Agenda and draft minutes

An apology for absence had been received from Councillor Mark Crane.

Resolved

That the Minutes of the meeting held on 21 October 2025, having been printed and circulated, be confirmed as read and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

All Members are invited to declare at this point any interests they have in items appearing on this agenda, including the nature of those interests.

There were no declarations of interest.

Members of the public may ask questions or make statements at this meeting if they have given notice to Elizabeth Jackson, Principal Democratic Services Officer and supplied the text (contact details below) by midday on Thursday 19 March 2026, three working days before the day of the meeting.  Each speaker should limit themselves to 3 minutes on any item.  Members of the public who have given notice will be invited to speak:

·         at this point in the meeting if their questions/statements relate to matters which are not otherwise on the Agenda (subject to an overall time limit of 30 minutes)

·         when the relevant Agenda item is being considered if they wish to speak on a matter which is on the Agenda for this meeting

If you are exercising your right to speak at this meeting, but do not wish to be recorded, please inform the Chair who will instruct anyone who may be taking a recording to cease while you speak.

There were no public questions or statements.

Members are recommended to exclude the public from the meeting during consideration of each of the items of business listed in Column 1 of the following table on the grounds that they each involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the paragraph(s) specified in column 2 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 as amended by the Local Government (Access to information)(Variation) Order 2006:

It was noted that the report relating to Minute 89 – Border to Coast Governance Documents, was considered to be exempt.  As the exempt information was not discussed there was no requirement to exclude the public from the meeting during consideration of the item.

Considered – A report of the Corporate Director Resources which set out the background of the Council’s part-ownership of Border to Coast Pensions Partnership (BCPP) Limited, a company created to manage the investments of the North Yorkshire Pension Fund, and recommending approval of updated governance documents for the company.

The Corporate Director Resources, Gary Fielding, referred to consolidation of LGPS pooling arrangements, which meant that two pension pools were required to find new arrangements.  Seven councils currently administering funds were seeking to join BCPP, and the current eleven administering authorities, including North Yorkshire Council, had given agreement for them to join.  The Pension Fund Committee had considered the matter at their September meeting and had given their support to the changes.  Appendix 1 set out the changes that were required to BCPP governance documents to formally enact the changes.  Appendices 2 to 4 contained the updated governance documents.  The Corporate Director confirmed that there was nothing of concern in the proposed arrangements.

The Head of Investments, Tom Morrison, advised that the review had been undertaken on a safe and legal basis, with minimal adjustments to the documents.  A more detailed review would be required in the future.

The Corporate Director confirmed that the changes reflected the government’s aims for bigger pools.  The Government’s ‘Fit for the Future’ review could lead to administering funds having more responsibility to determine which funds were appropriate for investing, including consideration of local funds.

Resolved (unanimously)

That the Shareholder Committee

1)    Note and confirm the approval by the Shareholder Representative of the Articles of Association at Appendix 2;

2)    Note the approval by the Shareholder Representative of the disapplication of shareholder pre-emption rights and the authority given to BCPP Directors to allot shares to the incoming partner funds;

3)    Approve the updated border to coast pensions partnership limited governance documents at Appendix 3 and Appendix 4, being the Shareholders’ Agreement and the Inter-Authority Agreement;

4)    Delegate the Council entering into the Shareholders’ Agreement to the Assistant Chief Executive, Legal and Democratic Services;

5)    Delegate the Council entering into the Inter-Authority Agreement to the Assistant Chief Executive, Legal and Democratic Services.

Purpose of the Report: To consider and develop the Work Programme for the Shareholder Committee

Members considered and endorsed the work programme for the Committee for the remainder of 2025/26.