23 March 2026, 1.30pm
Advisory Board
Meeting Information
Venue
Beecham Room, 18 Smith Square, London, SW1P 3HZ and Microsoft Teams
Combined agenda and papers
Meeting Items
Welcome, apologies, introductions and declarations of interest
Matters arising
2026/27 SAB Budget and staffing update
Fit for the Future regulation update
Local government reorganisation and single purpose pensions authorities
Any other business
Date of next meeting
Summary
The minutes of the previous meeting held on 24 November 2025 were approved. The main points arising from the meeting on 23 March 2026 are shown below.
The Board were notified that a budget of £725,000 for 2026/27 had been approved by Local Government Minister, Alison McGovern MP on 12 March 2026.
An update was provided by the Board Secretary, Clair Alcock, on matters currently under internal consultation within the LGA. The Board noted the potential implication for the LGA pension team and emphasised the importance of maintaining appropriate capacity and expertise. The Board agreed that it wished to express its support for the work of the Pensions team and would reflect on how best to convey this sentiment through appropriate channels.
Changes had been made to the SAB risk register to risks on administration software and suppliers, failure or closure of pool company or operating company and transition to new Fit for the Future arrangements. The Board agreed to add the LGA restructure as an operational risk to the register.
The Board received an update from LGPC which confirmed that:
- significant member benefit changes will take effect from April 2026
- councillors and mayors in England will be eligible to join the LGPS from 11 May 2026
- work on pensions dashboards continues
- new tools to help promote the LGPS will be published soon.
The update on the Fit for the Future regulations confirmed that the Pension Schemes Bill would not receive Royal Assent before 1 April 2026. As a result, the secondary legislation and statutory guidance for the Fit for the Future changes would be delayed and backdated to the 1 April deadline once published. Representatives from the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) confirmed that the responses from the consultations on the regulations and the guidance issued in December 2025 are informing the changes to the final products. There would be communications laying out the headline changes to the regulations and guidance from MHCLG in the coming weeks.
The Board discussed SAB Governance structure changes post Fit for the Future. It was agreed that an iterative approach would need to be taken to construct a new structure that would effectively support a closer formalised link between the Board and the six asset pools. Representatives from each of the pools will be invited to the Investment Committee in the first instance and feedback on the meeting outcomes would be brought back to the Board. The Board also agreed that a mapping exercise to identify existing groups that currently support funds and pools across investment, governance and administration be carried out by the secretariat.
The effect of local government reorganisation (LGR) on the LGPS and the potential establishment of single purpose pensions authorities (SPPA) was discussed. The Board discussed the criteria that would be necessary to determine the viability of establishing an SPPA. The Board concluded that it would be important to consider the lower asset size limit carefully, along with additional factors such as staffing levels. The secretariat would continue to work with MHCLG on the development of these criteria.
The Board’s communications and engagement strategy is continuing to be rolled out. A meeting with pension committee chairs on topical issues in the LGPS took place on 17 March 2026. 44 attendees representing 39 funds and five pools attended and received an update from Michelle Warbis (Deputy Director, Local Tax and Pensions at MHCLG). The secretariat also led sessions on valuation outcomes and updates from the Board. Attendees were particularly interested whether the Minister would be providing a response to the Board’s Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) letter sent on 13 October 2025. It was confirmed after the meeting that a response will be provided in the coming weeks.
A new SAB LinkedIn page is now live, and events planned for the coming months included a meeting with pension board chairs on 12 May 2026 and the Board Annual Assembly on 22 October 2026.
The new SAB website went live on 26 January 2026, and positive feedback had been received on the ease of navigation and information retrieval. The final accessibility testing would be taking place shortly and the site’s accreditation would be issued upon resolution of any potential issues identified during the test. Templates with the Board’s new branding have also been rolled out.
The Board approved the changes in Board and Committee membership and discussed MHCLG’s proposals for the recruitment of a new Board Chair. MHCLG noted the feedback received and will be continuing discussions with the secretariat to inform the process to appoint a new chair by April 2027.
The Board noted the updates from the Investment Committee, Compliance and Reporting Committee (CRC) and the Cost Management, Benefit Design and Administration (CMBDA) Committee. The Board noted, in line with the CRC report, that the Peer Support Pilot may face risks related to resource availability within the LGA Peer Support team. Plans to mitigate these risks have been developed.
The recommendations and updated workplans contained within the committee reports were approved.
The date of the next meeting is set for 20 July 2026 at 1:30pm.
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