Issue - meetings

This report presents the audited financial statements of the Pension Fund for the year ended 31 March 2015, in light of the County Council’s obligations as the administering authority under the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) Regulations.

The external auditor (Grant Thornton) expects to issue an unqualified opinion on the accounts and this is outlined in the Audit Findings for Surrey Pension Fund Report.

Declarations of interest:

None

Witnesses:

Phil Triggs, Strategic Manager – Pension Fund and Treasury

Andy Mack, Engagement Lead (Grant Thornton)

Kathryn Sharp, Senior Manager (Grant Thornton)

Thomas Ball, Manager (Grant Thornton)

Matt Dean, Audit Manager (Grant Thornton)

Key points raised during the discussion:

1.    The Strategic Manager – Pension Fund and Treasury introduced the report, taking responsibility for the late and incomplete submission of parts of the draft Pension Fund Financial Statements.  He clarified that the negative figures regarding foreign exchange contracts on the Net Asset Statement was not an indication of poor performance.

2.    Responding to a question about likely trend for collapsing corporate bonds, the Strategic Manager – Pension Fund and Treasury informed the committee that the Surrey Pension Fund Committee had agreed to replace investment grade investment credits with a multi-asset credit portfolio and had appointed an investment manager for this mandate.  He assured the committee that officers actively monitor trends and interest rates.

3.    The Strategic Manager – Pension Fund and Treasury informed the committee that the Surrey Pension Fund Committee had commissioned a deep dive review of the cost of running the pension fund and would be reporting back to that committee in September.

4.    The Strategic Manager – Pension Fund and Treasury explained that the issue with the Magistrates Court Service was still subject to receipt of various sum instalments, with actuaries appointed for both the Pension Fund and the Magistrates Court Services. 

5.    The Grant Thornton Audit Manager informed the committee that while there had initially been a few issues with the audit process, this improved as the audit progressed.  An additional fee had been proposed because of the delays in submission of information.  Once the Pension Fund Annual Report was submitted, the audit could be signed off.  The Strategic Manager – Pension Fund and Treasury confirmed that this was being worked on and would be published soon.

Action/Further information to note:

None.

RESOLVED:

That the Committee:

      i.        APPROVES the 2014/15 Pension Fund Financial Statements;

     ii.        NOTES the amendments made to the Pension Fund financial statements;

    iii.        NOTES the contents of the Audit Findings for Surrey Pension Fund Report;

   iv.        Agrees not to refer any issues in relation to the auditor’s conclusions and recommendations to Cabinet;

    v.        NOTES the content of the draft representation letter and AUTHORISES the Director of Finance to sign it on the authority’s behalf.

Committee next steps:

None.