Decision details

Before the Committee was a report by the Director for the Economy, presented by the Cabinet Member for Culture and Leisure, copies of which had been circulated to all Members and a copy of which is attached to the signed copy of these minutes as Item 12. An exempt appendix to this report was shared with Members of the Sub-Committee as Item 14.

Following a request from Worthing Theatres and Museum Trust, the Council was reviewing the contractual arrangements for both Trusts with respect to the pension fund.

The revised arrangements, if approved, would provide the Council with a significant saving in annual pension contributions and would benefit the Trusts by supporting better management of the risks associated with the cost of pensions.

It was noted that the proposed arrangements did not represent a significant contractual change to either South Downs Leisure or Worthing Theatres and Museum. They sought to treat the staff of the two trusts as if they were Council staff and to remerge their pension pots back into the Council’s pension pot. This would enable better management of risk for both the Council and the Trusts moving forward.   

The recommendations in the report were proposed by Councillor Garner, seconded by Councillor Wells and unanimously supported. 

Decision

The Worthing Joint Strategic Sub-Committee 

      i.        Approved that both South Downs Leisure Trust and Worthing Theatres and Museum Trust contracts be revised to include new clauses regarding pension risk sharing arrangements.

     ii.        Agreed to extend the Pension Guarantee for Worthing Theatres and Museum Trust for the duration of the contract in line with the arrangements for South Downs Leisure Contract

    iii.        Delegated authority to the Director for the Economy, in consultation with the Council’s Monitoring Officer and the Chief Financial Officer, the agreement of the final wording for the new contract clauses.

   iv.        Noted that this change would save Worthing Borough Council approximately £106,660 per year in additional pension costs.

Call-in

The call-in deadline for the decision will be 5.00pm on the 15th December 2022.