COMMITTEE

 

Committee Members, Advisers and Administration

 

The Committee at 1 September 2009

 

Chairman:

 

Mr Trevor Salmon, OBE

 

Deputy Chairperson:

 

 Mr Brendan Heaney

 

 

Members:

 

Mr David Bell

Mr Stewart Cuddy

Mr Pat Cumiskey

Mr Frank Dunne

Mr Lewis Love

Mr Albert Mills

Mr Bumper Graham

Mr Joe Donaghy

Ms Celine McCartan

Mrs Julie Erskine

Mr Colin O'Hare

 

 

Administration

 

Secretary:

 

Mr Deane W Morrice MBE, FCCA, Dip.Com

 

Office:

 

Templeton House,

411 Holywood Road, Belfast, BT4 2LP

 

 

 

 

 

Advisers to the Committee

 

Actuary:

 

Hymans Robertson

 

Investment Adviser:

 

Hewitt, Bacon & Woodrow

 

Auditor:

 

External Audit – Local Government Auditor

Internal Audit – ASM Howarth

 

Banker:

 

Ulster Bank Limited

 

Custodians:

 

HSBC

 

Investment Managers:

 

Legal & General Investment Management

Aberdeen Asset Management

Wellington Asset Management

Baillie Gifford

Jupiter

Blackrock

 

Property:

 

LaSalle Investment Management

 

 

 

The Committee

 

The Committee is the corporate body responsible for the administration of the Local Government Pension Scheme (Administration) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2009.

 

Committee’s Responsibilities

 

The Committee is required under the Local Government Pension Scheme Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002, as amended, to:-

 

 

The financial statements shall comprise:

 

  1. a Foreword;
  2. a Statement of the Committee’s Responsibilities;
  3. An Accounting Officer’s Statement;
  4. A Fund Account;
  5. A Net Assets Statement;

 

And shall be prepared in accordance with guidance for the time being issued by the Department of Finance and Personnel.

 

The financial statements shall give a true and fair view of the Fund Account for the financial year, and the Net Assets Statements as at the end of the financial year.

 

Committee Members

 

The Management Committee (which is similar to a board of directors or trustees) consists of a chairman, five members nominated by employers’ organisations, five members nominated by employees’ organisations and two independent members. The Committee members were appointed by the Department of the Environment for a four year term. On 1 October 2007 the Department re-appointed David Bell, Stewart Cuddy, Pat Cumiskey, Frank Dunne, Brendan Heaney, Lewis Love and Albert Mills for a 4 year term until 30 September 2011. On 1 July 2009 the Department appointed Trevor Salmon, Julie Erskine, Colin O'Hare, Celine McCartan, Joseph Donaghy and Bumper Graham for a four year term until 30 June 2013. The Department also sends an observer to the meetings of the Management Committee and Audit Committee.

 

 

The biographies of the present Committee members are as follows:- 

 

Chairman

 

Mr Trevor Salmon, OBE, from Bangor has been appointed as chairperson of the Committee. Mr Salmon is due to retire soon from his position as Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Corporate Services in Belfast City Council. He is a Lay Member of the Solicitors’ Disciplinary Tribunal 

 

 

Employer Organisation Nominees

 

Mr David Bell                 David is Director of Corporate Services for Coleraine Borough Council.

 

Mr Stewart Cuddy          Stewart is the Deputy Chief Executive of the Northern Ireland Housing Executive.

 

Mr Pat Cumiskey            Pat is the Director of Corporate Services of Banbridge District Council.

 

Mr Frank Dunne              Frank is the Treasurer of Northside Village Trust, Treasurer of North & West Housing Association and Chair of the NIFHA Council.

 

Ms Celine McCartan      Celine is Head of Corporate Services at South West/Omagh College.

 

 

Employee Organisation Nominees

 

 

Mr Brendan Heaney       Brendan is a member of UNITE the Union and is Membership Officer with the health charity Diabetes UK Northern Ireland.

 

Mr Lewis Love                 Lewis is the Principal of Omagh High School and a member of the Teachers’ Union Central Executive Committee.

 

Mr Albert Mills               Albert is the Regional Industrial Organiser for UNITE the Union.

 

Mr Bumper Graham       Bumper is Assistant General Secretary of the Northern Ireland Public Service Alliance. He is a member of the Education & Library Boards’ Staff Commission.

 

Mr Joe Donaghy             Joe is the former Northern Ireland UNISON Regional Head of health, local government and education. He is an Independent Member of the District Policing Partnership.

 

Independent Member Nominees

 

Mrs Julie Erskine            Julie worked in the healthcare service industry for over 25 years.  She held the position of Operations Director in a Belfast -based private healthcare company, having also worked as Support Services Director for the same company. She is a Member of the Northern Ireland Social Care Council.  She is also a Member of the Public Health Agency.

 

Mr Colin O’Hare             Colin is Actuarial Studies Program Director at Queen’s University Belfast.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Committee Meetings

 

The Committee normally meets on a monthly basis, with the exception of July when no meeting is held. Any matters to be raised with the Committee must be lodged with the Secretary seven days in advance of the next meeting.

 

There were twelve meetings of the Management Committee during the year 2008/09. In addition, four Audit Committee meetings and three Staffing Committee meetings were held during the year. The Audit and Staffing Committees are sub-committees of the Management Committee.

 

Membership of each Committee can be seen from the table below but any member of the Management Committee may attend these meetings in the capacity of observer. The chairperson reports to the Management Committee following every sub-Committee meeting.

 

Details of attendance during 2008/09 is set out below:

 

 

Management Committee

Audit Committee

Staffing Committee

 

Called

Present

Called

Present

Called

Present

John Galbraith

12

10

 

 

 

 

David Bell

12

9

 

 

3

3

Brian Campfield

12

10

4

4

 

 

Stewart Cuddy

12

11

4

4

 

 

Pat Cumisky

12

12

4

4

 

 

Frank Dunne

12

11

 

 

3

3

Joan Foster

12

9

 

 

3

3

Brendan Heaney

12

9

 

 

3

3

Lewis Love

12

10

4

2

 

 

Albert Mills

12

7

 

 

 

 

Eamon Mullan

12

7

 

 

 

 

Average % Attendance

79.5

 

87.5

 

100.0

 

 

Committee Minutes

 

Minutes of all Committee meetings are made and the full minutes are inspected by the Local Government Auditor. Copies of minutes are available on request only as confidential information must be removed before publication to the general public. The information removed is in compliance with NILGOSC’s Code of Openness and Freedom of Information Publication Scheme.

 

Requests for a copy of the minutes should be made to :

 

The Information Officer

NILGOSC

Templeton House

411 Holywood Road

Belfast

BT4 2LP

 

 

Declaration of Interests

 

In order to achieve the maximum degree of openness and impartiality, the Committee maintains a register of Committee Members’ and Officers’ Interests. The register is open for inspection at the Committee’s offices.

 

Secretary

Mr Deane Morrice, the Secretary, is responsible for the administration of the Scheme and reports to the Committee on a monthly basis. 

The Permanent Secretary for the Department of the Environment has designated the Secretary as the Accounting Officer for NILGOSC.  His relevant responsibilities as Accounting Officer, including his responsibility for the propriety and regularity of the public finances for which he is answerable and for the keeping of proper records, are set out in the Accounting Officer Memorandum, issued by the Department of the Environment.  The Accounting Officer is also responsible for safeguarding the assets of NILGOSC and hence for taking reasonable steps to prevent and detect fraud and other irregularities.