Policy And Resources Committee - 10/11/2014

At a MEETING of the POLICY AND RESOURCES COMMITTEE held at Dundee on 10th November, 2014.

Present:-

BAILIES

COUNCILLORS

Councillor Ken GUILD, Convener, in the Chair.

The minute of meeting of this Committee of 27th October, 2014 was held as read.

Unless marked thus * all items stand delegated.

I DECLARATION OF INTEREST

No declarations of interest were made.

II MINUTE - PENSION INVESTMENT SUB-COMMITTEE

The minute of meeting of the Pension Investment Sub-Committee of 20th June, 2014 was submitted for information and record purposes (Appendix I).

III REVENUE MONITORING

There was submitted Report No 424-2014 by the Director of Corporate Services providing an analysis of the 2014/2015 Projected Revenue Outturn as at 30th September, 2014 monitored against the adjusted 2014/2015 Revenue Budget.

The Committee:-

(i) noted that the overall General Fund 2014/2015 Projected Revenue Outturn as at 30th September, 2014 was projecting a breakeven position against the adjusted 2014/2015 Revenue Budget;

(ii) noted that the Housing Revenue Account as at 30th September, 2014 was projecting a breakeven position against the adjusted HRA 2014/2015 Revenue Budget;

(iii) instructed the Director of Corporate Services to take every reasonable action to ensure that the 2014/2015 revenue expenditure was below or in line with the adjusted Revenue Budget; and

(iv) instructed the Director of Corporate Services, in conjunction with all Chief Officers, to continue to monitor the Councils 2014/2015 Projected Revenue outturn.

IV CAPITAL MONITORING

There was submitted Report No 414-2014 by the Director of Corporate Services appraising members of the latest position regarding the Councils Capital Expenditure Programme for 2014/2015.

The Committee noted the contents of the report.

V REVIEW OF SCRUTINY ARRANGEMENTS

There was submitted Report No 274-2014 by the Chief Executive reviewing the arrangements for scrutiny of Council services and making a number of recommendations to demonstrate that the remit of the Scrutiny Committee was being fulfilled.

The Committee:-

(i) noted that scrutiny took place at many levels within the Council, involving both elected members and Chief Officers, with the role of the Scrutiny Committee being to strengthen these arrangements;

(ii) noted that the Scrutiny Committee had the power to refer any concerns to relevant Service Committees; and

(iii) noted the annual programme of reports which the Scrutiny Committee could expect to receive during the year.

VI DUNDEE COMMUNITY REGENERATION FUND 2014/2015

There was submitted Report No 422-2014 by the Chief Executive relative to the above.

The Committee noted the allocations to the Community Regeneration Fund for 2014/2015 and approved the funding proposals contained in Section 5.2 of the report appended hereto (Appendix II).

VII COUNTER-FRAUD REPORT - AS AT 30TH SEPTEMBER, 2014

There was submitted Report No 417-2014 by the Director of Corporate Services informing elected members of the Revenue Divisions Corporate Counter-Fraud Activity as at 30th September, 2014.

The Committee approved the report.

VIII REPLACEMENT OF BALDRAGON ACADEMY

On a reference to Article IV of the minute of meeting of this Committee of 19th May, 2014, there was submitted Report No 353-2014 by the Chief Executive and Director of City Development seeking approval to proceed to financial close of the contract to replace Baldragon Academy.

The Committee:-

(i) noted the contents of the report;

(ii) agreed to proceed to financial close of the contract to replace Baldragon Academy following the completion of the Stage 2 Key Stage Review by Scottish Futures Trust; and

(iii) approved the making of advance payments and the early commitment of expenditure as described in paragraph 4.5 of the report.

IX SUPPLY OF IT EQUIPMENT

There was submitted Report No 415-2014 by the Head of Information Technology relative to the above.

The Committee:-

(i) noted the IT purchases amounting to 857,135 detailed in Appendix 1 of the report for the period 1st April, 2014 to 30th September, 2014; and

(ii) noted ongoing engineering maintenance costs of 38,032 per annum.

Ken GUILD, Convener.

At a MEETING of the PENSION INVESTMENT SUB-COMMITTEE OF THE POLICY AND RESOURCES COMMITTEE held at Dundee on 20th June, 2014.

APPENDIX I

Present:-

Bailie Willie SAWERS

COUNCILLORS

Bailie Willie SAWERS, Convener, in the Chair.

I DECLARATION OF INTEREST

There were no declarations of interest.

II SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE INVESTMENT - SIX MONTHLY REPORT

There was submitted Report No 246-2014 by the Director of Corporate Services reviewing the progress by the Fund Managers regarding the positive engagement policy on Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance approved by the Sub-Committee on 17th November, 2008.

III TAYSIDE PENSION FUNDS RISK REGISTER

There was submitted Report No 245-2014 by the Director of Corporate Services updating the Risk Register for the Tayside Pension Funds.

The Sub-Committee approved the updated Risk Register for the Tayside Pension Fund and Tayside Transport Pension Fund.

The Sub-Committee resolved under Section 50(A)(4) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 that the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the undernoted items of business on the grounds that they involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 4, 6 and 11 of Part I of Schedule 7A of the Act.

IV TAYSIDE PENSION FUNDS

(a) PERFORMANCE SUMMARIES

There was submitted Report No 244-2014 by the Director of Corporate Services relating to Performance Summaries for the quarter, 1, 3, 5 and 10 year time periods to 31st March, 2014 reviewing the investment performance of the Main Fund's five Fund Managers (including Property) and the Financing Fund for the period to 31st March, 2014. It also considered the performance of the Transport Fund which invests with three of these managers.

The report compared investment performance of the Funds with the Funds' specific benchmarks which consisted of various stock and security market indices.

The Sub-Committee noted the information contained therein with regard to the performance of the Tayside Superannuation Fund and Tayside Transport Superannuation Fund and their Fund Managers.

(b) SUMMARIES OF INVESTMENTS AND TRANSACTIONS

There was submitted Report No 228-2014 by the Director of Corporate Services summarising investments and transactions during the period 1st January to 31st March, 2014 reviewing the investment activities of the Main Fund's seven Fund Managers for the quarter to 31st March, 2014. The Transport Fund shared three of these managers and their transactions were included.

The report summarised the transactions of each Fund Managers and showed the market values of the Main and Transport Fund.

The Sub-Committee noted the information contained therein with regard to the activities of the Tayside Pension Fun and Tayside Transport Pension Fund and their Fund Managers.

(c) QUARTERLY FUNDING REPORT

There was submitted Report No 243-2014 by the Director of Corporate Services which considered a report reviewing the current funding level of the Funds as assessed by the Fund Actuary.

The Sub-Committee noted the report by the Fund Actuary and noted that work would be commencing on the triennial actuarial valuation as at 31st March, 2014. This would be based on actual membership data of the Fund and the results of this were likely to differ from the assessment given the approximate nature of the calculations based on the previous triennial data. There would be no further report provided from the Fund Actuary until this exercise was complete. The report of the outcome was anticipated to be presented at the meeting of 1st December, 2014.

V TAYSIDE PENSION FUND - INVESTMENT IN TOBACCO

On a reference to Article VII of the minute of meeting of this Sub-Committee of 2nd September, 2013, it was reported that a report by the Director of Corporate Services relative to the above would be considered by the Policy and Resources Committee at its meeting to be held on 23rd June, 2014.

VI PRESENTATION

Joe Malloy and Mark Vickery of Goldman Sachs gave a short presentation.

A summary of the performance of the Portfolio was given, noting the key performance drivers, and comparison of this to benchmark figures. It was noted that the Portfolio was continuing to out-perform its benchmark, and that the cross-sector strategy was a huge contributor to excess return.

After they had answered questions from members, the Convener thanked Joe and Mark for their interesting and informative presentation.

Willie SAWERS, Convener.

APPENDIX II