The report of the Director, West Yorkshire Pension Fund (Document “H”) will be submitted to advise Members that the Fund is seeking to introduce pooling to all academies for funding purposes as the number of academies increases.

Recommended –

1.    That the principle to move towards pooling all academies for funding purposes is noted.

2.    That the outcome of the consultation exercise with all employers and updates to the Funding Strategy Statement will be considered in January 2023.

(Caroline Blackburn – 01274 434523)

Resolved –

1.    That the principle to move towards pooling all academies for funding purposes be noted.

2.    That the outcome of the consultation exercise with all employers and updates to the Funding Strategy Statement will be considered in January 2023.

Action: Director, West Yorkshire Pension Fund

The report of the Director, West Yorkshire Pension Fund (Document “H”) was submitted to inform Members in relation to the Fund’s proposal to introduce pooling to all academies for funding purposes.

The proposal was in response to the rising number of academies and the variations in contribution rates for individuals and those in Multi Academy Trusts (MATs) and the subsequent amount of work involved for WYPF staff.  The benefit for employers would be that risk would be shared, with no notional assets being allocated to any one single academy or MAT, reductions in the fluctuations of contribution rates and a saving on administration and valuation costs.

Consultation was due to be carried out with employers in September 2022, the Funding Strategy Statement would be updated to include the proposal (if agreed) and the changes arising from the 2022 valuation.

A Member asked how many employers would need to be in agreement in order for pooling to be implemented and was advised that an analysis of responses would be carried out and would be dependent on the response.

A Member asked whether individual academies would have an adequate understanding of the financial implications and was advised that all information would be provided and would be for non-teaching staff only.

Resolved –

1.    That the principle to move towards pooling all academies for funding purposes be noted.

2.    That the outcome of the consultation exercise with all employers and updates to the Funding Strategy Statement will be considered in January 2023.

Action: Director, West Yorkshire Pension Fund