reported to the PFC s soon s prcticble 2.8 In undertking these duties detiled bove, the Tresurer is not empowered to chnge the fund mnger structure of the Fund without the pprovl of the PFC. NYPFOG 2.7 The North Yorkshire Pension Fund Officer Group (NYPFOG) meets periodiclly to provide n opportunity for officer representtives of ll employers to meet NYPF officers nd ddress ny issues relted to the dministrtive rrngements of the Fund. 3

4 3.0 REPRESENTATION AND MEETINGS Representtion 3.1 The current membership of the PFC is s follows (s t June 2014) () (b) seven elected Members representing the dministering uthority who ech hold one vote on the Committee. two further elected Members representing the Fund s other lrgest employing bodies ech holding one vote. One Member represents the City of York Council, the other is the District Councils representtive of Locl Government North Yorkshire nd York (c ) in ddition, number of substitute Members hve been nominted to ttend in the bsence of ech of the min Committee Members (d) n invittion is lso extended to llow three union representtives to ttend every Committee Meeting. No voting rights re llocted to these positions (e) (f) the Chirmn of the Advisory Pnel is invited to ttend ll PFC meetings, in non-voting cpcity the quorum required for Committee Meetings is three. 3.2 Advisory Pnel membership consists of representtives of ech employer group, pensioner members, nd union representtives on behlf of ctive members. Meetings 3.3 The PFC is governed by the decision mking procedures defined in the Constitution of the Council, being full Committee of the Council. These re fully with the terms of the Locl Government Act In ddition, the PFC complies with the procedurl requirements defined in LGPS regultions. 3.4 Ppers for ll meetings of the PFC re provided to ll the Members identified in prgrph 3.1 bove, including substitute members, union representtives nd Advisory Pnel Members. In ddition, the Investment Adviser nd Investment Consultnt (who lso ttend every meeting), Fund Mngers nd the Fund Actury re given the opportunity to view ll items on the public gend of ech meeting. 3.5 PFC ppers re lso publicly vilble on the Council s website. The Communiction Policy Sttement explins in more detil the rrngements for enggement with ll stkeholders. 3.6 The PFC convenes once ech qurter, t County Hll in Northllerton. The Fund s investment mngers re scheduled to ttend dditionl meetings where the PFC specificlly considers fund mnger performnce nd relted mtters. Six supplementry meetings yer re normlly held for this purpose. In ttendnce t ech meeting re the Investment Adviser, the Investment Consultnt, the Tresurer nd representtive members of his stff involved with the NYPF (eg Opertions Mnger, Fund Accountnt), n observer from City of York Council nd Committee Clerk (NYCC). 4

5 3.7 The PFC hs lso included specific meeting in July in its progrmme. This is in order to consider the drft Sttement of Finl Accounts nd the set of updted governnce documents, in ddition to ny other business requiring ttention t tht time. 3.8 Advisory Pnel meetings re synchronised with PFC meetings nd consider the sme qurterly gend plus ny other relevnt informtion. There is no forml voting procedure, rther ech member of the Pnel is entitled to express their view. The Chirmn of the Pnel ttends PFC meetings to pss on these views nd then reports bck to the Pnel resulting comments nd ctions, s pproprite. 4.0 OPERATIONAL PROCEDURES Trining 4.1 Myners first principle recommends tht decisions should be tken only by persons or orgnistions with the skills, informtion nd resources necessry to tke them effectively. There re lso legl requirements set out in the LGPS regultions nd other relevnt legisltion, s well s best prctice guidnce published by CIPFA nd other professionl nd regultory bodies. 4.2 The Fund rrnges progrmme of internl nd externl trining events nd ccess to other resources such s the on-line CIPFA Knowledge nd Skills Toolkit designed to meet these requirements, recommendtions nd best prctice guidnce principles for Members of the PFC. A register of ll trining events is mintined nd reported t ech PFC meeting. 4.3 The costs incurred by Members of the PFC in ttending trining sessions re met by the Fund in ccordnce with the policies of the dministering uthority. 4.4 Advisory Pnel members re fforded the sme trining opportunities s re members of the PFC. Costs nd expenses re met in ccordnce with the policy described in the County Council s Guidnce nd Toolkit for Mngers nd Hedtechers on Recruiting nd Working with Volunteers. Reporting nd Monitoring 4.5 The PFC hs clerly defined Work Pln tht is greed t the strt of ech finncil yer which is reviewed regulrly nd is included in the Agend ppers for ech meeting. 4.6 In reltion to investment mtters, the Investment Adviser, Investment Consultnt nd ech Investment Mnger for the Fund is require to submit qurterly report to the PFC summrising the investment ctivities within the Fund s portfolios during the preceding qurter nd reporting the vlue nd performnce of the investments t the end of ech such qurter. In ddition, the Fund Custodin presents n independent report on the overll investment performnce of the Fund, together with detils relting to individul mngers nd different clsses of sset. 4.7 In ddition, the Tresurer will present reports to every PFC meeting detiling performnce in reltion to the dministrtion ctivities of the Fund nd other 5

6 significnt mtters for Members ttention s determined by the Work Pln; topics will include reports on the budget position, updtes on the Regultions, communiction with stkeholders, trining events nd Admission Agreements, etc. 4.8 Outside of this periodic reporting to the PFC () (b) the ctivities of the Benefits Administrtion Tem re regulrly monitored by the Tresurer s prt of the ongoing performnce monitoring rrngements operted with the Centrl Services directorte of the Council. In ddition, the Fund prticiptes in benchmrking nd relted vlue for money exercises with other Funds the performnce of the investment mngers is monitored on n ongoing bsis by the Investment Consultnt, Investment Adviser nd the Tresurer. Meetings re held with the investment mngers on routine bsis nd/or when prticulr issues rise (eg stff chnges) tht my ffect the performnce of tht mnger on behlf of the Fund. 5.0 KEY POLICY / STRATEGY DOCUMENTS 5.1 In ddition to the rnge of documents produced by the Fund explining the benefits of the LGPS for scheme members nd employers, the Fund publishes on number of other key documents relting to the dministrtion nd governnce of the Fund. In ddition to this Governnce Complince Sttement, these dditionl documents re s follows: Funding Strtegy Sttement (FSS) Sttement of Investment Principles (SIP) Communictions Policy Sttement Annul Communiction Strtegy + relted Action Pln Pensions Administrtion Strtegy Risk Register Tresury Mngement SLA Annul Report 6.0 COMPLIANCE WITH BEST PRACTICE PINCIPLES 6.1 Structure b The Mngement of the dministrtion of benefits nd strtegic mngement of fund ssets clerly rests with the min committee estblished by the ppointing Council Tht representtives of prticipting LGPS employers, dmitted bodies nd scheme members (including pensioner nd deferred members) re members of either the min or secondry committee estblished to underpin the work of the min committee 6

7 c d Tht where secondry committee or pnel hs been estblished, the structure ensures effective communiction cross both levels Tht where secondry committee or pnel hs been estblished, t lest one set on the min committee is llocted for member from the secondry committee or pnel 6.2 Representtion b Tht ll key stkeholders re fforded the opportunity to be represented within the min or secondry committee structure. These include: i) employing uthorities (including non-scheme employers, eg dmitted bodies ii) scheme members (including deferred nd pensioner scheme members) iii) where pproprite, independent professionl observers iv) expert dvisers Tht where ly members sit on min or secondry committee, they re treted eqully in terms of ccess to ppers, meetings nd trining nd re given full opportunity to contribute to the decision mking process, with or without voting rights 6.3 Selection nd Role of Ly Members Tht committee or pnel members re mde fully wre of the sttus, role nd function they re required to perform on either min or secondry committee 6.4 Voting The policy of individul dministering uthorities on voting rights is cler nd trnsprent, including the justifiction for not extending voting rights to ech body or group represented on min LGPS committees Voting rights on the PFC re limited to representtives of the dministering uthority which is nswerble for the effective nd prudent mngement of the Scheme, nd to representtives of the Fund s mjor employers. This rrngement provides n optiml number in terms of decision mking effectiveness, therefore voting rights hve not been extended to other stkeholders. 7

8 6.5 Trining / Fcility Time / Expenses b Tht in reltion to the wy in which sttutory nd relted decisions re tken by the dministering uthority, there is cler policy on trining, fcility time nd reimbursement of expenses in respect of members involved in the decisionmking process Tht where such policy exists, it pplies eqully to ll members of committees, sub-committees, dvisory pnels or ny other form of secondry forum 6.6 Meetings (Frequency/Quorum) b c Tht n dministering uthority s min committee or committees meet t lest qurterly Tht n dministering uthority s secondry committee or pnel meet t lest twice yer nd is synchronised with the dtes when the min committee sits Tht dministering uthorities who do not include ly members in their forml governnce rrngements, provide forum outside of those rrngements by which the interests of key stkeholders cn be represented 6.7 Access Tht subject to ny rules in the Council s constitution, ll members of min nd secondry committees or pnels hve equl ccess to committee ppers, documents nd dvice tht flls to be considered t meetings of the min committee 6.8 Scope Tht dministering uthorities hve tken steps to bring wider scheme issues within the scope of their governnce rrngements 6.9 Publicity Tht dministering uthorities hve published detils of their governnce rrngements in such wy tht stkeholders with n interest in the wy in which the scheme is governed cn express n interest in wnting to be prt of those rrngements 8

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