The aim of our administration strategy statement is to make sure both the administering authority (Shropshire Council) and our employers are fully aware of their responsibilities under the LGPS regulations, and to identify acceptable levels of performance.

The fund’s Climate Change Strategy explains the fund’s approach to addressing the risks and opportunities related to climate change.

Responsibility for the implementation of this strategy, prepared in alignment with the final recommendations of the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (“TCFD”), is held by the scheme administrator and Head of Treasury & Pensions and it is reviewed annually.

Climate Stewardship Plan

The fund’s Climate Stewardship Plan identifies specific companies and portfolio managers in which stewardship techniques can be leveraged to further understand and manage climate-related risks within the fund. The Climate Stewardship Plan aligns with and is supportive of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and focuses specifically on climate change and complements ongoing stewardship activities on other environmental, social and governance factors.

The report published by the fund follows the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), a blueprint for climate reporting which represents best practice in the investment industry.

Its publication follows an independent and in-depth review of the climate risks of the fund’s investment portfolio.

The aim of the communication policy statement is to set out the communications strategy for the fund. It outlines how the fund communicates with scheme members, employers and other key stakeholders.

The purpose of this document is to describe the various “life stages” of an employer that participates in the fund and how the fund would deal with these circumstances. It summarises events and possible outcomes from those events right through until the employer withdraws from the fund.

The fund is required by the LGPS regulations to prepare and publish a funding strategy statement. The funding strategy statement is prepared in line with guidance issued by CIPFA’s Pensions Panel. A draft is shared with our employing bodies for comment before approval by the pensions committee.

The significance of the funding strategy statement is that the fund actuary considers this as part of the valuation process. The funding strategy statement must be updated whenever there is a material change to our investment policy.

The fund has adopted a governance compliance statement which includes information about our governance arrangements and fund policy on discretions within the regulations.

For many years LGPS funds have had to maintain a statement of investment principles. This document lays out the things considered by the fund when making investment decisions. It also includes the types of investments that could be held, how the various risks are taken into account and sets out the objectives.

The Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) Investment Regulations, which became effective on 1 November 2016, introduced a requirement for administering authorities to formulate, publish and maintain an investment strategy statement.  

This report was produced by an external third party and may not meet the required accessibility standards.

The fund is committed to addressing the issue of climate change and improving transparency in this area. To this end we are publishing our 4th Climate Risk Report in respect of our assets for June 2023 and we will continue to publish these reports annually to show our direction of travel.

The report shows the progress the fund has made to reduce the carbon intensity of its equity portfolio, looking at four areas of the fund’s approach to climate related risk in equity holdings, Governance, Strategy, Risk Management and Metrics and Targets.

The key indicators from the report are that, through the positive actions of the fund in changing portfolios and investment managers, the fund has reduced the financed emissions of the portfolio by 46% since 2020 and that the Weighted Average Carbon Intensity (WACI) of the Fund has reduced by 59% over the same period.

The fund continues to take advice from its advisors in remaining at the forefront of disclosure and the report contains a number of recommendations that we will give due consideration and develop as required over the coming months. This is to ensure that the fund meets best practice and to develop reports to cover other asset classes for transparency.

The fund acknowledges that Environmental, Social and Governance issues and how they are addressed are crucial to the long-term investment returns of the fund and that this is an ongoing theme that will be kept under review as we move towards our target of being net zero by 2050 in line with the Paris accord.

We hope that you find the attached both interesting and informative.

This document sets out the set-up, responsibilities and role of the Pensions Board within the fund.  

Shropshire County Pension Fund has developed a reporting breaches policy and procedure. This makes sure anyone responsible for reporting and whistle blowing can identify, assess and report (or record if not reported) a breach of law.

The Shropshire County Fund Business Plan for 2024-2026 has been approved by the Pension Committee on March 15 2024.

In the plan, key priorities for “business as usual” and work on new and ongoing projects are highlighted. The key actions and areas of focus in the business plan are grouped into the areas of governance, funding and investments and administration.

Progress against the plan will be reviewed and reported on a quarterly basis to the Pension Committee which will be shared with the Pension Board.

This report is Shropshire Pension Fund’s (SCPF or ‘the Fund’) second climate-related disclosure report. It describes the way in which climate-related risks are currently managed within the fund. 

The report published by the Shropshire County Pension Fund follows the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), a blueprint for climate reporting which represents best practice in the investment industry.

Since October 2020, SCPF has received three Climate Risk Reports from the fund’s pooling company, LGPS Central Ltd. These reports provide an in-depth review of the fund’s climate risks under different climate change scenarios across all asset classes. The fund is currently using the findings of these reports to develop a more detailed Climate Strategy.  

In the interests of being transparent with the fund’s beneficiaries and broader stakeholder base, this report discloses the most recent Carbon Risk Metrics Analysis and Climate Scenario Analysis undertaken on the fund’s assets. We expect to update our Carbon Risk Metrics on an annual basis.  

This report was produced by an external third party and may not meet the required accessibility standards.

The training policy sets out how the fund aims that all relevant individuals involved in the running of the fund obtains and retains the, sufficient knowledge and understanding to make sure all decisions, actions and other activities are carried out in an informed and appropriate way.