1. Parties
- Bedford Borough Council
- Cambridgeshire County Council
- Durham County Council
- The East Riding of Yorkshire Council
- East Sussex County Council
- Essex County Council
- Hertfordshire County Council
- Kent County Council
- Lincolnshire County Council
- Middlesborough Borough Council
- North Yorkshire Council
- The Council of the Borough of South Tyneside
- South Yorkshire Pensions Authority
- Surrey County Council
- Warwickshire County Council
- West Northamptonshire Council
- West Sussex County Council
- Westmorland and Furness Council
2. Status
In order to ensure there is robust oversight of the joint pension fund investment pool, an Inter Authority Agreement has been entered into, with formal decision making responsibility exercised via a joint committee established under s.102 of the Local Government Act 1972.
3. Membership
The Committee is constituted from all 18 Partner Fund Pension Committee Chairs (or an alternate councillor nominated by the Partner Fund) and meets quarterly. The Committee’s Chair and Vice Chair are elected by the Committee members on a biennial basis.
Two scheme member representatives attend as non-voting members to make the Committee aware of scheme member views on issues it is considering and to enable feedback to scheme members on its decisions and debates. Scheme member representatives are elected by Partner Fund pension boards, with each board able to nominate one candidate from its scheme member representatives for periods of three years with no term limits. To be eligible, an individual must be a member of one of the Partner Funds and a scheme member representative on a Partner Fund pension board.
4. Functions of the Joint Committee
1. The primary purpose of the Joint Committee is to exercise oversight over the investment performance of the collective investment vehicles operated by Border to Coast and the provision of other investment-related services by Border to Coast.
2. The Joint Committee will provide effective engagement with the Authorities as the investment vehicles are established and ultimately operated by Border to Coast and as other investment-related services are developed and ultimately provided by Border to Coast. It will encourage best practice, operate on the basis that all partners have an equal say and promote transparency and accountability to each Authority.
3. The remit of the Joint Committee is:
a) To provide support and guidance to the work being undertaken by the Officer Operations Group.
b) To consider issues and provide feedback on relevant proposals as they are developed, ensuring effective engagement with the Authorities to scrutinise and monitor project management arrangements and proposals for the appointment of advisers by the Authorities.
c) To formulate processes and policies for appointment and termination of membership to the Joint Committee.
d) To facilitate the adoption by the Authorities of relevant contracts and policies.
e) To review and comment on requests for the creation of investment propositions and services and to make recommendations to Border to Coast as to the creation of additional investment propositions and services.
f) To review and comment from time to time on the range of investment propositions and services offered and the winding up and transfer of investment propositions and services.
g) To formulate and propose any common voting policy for adoption by the Authorities and to review and comment on any central policy adopted by Border to Coast.
h) To formulate and propose any common ESG/RI policy for adoption by the Authorities and to review and comment on any central policy adopted by Border to Coast.
i) To formulate and propose any common conflicts policy for adoption by the Authorities.
j) To review and comment on each individual Authority’s high level transition plans for the transfer of assets to the vehicles established and operated by Border to Coast in accordance with the Shared Objectives.
k) To oversee performance of the vehicles established and operated by Border to Coast as a whole and individual investment propositions by receiving reports from Border to Coast and taking advice from the Officer Operations Group on those reports along with any external investment advice that it deems necessary.
l) To procure and employ, through an Authority, any professional advisor that the Joint Committee deems necessary to secure the proper performance of their duties.
5. Standing Orders of the Joint Committee
Part 1 – Membership
1. The Joint Committee shall consist of one elected member appointed by each Authority. The member so appointed must at all times during the appointment, be a member of the committee or sub-committee of that Authority which discharges the functions of that Authority with respect to pensions.
2. Each Authority may appoint a named substitute. Any named substitute must meet the eligibility requirements in paragraph 1. The substitute may attend any meeting of the Joint Committee or any of its sub-committees in place of that authority’s principal member if prior written notice that the substitute will attend is given to the Secretary by the Authority concerned.
3. Where a substitution notice is in effect with respect to a particular member at a particular meeting, the substitute shall be a full member of the Joint Committee for the duration of the meeting in place of the principal member.
4. Each Authority may remove its appointed member and appoint a different member by giving written notice to the Secretary.
5. Each appointed member shall be entitled to remain on the Joint Committee for so long as the Authority appointing him or her so wishes, but shall cease to be a member if he or she ceases to be a member of the appointing Authority or if that Authority removes the appointed member.
6. Any casual vacancies will be filled as soon as reasonably practicable by the Authority from which such vacancy arises by giving written notice to the Secretary to the Joint Committee or his or her nominee.
7. Each member of the Joint Committee shall comply with any relevant code of conduct of his or her Authority when acting as a member of the Joint Committee.
8. The Joint Committee may co-opt such other persons as its sees fit to be members of the Joint Committee but without power to vote.
Part 2 – Proceedings
9. Time and Place of Meetings
9.1 The Joint Committee will meet at least once each year and further as may be required. All meetings of the Joint Committee will take place at a suitable venue and at a time to be agreed by the Joint Committee.
10. Notice of and Summons to Meetings
10.1 The Secretary will give notice to the public of the time and place of any meeting in accordance with Part VA of the Local Government Act 1972. At least five Business Days before a meeting, the Secretary will send a summons by post or email to every member or make arrangements for it to be left at his or her usual office. The summons will give the date, time and place of each meeting and specify the business to be transacted, and will be accompanied by such reports as are available.
11. Chair and Vice Chair of Joint Committee
11.1 The Chair of the Joint Committee will be appointed from time to time by the members of the Joint Committee. Subject to paragraph 5, the Chair shall hold that office until another member is appointed. The Chair at the Commencement Date shall remain in office until the expiry of their current two-year term in September 2027. The appointment of the Chair shall then take place every two years, beginning with the appointment in September 2027 with subsequent appointments falling not later than the first meeting of the Joint Committee following the start of the relevant municipal year. The Chair shall be permitted to serve for a maximum of two terms.
11.1 The Vice-Chair of the Joint Committee will be appointed from time to time by the members of the Joint Committee. Subject to paragraph 5, the Vice-Chair shall hold that office until another member is appointed. The Vice-Chair at the Commencement Date shall remain in office until the expiry of their current two-year term in September 2027. The appointment of the Vice-Chair shall then take place every two years, beginning with the appointment in September 2027 with subsequent appointments falling not later than the first meeting of the Joint Committee following the start of the relevant municipal year. The Vice-Chair shall be permitted to serve for a maximum of two terms.
11.2 If there is a quorum of members present but neither the Chair nor the Vice-Chair is present at a meeting of the Joint Committee, the other members of the Joint Committee shall choose one of the members of the Joint Committee to preside at the meeting.
12. Quorum
12.1 The quorum of a meeting will be at least 60% of members who are entitled to attend and vote.
13. Voting
13.1 Majority
Each member of the Joint Committee shall have one vote. Any matter will be decided by a simple majority of those members of the Joint committee present in the room at the time the question is put.
13.2 By Substitutes
Any person appointed as a substitute shall have the same voting rights as the member of the Joint Committee for whom he or she is substituting. Where notice of substitution has been given for a particular meeting the principal member may not vote unless the notice of substitution is withdrawn in writing before the start of the meeting.
13.3 Show of hands
The Chair will take the vote by show of hands, or if there is no dissent, by the affirmation of the meeting.
14. Minutes
14.1 The Secretary shall arrange for written minutes to be taken at each meeting of the Joint Committee and shall present them to the Joint Committee at its next meeting for approval as a correct record. At the next meeting of the Joint Committee, the Chair shall move that the minutes of the previous meeting be signed as a correct record. If this is agreed, the Chair shall sign the minutes. The only part of the minutes that can be discussed is their accuracy.
15. Public Access
Meetings of the Joint Committee shall be open for members of the public to attend unless the Joint Committee determines that it is necessary to exclude members of the public in accordance with Part VA of the Local Government Act 1972 or the Joint Committee determines that it is necessary to close the meeting to the public because of a disturbance. Copies of the agenda for meetings of the Joint Committee and any reports for its meetings shall be open to inspection by members of the public at the offices of the Authorities with the exception of any report which the Secretary determines relates to items which in his or her opinion are likely to be considered at a time when the meeting is not to be open to the public.
15.1 Disturbance by member of the public
If a member of the public interrupts proceedings, the Chair will warn the person concerned. If that person continues to interrupt, the Chair will arrange for their removal from the meeting room and will suspend the meeting until the member of the public has left or been removed.
15.2 Clearance of part of meeting room
If there is a general disturbance in any part of the meeting room open to the public, the Chair may call for that part to be cleared.
16. Overview and Scrutiny
The Joint Committee and the Host Authority will co-operate with reasonable requests for information from any of the Authorities’ overview and scrutiny committees.
17. Regulation of Business
17.1 Any ruling given by the Chair as to the interpretation of this constitution with respect to the regulation of proceedings at meeting shall be final.
17.2 Subject to the law, the provisions of this Constitution and the terms of any contract, the Joint Committee may decide how it discharges its business.
18. Urgent Business
18.1 In cases of urgency, the Host Authority, in consultation with the Chair and Vice Chair, may take decisions on behalf of the Joint Committee.
18.2 As far as reasonably practicable, the Host Authority shall communicate the intention to exercise the decision-making power under paragraph 18.1 to the other Authorities before the decision is made.
18.3 Any decisions taken under paragraph 18.1 will be reported at the next meeting of the Joint Committee together with an explanation of the need for urgency in the decision-making process.
[Chapter E7 (Local Government Pension Scheme Border to Coast Joint Committee) was last amended on 14 July 2026]
A PDF version of this chapter is available to view or download on the CMIS section of the Council’s website, along with a PDF version of the full constitution.
