Agenda and minutes

• Minutes of meeting on 16/17 October 2014 – Paper 1

• Declarations of interest

• General update on progress – Paper 2

1.1 The Chair welcomed Board members to the meeting.

1.2 Subject to minor amendments, the Board agreed the minutes of the meeting on 16-17 October 2014.

1.3 The Board noted and discussed the paper to note - a letter from the Presiding Officer regarding the level of staffing support required to manage the demands placed on Assembly Members.

1.4 The Board noted the work programme up to April 2015.

2.1 The Board discussed the launch and the initial reaction to its consultation on Assembly Member salaries for the Fifth Assembly.

2.2 The Board will consider all responses to the consultation when it closes on 12 January 2015.

• Pooling of Staffing Allowances between Members – Paper 3

• Correspondence from IPSA regarding Continuous Service of AM Support Staff – Paper 4

3.1 The Board considered a paper highlighting arrangements that exist in the Scottish Parliament which permit support staff to have more than one Member named as their employer, as was raised during the consultation on staffing allowances.

3.2 The Board agreed that the system for pooling staff used in Scotland would add complexity without increasing the flexibility to the system in Wales.

3.3 The Board concluded that there was no sensible, legal way of providing continuity of employment of AMSS and noted a letter from IPSA which echoed that opinion.

Action points:

• MBS to respond to questions which emerged from the discussion regarding the legal implications of group staff, who are employed by the party leader, when the leader changes.
• MBS to conduct further research into how the health service (for example) is able to make redundancy payments repayable where the person gains a new job within the service.
• The Research Service to provide, as part of the paper on AMSS benefits at the next Board meeting, information on insurance costs for critical illness cover for AMSS.

• Comments from Diverse Cymru Equality Assessment Group on proposals for AM Pensions, AM Allowances and AM Support – Paper 5

4.1 The Board noted the paper provided by Diverse Cymru, which highlighted their observations on consultations on AM pensions, AM Allowances and level of support available to AMs.

4.2 The Board agreed its considerations on pension arrangements, allowances and support for Assembly Members to feed into the final Equality Impact Assessment for the Determination.

• Wragge & Co: Draft pension scheme rules – Paper 6

• Correspondence from the Chair of the Board of Trustees of the AM pension scheme – Paper 7

• GAD advice to the Trustees on the PSPA – Paper 8

5.1 The Chair welcomed Paul Carberry, Hannah Beacham and Kevin Milton to the meeting and invited them to introduce the new draft pension scheme rules for Assembly Members in the Fifth Assembly.

5.2 The Board discussed the new pension scheme rules and agreed to make amendments.

5.3 The Board will agree the pension scheme rules for inclusion in the consultation on the Determination for the Fifth Assembly in the spring term.

• Correspondence from Presiding Officer following the Assembly Commission meeting - Paper 9

6.1 The Board noted the correspondence from the Assembly Commission and agreed to respond. The Chair emphasised the importance of responding to the Assembly Commission and queries from all individual Assembly Members.