Agenda and minutes

·         Minutes of meeting on 31 January 2014 – Paper 3

·         Declarations of interest

1.1     The Chair welcomed the Board to the meeting.

1.2     Minutes of the previous meetings on 31 January 2014 were reviewed and confirmed as a correct record.

·         Compilation of consultation responses – Paper 4

2.1     The Board noted the responses to the consultation following the Board meeting on 31 January 2014.

2.2     The Board considered submissions provided by AMs and agreed that Assembly Member salaries for the final year of the Fourth Assembly should be increased by 1 per cent in line with public sector pay policies.

2.3     The Board considered submissions from AMSS and AMs and agreed that AMSS will receive a 1 per cent increase in salary for 2014-15 in line with public sector pay policies. The Board agreed that it would look in more detail at the following key issues arising from the consultation as part of its future work:

-        Whether AMSS should be eligible for death in service benefits

-        Redundancy and continuity of employment

-        Holidays and discretionary days

-        Pension contributions.

2.4     The Board considered submissions from AMs and agreed to increase the maximum reimbursement for residential accommodation for those Members living in the Outer Area from £700 to £735pcm. Office costs will rise in line with the OBR’s forecast of CPI (1.9 per cent).

2.5     The Board agreed to remove the resettlement grant for Members elected prior to 2011who elect to stand down in two stages.

·         Review of work to date – Paper 5

·         Governance Arrangements for AM pensions – Paper 6

Break

·         Final legal report from Wragge & Co – Paper 7

·         Agree final consultation documents and consultees - Paper 8

Review of work to date

3.1     The Board discussed its progress on implementing suitable pension arrangements for AM pensions for the Fifth Assembly, and agreed a public consultation document, which would be published in April. This would be the first of a two-part consultation, seeking views from stakeholders on the overall design of the scheme. A second consultation later in the year will seek views on a more detailed scheme.

Governance Arrangements for AM pensions

3.2     The Board considered a paper prepared by the Research Service and agreed to consult with Trustees on governance arrangements for the new scheme.

Final legal report from Wragge & Co

3.3     The Board welcomed Paul Carberry, Director, and Hannah Beacham, Senior Solicitor, Human Resources Group, Wragge & Co. to the meeting.

3.4     The Board considered the final legal report from Wragge & Co and agreed its content.

Final consultation documents and consultees

3.5     The Board discussed the draft consultation documents on Members’ pension arrangements, which was provided by Carys Evans and Richard Bettley. The Board agreed that the consultation on pensions could be issued following minor amendments suggested by Mary and Stuart.

·         Note from internal audit - Paper 9

Lunch

4.1     The Board invited Gareth Watt, Internal Auditor to the meeting.

4.2     The Board agreed with proposals for an internal audit and discussed its scope and methodology for such a review.

·         Review of AMSS staffing structure – Paper 10

5.1     The Board considered a paper on Assembly Member Support Staff staffing structure, which had been provided by the Assembly Commission.

5.2     The Board agreed that an AMSS Employment and Staffing Structure review for Fifth Assembly should be conducted.

·         Charles Willie, Chief Executive, Diverse Cymru

6.1     The Board welcomed Charles Willie, Director of Diverse Cymru.

6.2     The Board agreed that an Equality Impact Assessment should be conducted for the full Determination package for the fifth Assembly and it looked forward to reviewing the contribution made by Diverse Cymru.

Action:

·         Secretariat to write to all Assembly members updating them on the issues discussed and decisions made by the Board at this meeting and requesting a response to issues raised in the note.