1. In accordance with the decision of the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities on 19 December 1986, the Council established a Committee to which are delegated the functions vested in the Council by virtue of the Order made by the Secretary of State for the Environment pursuant to Section 67 of the Local Government Act 1985.
2. The Committee, called the GMPF Management Panel, shall comprise 16 Members, of which 11 Members shall be Tameside Councillors and five co-opted by Tameside on the recommendation of the remaining nine Districts acting through the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities.
3. The GMPF Management Panel shall appoint a Pension Fund Advisory Panel comprising one elected Member, appointed by each of the District Councils, and six employee representatives; provided that any such employee representative shall not be an employee of the administering authority whose employment responsibilities involve any aspect of administration of the GMPF.
4. The Pension Fund Advisory Panel shall have the following duties:
   • Advise on the establishment of policies in relation to investment management, including the appointment and approval of Terms of Reference of independent advisers to GMPF and investment managers;
   • The monitoring of investment activity and the performance of GMPF;
   • The oversight of the administrative and investment management functions of GMPF; and
   • The giving of advice and guidance to Officers in the exercise of delegated powers.
5. Scheme of Delegation to Officers – The GMPF Management Panel has approved a Scheme of Delegation to the Director of Governance, Resources and Pensions in respect of (i) Benefits and Contributions and (ii) Investment Matters (set out in part 3(a) Section 15(g) of the Constitution).

The administering authority is responsible for maintaining and administering its LGPS fund. It makes all the decisions relating to the fund’s operation. Its key tasks include:

• Calculating and paying benefits to pension fund members and dependants
• Collecting employee and employer contributions from fund employers
• Investing the contributions collected and looking after the fund’s assets
• Setting an investment strategy, including determining the fund’s allocation to different asset classes
• Making admission agreements with new employers who want to join
• Preparing, maintaining and publishing a funding strategy statement
• Setting the contribution rates that employers must pay, which is done in conjunction with its actuary

The administering authority does not normally determine the entitlement to benefits for pension scheme members; this is usually the responsibility of a scheme member’s employer. And although it is responsible for investment strategy, the investment pool (Northern LGPS) is responsible for managing investments day-to-day.

The administering authority’s chief finance officer (section 151 officer) is responsible for the financial administration of the fund and must ensure there is an effective system of internal financial control in place.

Since April 2018, the Government has required LGPS pension funds to pool investments. There are eight investment pools across England and Wales. GMPF is part of the ‘Northern LGPS’, together with Merseyside Pension Fund and West Yorkshire Pension Fund.

The Management Panels or Committees of each pension fund continues to be responsible for setting objectives, beliefs and their fund’s strategic allocation. However, the responsibility for manager selection has largely passed to the investment pool.

MHCLG is the ministerial department in charge of overseeing local government and the LGPS. Their overall aim is to ‘…create great places to live and work and to give more power to local people to shape what happens in their area.’ MHCLG are responsible for the LGPS regulations and produce guidance on all the issues impacting the LGPS, for example the pooling of LGPS investments or ill health benefits.

The MHCLG has a useful website and all of the LGPS regulations can be found on their website.

The Local Government Pension Scheme Advisory Board (SAB) is a body set up under Section 7 of the Public Service Pensions Act 2013 and the LGPS Regulations 110-113.

The purpose of SAB is to both react to and review issues affecting the LGPS. It will seek to encourage best practice, increase transparency and coordinate technical and standards issues. The SAB acts as an intermediary between government and the LGPS considering items passed to it from the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) on issues such as calculating the pensions cost cap and offering opinions on consultations. The SAB will make recommendations to government to bring about beneficial changes to the LGPS. Its key responsibilities include:

• Seeking to encourage best practice across all LGPS funds and raise standards
• Providing advice to the Secretary of State on the desirability of scheme changes
• Providing advice to Local Pension Boards and to scheme managers on effective and efficient administration
• Working to increase transparency

SAB must submit a budget and work programme to the Secretary of State each year for approval. Once approved, the budget for SAB is funded through a statutory levy on LGPS administering authorities. This levy is classed as an administration expense and can be recharged to the pension fund.

The Pensions Regulator (TPR) is the UK regulator of workplace pension schemes. Its key role is to oversee the governance and administration of the LGPS.

TPR works with employers and those running pensions to ensure compliance so that people can save safely for their retirement. TPR are sponsored by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

• making sure employers put their staff into a pension scheme and pay money into it (known as ‘automatic enrolment’)
• protecting people’s savings in workplace pensions
• improving the way that workplace pension schemes are run
• reducing the risk of pension schemes needing the Pension Protection Fund (PPF)
• making sure employers balance the needs of their defined benefit pension scheme with growing their business
• Issuing codes of practice covering aspects of administration and governance.

TPR does not get involved in individual pension disputes that a member might have with their pension scheme. These are dealt with by the Pensions Ombudsman.

TPR produces codes of practice that provide practical guidelines on how to comply with the legal requirements of pension’s regulation. The codes of practice show how to report breaches, report late payment of contributions to pension schemes, how to operate effective internal controls and much more. Code of practice number 14 gives a good overview of the governance and administration necessary for pension schemes.

TPR requires pension funds to record all breaches of the law on all occasions, even if they are not likely to be materially significant to The Pensions Regulator.