The Harrow Pension Board's annual report has revealed significant concerns regarding meeting quorum and the urgent need for enhanced training for its members, impacting the effective management of the Harrow Pension Fund.
The board met on Thursday, 30 July 2026, to discuss its annual report for 2025-26. A key point of discussion was the fact that only two meetings were held during the year. The report noted that two further scheduled meetings were unable to proceed due to a lack of quorum, a situation described as disappointing from the board's point of view
. This failure to meet quorum, which requires at least 3 members including one Employer representative and one Scheme Member representative, meant that a significant piece of work
delegated by the Pension Fund Committee could not be completed. This unfulfilled task involved officers conducting a compliance review to assess the fund's standing with respect to the general code of practice.
Councillor Amir Moshenson, a councillor for Cairns Ward, raised concerns about the training of new Pension Fund Committee members. He highlighted that there had been significant changes in membership following local elections
, with three completely new members
joining the committee, two of which are new to local government as in their new elected members
. In response, Patrick Kilgallen, who presented the annual report, explained that a self-assessment of prior knowledge has been sent out to new members, and officers are collecting that information
. This data will be used to build a training plan for the committee targeting where the gaps in the knowledge are
, addressing prior knowledge and gaps in their knowledge
. The timeline for the full development and implementation of this targeted training plan is not explicitly stated, but the process has begun.
Training sessions for board members, held before Pension Fund Committee meetings, were also discussed. Members have the option to join these sessions either in person or online. The meeting itself was noted to have a full array of members
, with the Chair remarking that this was quite something
and the first time that's happened, almost within living memory
, indicating that the quorum was met for this specific meeting.
The full public reports pack for the meeting can be accessed here: Public reports pack Thursday 30-Jul-2026 18.30 Pension Board.