Tag Archives: Cllr Geoffrey Watt

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Pension Committee (Wirral Council) 20th November 2012 Part 2


So, after the vote to ban filming at the Pension Committee what happened next?

Well first a list of who was there (apologies for not including councillors from other Merseyside councils I don’t know the names of)

Pensions Committee
Cllr Patricia Glasman, Chair
Cllr Geoffrey Watt
Cllr Mike Hornby
Cllr Adam Sykes
Cllr Tom Harney
Cllr Adrian Jones
Cllr Sylvia Hodrien
Cllr Harry Smith
Cllr Ann McLachlan
Cllr George Davies
Phil Goodwin (trade union representative)

Wirral Council Officers
Colin Hughes
Peter Timmins
Pat Philips
+ others from the Merseyside Pension Fund

A declaration of interest was made as the person was a member of the Merseyside Pension Fund.

The minutes were agreed.

An officer gave a brief summary of a LGPS Update report which included the Merseyside Pension Fund response to the Department of Communities and Local Government on the impacts of the Public Service Pension Bill on the Merseyside Pension Fund.

No questions were asked, the report was noted and the letter was noted.

An officer then asked for approval for the Statement of Investment Principles which was an appendix to a report which they said “do not constitute a change in investment strategy”.

The Chair asked how long it would take? The answer given by the officer was that they intended to sign it by the end of November.

Cllr Harry Smith said that he understood the reason some documents were hyperlinked and that he had “calmed down now”.

Cllr Watt commented on the links, Phil Goodwin commented on the same issue and the Chair said it would be revisited next year. The recommendation was agreed.

Yvonne Caddock introduced the report on Annual Allowance Tax Charge and Scheme Pays Process, which related to how much a person can pay into the pension scheme each year without incurring a tax charge.

A councillor asked about the numbers of how many were likely to be affected?
Yvonne answered that they had got it down to about ninety members in the Fund, who they would have to issue pension statements for but that there may be seven or eight members that exceeded the new limit which would lead to a tax charge.

Cllr Geoffrey Watt made a comment. The recommendations were agreed.

Peter Wallach said they’d been shortlisted for the LGC Investment Awards 2012 and asked if the Pension Committee wanted to be represented at the awards ceremony and if so how many?

The Chair asked for comments. Cllr Harry Smith suggested three councillors, one from Labour, one from the Conservatives and one from the Lib Dems.

The Chair suggested that they add the Head of the Fund too. Cllr Geoffrey Watt asked which category they had been shortlisted in? The answer given was large pension fund of the year. They all voted in favour of sending three councillors and the head of the Fund to the awards ceremony at The Royal Garden Hotel, Kensington, London in December.

 

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Frequently Asked Questions, 1) Cllr Watt, 2) Colas Ltd, 3) Merseyside Pension Fund Job Evaluation 4) Cllr Gerry Ellis


Answers to readers questions:-

Q1. Councillor Geoffrey Watt is from what council?

A1. Councillor Geoffrey Watt is from the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral.

Q2. Who is the Colas representative on Wirral Council?

A2. There isn’t a Colas Limited representative on Wirral Council as Colas Limited and Wirral Council are separate organisations.

However, Steve Grimes is the Contracts Manager for Colas Ltd.

On Wirral Council, there are a number of people with responsibility for the Colas contract, some of whom are listed below.

Brian Smith, Highway Management/(0151) 606 2426/briansmith@wirral.gov.uk .

Cabinet Member (Streetscene and Transport) Cllr. Harry Smith.
Cabinet Member (Corporate Resources) Cllr. Adrian Jones

The Deputy Director of Technical Services is Mark Smith and there are others apart from the four people named above with varying responsibilities.

Q3. Merseyside Pension Fund job evaluation?

Merseyside Pension Fund is administered by the Administering Authority. The Administering Authority is the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral.

The current round of job evaluations (Stages 3 & 4) was agreed at the Cabinet meeting of 13/10/2011. This also involves a new pay and grading structure for all posts above spinal column point 34.

Stage One (up to SCP 34) and Stage Two (Schools) are not covered by this answer.

This is because Stage 2 does not apply to the Merseyside Pension Fund AFAIK, Stage 1 is already complete (except for appeals) at the time of asking the question.

Stage Three covers SCP 35 to 70 (£29,174 to £61,000) and Band H employees. This is contracted to the HAY Group with support from the Council’s in-house team.

Stage Four (Heads of Service and above) of the Job Evaluations is now contracted by the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral to the HAY Group. The Hay Group is supported by the Job Evaluation Team.

For further information contact either Wirral Council: Chris Hyams, Head of HR and OD, Department of Law HR and Asset Management Telephone: (0151 691 8590) Email: chrishyams@wirral.gov.uk or the HAY Group.

Disclosure of interest: The author of this piece has a close family member who is now in receipt of a Merseyside Pension Fund pension.

Q4. What party is the current Mayor of Wirral Cllr. Gerry Ellis from?

A4. Cllr Gerry Ellis is from the Conservative Party.

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Pensions Committee (Wirral Council) 21st November 2011 Part 1, Declarations of interest, minutes (Pension Committee 19/9/2011, Investment Monitoring Working Party (12/10/2011)), Local Government Pension Scheme Update, Public Service Pensions (HM Treasury)


Present:
Cllr Geoffrey Watt (Chair)
Cllr Ann McLachlan (spokesperson)
Cllr Tom Harney (spokesperson)
Cllr Peter Johnston
Cllr Paul Doughty
Cllr George Davies
Cllr Adrian Jones
Various other councillors and co-optees

The Chair Cllr Geoffrey Watt welcomed people to the meeting of the Pensions Committee.

He asked if members of the committee had any personal or prejudicial interests in agenda items to declare.

Cllr George Davies declared a personal interest by virtue of his wife’s employment in a school.
Cllr Paul Doughty declared a personal interest by virtue of his wife’s employment in a school.
Cllr Geoffrey Watt declared an interest because of his father-in-law.
It is possible others declared interests too but as they didn’t use their microphones, I couldn’t hear them.

The Chair, Cllr Geoffrey Watt then asked if they agreed the minutes of the Pension Committee meeting held on the 19th September 2011. He asked if could sign them as a true record. The committee agreed that he could. He said that they were signed.

1:50

The Chair, Cllr Geoffrey Watt then moved to item 3, which was the Investment Monitoring Working Party minutes of the 12th October 2011. He referred committee members to the exempt appendix too. He asked committee members to note those. The committee noted them.

2:15
The Chair, Cllr Geoffrey Watt moved the committee to item 4 which was the Local Government Pension Scheme Update and two reports. He said he would take this with item 11 (Any Other Urgent Business – Public Service Pensions – HM Treasury on the supplementary agenda.

2:21