Governance structure
Overall responsibility for managing the Fund lies with the full Council of Cheshire West and Chester Council who have delegated the management and administration of the Fund to the Chief Operating Officer.
The Full Council reviews the discharge of its responsibilities through the Council’s Audit and Governance Committee. Follow the link below for all agendas and minutes of these meetings.
http://cmttpublic.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/mgCommitteeDetails.aspx?ID=444
The Local Pension Board assists the Council to deliver efficient governance and administration of the Pension Fund responsibilities through the Council’s Audit and Governance Committee.
The Chief Operating Officer is advised by the Pension Fund Committee and also takes appropriate advice from the Councils Head of governance, the Fund actuary and from the strategic Investment Advisor.
The Pension Fund Committee receives recommendations from the Investment Sub Committee and the Pensions Consultative Forum (PCF) to enable it to discharge its responsibilities effectively.
Pension Board
The Local Pension Board reviews decisions made and policies set by the Administering Authority to ensure that all aspects of governance and administration of the LGPS, including funding and investments, are compliant with relevant regulations and legislation.
The Local Pension Board does not replace the Administering Authority (Cheshire West and Chester Council) or make decisions which are the responsibility of the Administering Authority under both the Regulations and the overriding legislation.
Under the regulations, the Board must comprise equal numbers of scheme member and scheme employer representatives. Cheshire has chosen to have two scheme members (one nomination being a trade union representative) and two employer representatives (one nomination being made by Cheshire West and Chester Council). The Committee will also have an Independent Chair (who will not have any voting rights).
Further information about the roles of the board can be found here.
Membership of the Board including details of board members, terms of office and biographies can be found here.
The agendas and reports for the Pension Board can be found here.
Key Documents are listed below:
If you have a query for the Pension Board you can contact them by completing the following form Contact the Pension Board please only use this form if you need to get in touch with the board specifically. If you wish to contact the Cheshire Pension Fund about any queries you have abut your pension or the service you can use our general enquires form or visit our Resources page with links to our online forms.
Pension Fund Committee
The Pension Fund Committee’s key responsibilities are to advise the s151 Officer on the management of the Cheshire Pension Fund, including the management of the administration of the benefits and strategic management of Fund assets, taking advice from a strategic and actuarial investment advisor.
More details on how the committee principally fulfils their responsibilities and details of the governance of the Cheshire Pension Fund can be found in the Fund’s Governance Policy Statement
The Cheshire Pension Fund Committee comprises four elected members each from Cheshire West & Chester Council and Cheshire East Council, one elected member from both Halton Borough and Warrington Borough Councils along with one Employee representative.
Link to the Pension Fund Committee can be found here:
Pension Consultative Forum
The Pension Consultative Forum consists of employer representatives from Local Authorities, Council Owned Companies, Cheshire Police, Fire and Rescue Authorities, Parish and Town Councils, Housing Associations, Admitted Bodies, Academies, Colleges and the Trades Unions.
The Forum determine the frequency of meetings up to a maximum of four per year or otherwise as necessary to:
- Consult on and review performance against the fund’s administration strategy to ensure that it clearly outlines all responsibilities of both the fund and employers including any applicable charges/penalties for non-compliance;
- Consult on and review performance against the fund’s communication policy and suggest improvements for the efficient and effective flow of information between the fund and employers
- Make and implement recommendations on the administration strategy and communication policy of the fund
- Assist the fund and employers to comply with all requirements of the Pensions Regulator’s Code of Practice No 14 Governance and Administration in Public Sector Pension Schemes, in particular reporting breaches of the law and record keeping.