Issue - meetings

The Committee received a report from Head of Human Resources.

The Officer’s report outlined Cambridge City Council’s proposed revised policy statement on Employer Discretions for the Local Government Pension Scheme following a recent planned review.

The report included a proposal to consider entering into a shared cost AVC Scheme as part of the revised discretions.

In response to Members’ questions:

i.                The Payroll Manager said Shared Cost AVCs were introduced after 2019. They came about because one particular local authority had looked into the possibility of a salary sacrifice scheme. The Local Government Pension Scheme regulations did not allow that, so Shared Cost AVCs were introduced as they complied with HMRC regulations.

ii.               The Head of Human Resources said trade unions had been consulted and supported the proposal.

Resolved (by 5 votes to 0 (and 1 abstention) – unanimous of those able to vote) to recommend to Council:

      i.          Approve the proposed policy statement on employer discretions shown as per Appendix A of the Officer’s report.

     ii.          Delegate approval to join a shared cost AVC scheme to the Head of Human Resources, following consultation with the Head of Finance, Executive Councillor for Finance, Resources and Transformation and Opposition Spokes for Strategy and Resources, if considered appropriate, following further exploration of a suitable procurement process.

   iii.          Note that Council Officers will continue to review the Discretions Statement every 3 years and/or in line with changes to the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) as advised by the Local Government Pensions Committee (LGPC) and the Administering Authority (Cambridgeshire County Council), and any recommended changes will go before Civic Affairs for approval.