West Midlands Integrated Transport Authority (WMITA) Pension Fund
West Midlands Integrated Transport Authority Pension Fund
Further to the Government Actuary Department's (GAD) review of Local Government Pension Funds published in September 2018[1] and in response to the Government Actuary's (GAD's) recommendation to MHCLG, that the Administering Authority (West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) ) develop a plan to address the employer-risk inherent within the closed West Midlands Integrated Transport Authority Pension Fund (WMITA Fund), WMCA have been engaging with Wolverhampton City Council as Administering Authority for the West Midlands Pension Fund (WMPF) regarding a proposed merger of the 2 funds that would seek to address the concerns highlighted in the Section 13 report.
In response to the concerns raised and following receipt of legal and actuarial advice from WMPF's advisors together with further dialogue with representations from GAD and MHCLG, a draft merger application was developed and submitted to MHCLG in January 2019.
Following a process of public consultation, Regulations were laid before parliament providing for the merging of the 2 pension funds. Those regulations[2] came into force on 8 November (backdated to 31 March 2019) effecting the merger.
As of 1 April, the West Midlands Pension Fund will no longer report separately on the WMITA Pension Fund, instead all information will be collaborated into the main Fund reporting, including the Annual Report and Accounts, and all statutory policies.
As WMPF has been administering and managing the WMITA Fund for some time (under delegation from WMCA) we believe members of the WMITA Fund to be accustomed to the WMPF member communications and engagement having been included in our service delivery the same as our main fund members since the delegation took effect. We therefore believe there to be little, if no, impact on WMITA Fund members. However, should our members have any concerns regarding this change, please contact us.
The below documents and previous annual reports for the WMITA Fund will still be available on the Fund's website under our Corporate Information page.
[1] https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/743385/GAD_Exec_Summary_Section_13_Report.PDF
ITA Statistics
