Local Pension Board Survey

Regulation 106 of the Local Government Pension Scheme Regulations 2013 required LGPS administering authorities to establish local pension boards by 1st April 2015 to assist them in the effective administration and governance of the scheme.

Given the passage of time since the establishment of local pension boards, the Scheme Advisory Board considers that it would be appropriate and timely to test the effectiveness and operational efficiency of the new governance arrangements with particular emphasis on the role and function of local pension boards and interaction with their administering authority.

The web based survey at:

http://lgpsboard.org/survey.php

is intended to enable the Scheme Advisory Board to identify any areas of the legislation or related guidance affecting local pension boards that may need to be reviewed to ensure that the statutory requirements of the 2013 Regulations and code of practice issued by the Pensions Regulator are being met. Where appropriate, the Board may make recommendations to DCLG for any regulatory changes that are considered necessary.

To ensure impartiality, the link to the survey has being sent separately to both the administering authority on behalf of their section 101 pension’s committee and their local pension board who are invited to complete the same survey independently. However, this is not to exclude any administering authority and their local pension board from collaborating on their respective responses where this is agreed locally.

The closing date for survey responses is the 29th September 2017*, though this could be extended if that closing date precludes consideration of the survey by a meeting of the pensions committee or local pension board.

*[update 28th July 2017, the Investment, Governance and Engagement sub-committee of the Scheme Advisory Board have agreed to extend the closing date for the local pension board survey until 29th September.]

In cases where either a combined board or joint local pension board has been agreed by the Secretary of State, the survey should be completed by the Chair of the combined board or joint board with the agreement of the majority of board members. In the case of a joint board, the respective administering authorities will also be invited to complete the survey. To ensure that all relevant scheme stakeholders have an opportunity to participate, the website link to the survey is also being circulated to a wide range of bodies including the main local government trade unions.

Administering authorities have also been invited to publicise the survey locally on their web site.

It is appreciated that administering authorities and their local pension board have only recently completed the Pension Regulator’s Public Service Governance Survey 2016. The Regulator will not be disclosing individual data to third parties whereas, unless you confirm otherwise, the Scheme Advisory Board will be able to make greater use of individual responses to their survey in assessing whether any changes to regulations or guidance need to be made.