COMMITTEE

 

Committee Members, Advisers and Administration

 

The Committee at 31 March 2007

 

Chairman:

 

Mr John Galbraith

 

Deputy Chairperson:

 

Mr Brian Campfield

 

Members:

 

Mr David Bell

Mr Stewart Cuddy

Mr Pat Cumiskey

Mr Frank Dunne

Mrs V Joan Foster

Mr Eamon Mullan

Mr Brendan Heaney

Mr Lewis Love

Mr Albert Mills

 

Administration

 

Secretary:

 

Mr. Deane W Morrice 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 – McClure Watters

 

Banker:

 

Ulster Bank Limited

 

Custodians:

 

J P Morgan plc

 

Investment Managers:

 

Legal & General Investment Management

Aberdeen Asset Management

Wellington Asset Management

Baillie Gifford

AllianceBernstein

 

Property:

 

LaSalle Investment Management

 

Wind Farm:

 

John Clegg Consulting Ltd.

 

 

 

The Committee

 

The Committee is the corporate body responsible for the administration of the Local Government Pension Scheme Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002.

 

Committee’s Responsibilities

 

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

 

·         Keep accounts of all financial transactions of the Fund;

·          Prepare the financial statements for the financial year ended 31st March.

 

The financial statements shall comprise:

 

(a)   a Foreword;

(b)    a Statement of the Committee’s Responsibilities;

(c)     An Accounting Officer’s Statement;

(d)    A Fund Account;

(e)     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, and five members nominated by employees’ organisations.  The biographies of the present Committee, who were appointed by the Department of the Environment for a four year term with effect from 1 October 2003, are as follows:

 

Chairman

 

Mr John Galbraith          The Committee's chairman, John Galbraith, was appointed by the Department of the Environment. John was previously a member of the Committee (1983-1995) including a period as deputy chairman. He is currently a Non-Executive Director of the HELM Corporation Ltd having previously been the Director of Finance at the University of Ulster. He brings wide experience of the public sector to NILGOSC.

 

 

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 Deputy Chair of Northside Village Trust, Treasurer of North & West Housing Association and a member of the NIFHA Council.

 

Mr Eamon Mullan           Eamon is a member of the Local Government Staff Commission and is Head of Governance Services at the University of Ulster.

 

 

Employee Organisation Nominees

 

Mr Brian Campfield       Brian is the Deputy General Secretary of the Northern Ireland Public Service Alliance and is President of the Belfast Trades Union Council.

 

Mrs V Joan Foster           Joan is an experienced Trade Union representative with the Northern Ireland Public Service Alliance. She is a Lay Member of the Fair Employment Tribunal. Joan is a Senior Officer in the Northern Ireland Housing Executive.

 

Mr Brendan Heaney       Brendan is a longstanding member of the Amicus Trade Union and a Director of the Belfast Trust for Integrated Education.

 

Mr Lewis Love                 Lewis is the Principal of Omagh High School.

 

Mr Albert Mills               Albert is the Regional Industrial Organiser for the Transport and General Workers Union.

 

 

 

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 2006-2007.  In addition, three Audit Committee and four Staffing Committee meetings were held during 2005-2006. The Audit and Staff 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 the attendances are as set out below:

 

 

Management Committee

Audit Committee

Staff Committee

 

Called

Present

Called

Present

Called

Present

John Galbraith

12

10

 

 

 

 

David Bell

12

10

 

 

4

4

Brian Campfield

12

7

3

3

 

 

Stewart Cuddy

12

10

3

2

 

 

Pat Cumiskey

12

12

3

3

 

 

Frank Dunne

12

11

 

 

4

4

Joan Foster

12

12

 

 

4

4

Brendan Heaney

12

5

 

 

4

1

Lewis Love

12

8

3

2

 

 

Albert Mills

12

8

 

 

 

 

Eamon Mullan

12

9

 

 

 

 

Average

12

9.3

3

2.5

4

3.3

 

 

 

 

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. 

 

Audit

The Local Government Pension Scheme Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002 provide for the accounts kept by the Committee to be audited annually by the Local Government Auditor.  His staff are wholly independent of NILGOSC and the audit fee is disclosed in note 6 to the Financial Statements.  The auditors did not perform any non-audit work this year.

 

Disclosure of Relevant Audit Information

There is no relevant audit information of which the auditors are unaware; and the Accounting Officer has taken all necessary steps to ensure both he and the auditors are aware of all relevant audit information.

 

Financial Instruments

The Fund reduces its exposure to foreign currencies and fluctuations in exchange rates by hedging investments denominated in overseas currencies into sterling at various times.

 

Fixed Assets

The value of the fixed assets is set out in note 10 to the Financial Statements.

 

Important Events Occurring After the Year End

There have been no significant events since the year end which would affect these accounts.

 

Charitable Donations

The Committee made no charitable donations during the year.

 

Employees with a Disability

It is the policy of the Committee to ensure that equality of opportunity is provided to all employees and those seeking employment and make all reasonable adjustments to support the employment, training and development and retention of those with a disability.

 

Employee Involvement

Staff communication and involvement continues to be a key objective with the Committee.  The Committee communicates with its staff about its objectives, progress and activities through various channels - team meetings, briefings, circulars and the staff intranet.

 

Staff are encouraged to take part in project groups and a staff suggestion scheme was introduced on 1 April 1999 to provide an opportunity for staff to come forward with new ideas and working practices.  A number of valuable suggestions have been made and introduced.

 

Significant emphasis is placed on training and developing staff through a structured training programme.  A needs analysis is carried out every year from which a three-year training programme is prepared.  Staff are involved in the preparation of the annual corporate plan.  Corporate objectives are developed to individual members of staff through the Developmental Staff Appraisal Scheme.

 

All these initiatives give staff the opportunity to contribute constructively to the development and progress of the Committee in its aim to develop staff, improve systems and satisfy its stakeholders’ needs.

 

Payments to Creditors

The Committee is committed to prompt payments of bills for goods and services in accordance with the Confederation of British Industry’s Prompt Payers Code.  Unless otherwise stated or agreed in advance, payment is normally due within 30 days of the receipt of a valid invoice.  No interest has been paid under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998.  The average time taken to pay invoices in 2006/07 was 9 days.

 

8 June 2007