Lincoln Castle, Walls, Prison, Magna Carta & Cathedral (and finding a long lost John Gray)

Off message-ish. Last month we went to Lincolnshire to visit my little sister and our nephew (and his lovely family).

On the Sunday we went to Lincoln to visit the historic city centre. A fascinating place to spend a few hours. Despite Lincolnshire being notoriously flat, the city has one of the steepest roads in the UK (see collage).

Soon after we arrived as we walked along a former church yard (built on the site of the former Roman city forum) my sister noticed some some grave stones laid out flat, one of which remembered a John Gray and his family who died (I think since not very legible) in the 18th century. Pretty spooky start. 

The Castle is well worth a visit. You can get a ticket to walk along its medieval walls, visit the Victorian Prison, view a copy of the Magna Charter and visit the nearby Cathedral.

The views from the Castle walls are simply amazing. You can also walk up the same steps taken by condemned men and women to the top of a tower where public executions used to be held and watched by tens of thousands of spectators. Later along the walls you come across a rather sad & forlorn burial area where executed prisoners and those who had died in the prison were buried.

Before you enter the Victorian prison, visit the Magna Carta exhibition (and watch the introductory film). The Magna Carta was an attempt by feudal barons and lords in 1215 to force King John to cede to them some royal powers. While it was never intended at the time by the King or the rebellious barons to have wider consequences, it did eventually enshine the principle that the King was subject to the rule of law.

The guide in the actual display room said that in 1217 when the related "Charter of the Forest" was signed, this was actually more important to most people of the time, since it meant that they regained their rights of access to the royal forests for food, fireward and grazing.

The Prison is amazing (the chapel especially) and we should be so grateful that we do not live in a society that treats petty criminals and the vulnerable in such a barbaric way.

After a lunch time roast dinner in the Wig & Mitre in Steep Street, we went to the Cathedral and were able to admire the magnificent stained  glass windows and listen to the beautiful Choir.

On way back to our starting point we came across a tea room called "GRAYZ"...I have no idea why...

Democratise our savings - Why we need a Magna Carta for Pensions

Many thanks to Henry Tapper for the plug on his website "Pension Playpen - Restoring Confidence in Pension".

Henry talks sense and reflects a fairly widespread unease amongst member nominated trustees at least, that "professional" or corporate trustees should not be paid to "represent" the interests of ordinary policyholders on insurance companies "Independent Governance Committees" (IGC).

 I have met a number of excellent individuals, who are professional trustees or advisers and they can often play a vital role in supporting some trustee boards. Some others I am less with impressed with and I am forced to remember the old but wise adage "He who pays the piper calls the tune" is as true for the financial services industry as any other.

 I am always unhappy that they are called "trustees" which I think muddies the water. They are not trustees. They are professional advisers. As said before, there is nothing necessary wrong with that. Yet to be very clear they have no fiduciary duty to policyholders but to only to themselves, their partners or shareholders and not to beneficiaries. That is why it is absolutely crucial that policyholders should represent policyholders on an IGC.

Yes, there will be resource issues regarding elections and the occasional maverick will be elected but so what? To paraphrase we all know that democracy is the worst form of Governance - except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.

We must restore faith in pensions and the financial services industry. IGCs are an historic opportunity to democratise our savings and protect policyholders from the constant drip, drip, drip of fraud, corruption and consumer rips offs.

Protect policyholders and protect insurance companies’ integrity and reputation at the same time. In that typically horrible but descriptive Americanism it is “win, win” for all.

UPDATE: also check out Nigel Stanley at the TUC website Touchstone

LGPS Pension Boards: Model UNISON Magna Carta

There are about 4.6 million people in the UK who are members (active, deferred or retired) of the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS). Collectively it is the 5th biggest pension fund in the world and worth around £180 billion. It is of huge importance to the UK economy.

From the 1 April 2015 each LGPS will have to by law set up a local Pension Board. The statutory role of the Boards is to advise and assist the fund to make decisions on all matters. We are still waiting for the final government regulations to be signed off by the Minister and laid before Parliament.

While I think that the Government has messed up over reform of the LGPS. Pension Boards will be good for the funds providing they are allowed to do their job properly and genuinely involve beneficiaries in the running of their funds.

Unless we improve performance and cut costs, due to the 13% employer contribution cap on future accrual (new pensionable service) the whole future of the LGPS will be put in peril.

UNISON has put together a model constitution for the Pension Boards (see below) which has been sent to all LGPS funds. This has already been adopted by all the Scottish LGPS funds.

I would recommend that every LGPS sets up a working group with UNISON and the other local government unions on how to make their local pension board work.

UNISON Model LGPS Pension Board Model Constitution

"1.    Introduction

1.1       Each Local Government Pension Scheme Manager in England and Wales is required to establish a Pensions Board separate from the .............................. Pensions Committee that acts as the Scheme Manager.

1.2       The .......................................................... (name of fund) Pension Board is established under the provisions of the ................................................. Regulations 2015.

2.    Objectives

2.1         The Pension Board is the body responsible for assisting the Scheme Manager in relation to compliance with scheme regulations and the requirements of the Pensions Regulator and any other relevant legislation.

2.2       The Pension Board will determine the areas they wish to consider including, amongst others:

• Reports produced for the pensions committee
• Seek reports from the scheme managers on any aspect of the fund
• Monitor investments and the investment principles/strategy/guidance
• Monitor fund investment and custodian transaction costs
• The fund annual report
• External voting and engagement provisions
• Fund administrative performance
• Actuarial reports and valuations
• Funding policy

·         Any other matters that the pensions board deem appropriate

3.    Membership

3.1       Membership of the Pension Board will consist of equal numbers of trade union representatives and employer representatives, drawn from councils and scheduled or admitted bodies in membership of the fund.  Pension Board representatives must not also participate in or act as members of the pensions committee.  Local Authority employer representatives will normally be Elected Members serving as part of the Council.

(As a minimum there will be 4 trade union and 4 employer representatives with the expectation that larger funds will require greater numbers. Numbers from organisations on either side will broadly reflect respective membership in the scheme.)

3.2       There will be ............. (number) trade union representatives appointed by the trade unions as follows:

UNISON         .......

GMB               .......

Unite                .......

3.3       There will be .............. (number) employer representatives appointed by the respective employer organisations as follows:

Councils                      ......

Scheduled bodies       ......

Admitted bodies          ......

(In smaller funds it may be possible to name the councils and other bodies. In larger funds describe the way representatives of these groups are appointed e.g. at the pension fund annual meeting)

3.4       Pension Board representatives will serve for a period of four years and may be reappointed to serve further terms. Timescales for organisations to notify the Pension Board of their representatives shall be locally determined.  Employer bodies and organisations retain the right to withdraw representatives and identify replacements on occasion.

3.5       Appointing bodies can appoint a named substitute for their representative. Such substitutes must undertake the same training as set out in (6) below.

3.6       Advisors may attend meetings of the Pension Board in a non-voting capacity.

3.7       No person may be appointed to the Pension Board that has a significant conflict of interest. A conflict of interest is defined as a financial or other interest which is likely to prejudice a person’s exercise of functions as a member of the Pension Board. It does not include a financial or other interest arising merely by virtue of that person being a member of the scheme or any connected scheme for which the board is established. The Pension Board will adopt policies and protocols for handling any conflicts that were unanticipated and might arise during membership.

4.    Meetings

4.1       The Chair of the Pension Board will be rotated on an annual basis between the trade union and employer sides of the Pension Board.

4.2       Pensions Board meetings will be administered by ................. (pension fund or administering authority depending on local practice) as agreed with Joint Secretaries appointed by the trade union and employers sides of the Pension Board. All reasonable administration costs shall be met by the fund.

4.3       The Pensions Board should meet at least quarterly. A majority of either side may requisition a special meeting of the Pension Board in exceptional circumstances.

4.4       The Pensions Board may establish sub-committees.

4.5       While the statutory roles and function of the pension committee and pensions board are separate, the normal practice will be that both bodies will meet at the same time to consider the same agenda, with the Chair of the pension committee chairing the concurrent meeting. The aim is to engender a positive and proactive partnership culture where in practice the two bodies act as one.

5.    Dispute resolution

5.1       If the Pension Committee and Pension Board cannot reach joint agreement on any matter the process for resolving any differences between the two bodies will be as follows.  Whilst this process is undertaken the decision of the Pension Committee is still competent.

5.2       In the first instance, if at least half of the members agree, then the pension board can refer back a decision of the pensions committee for further consideration if any of the following grounds are met:

• That there is evidence or information which it is considered needs re-evaluating or new evidence or data which the Pensions Committee did not access or was not aware of at the point of decision making and which is considered material to the decision taken;
• That the decision of the Pensions Committee could be considered illegal or contrary to regulations;
• That the decision of the Pensions Committee is contrary to a relevant Code of Practice published by the Pensions Regulator; or
• That the decision is not in the interest of the continued financial viability of the Scheme or is against the principles of proper and responsible administration of the Scheme

5.3       If there is no agreement after the matter has been referred back to the pensions Committee, then the difference in view between the Pension Board and the Pension Committee will be published in the form of a joint secretarial report on the fund website and included in the fund annual report.

5.4       The England/Wales LGPS Scheme Advisory Board may also consider and take a view on the matter and, if considered appropriate, provide advice to the Scheme Manager or the pension board in relation to the matter.

6.    Training

6.1          All members (and named substitutes) of the Pensions Board must undertake a training programme in accordance with any guidance issued by the pensions regulator and complying with best practice training requirements of the Pensions Committee.

6.2       The Pensions Board shall agree policies and arrangements for the acquisition and retention of knowledge and understanding for pension board members

6.3       The Scheme Manager will keep an updated list of the documents with which they consider pension board members need to be conversant to effectively carry out their role and make sure

that both the list and the documents are accessible.

7.    Access to Information

7.1       The Scheme Manager and Pensions Board will together ensure that information is published about the activities of the board including:

• the full terms of reference for the pension board, including details of how they will operate

• the pension board appointment process

• who each individual pension board member represents and

• any specific roles and responsibilities of individual pension board members.

7.2       The minutes of the Pension Board will be published on the fund website. The Pensions Board may undertake such communications and stakeholder engagement as it deems appropriate to perform its functions.