2. Will the Commission make a statement on its relationship with the Members of the Senedd pension scheme's pensions board? OQ57041

The Commission’s relationship with the Members of the Senedd's pension scheme board is limited to that of nominating two of the five trustees who sit on the Members' pension scheme board. Two other trustees are nominated by Members of the Senedd and another independent trustee is appointed by the remuneration board. The Commission pays contributions to the pension scheme at a rate set by the scheme's actuary, and the Commission also employs the staff who administer the pension scheme on behalf of the trustees.

Thank you for that.

I raise this question due to an inquiry I've received from a constituent of mine regarding the Members' pension scheme, which is partially governed, as you say, by the Senedd pensions board. Politics and ethics are completely intertwined, and it's therefore crucial that the Senedd as an institution does not involve itself, even indirectly, in anything that is ethically questionable, for example, the nuclear weapons industry or manufacturers of other weapons banned by United Nations' treaties. Can the Commission advise how I might seek clarity on this, so that I can hopefully reassure my constituent that the Members' pension scheme does not invest in nuclear weapons companies or any other manufacturers of banned weapons? Diolch.

Thank you very much for that supplementary question. As a point of information, the pensions board has a statement on its investment strategy, and this takes into account environmental, social and corporate governance principles. And, because of the nature of the quasi-independent relationship between the Commission and the pensions board, I would suggest that you raise these specific issues that you have in terms of investments with the chair of the pensions board. That is the place to go to get the information you're seeking. And, of course, the pensions board publishes a report and newsletter for Members on their work, and that's also a source of information on their investments and delivery against their objectives, and they do share that with Members, and I think the last was published in August.

Can I thank Sioned Williams for the question and Elin Jones as Presiding Officer for her answer, part of which was going to be my question: do you agree with the following? What I will say, though, are two things: will the Commission, if they have any requests for informal discussions, refer them to either Nick Ramsay or me, who are the representatives of Members in here, so that we can have the informal discussion before the Member can have the more formal discussion with the board as a whole? I'm very happy to talk to any Members across the Chamber on this, and I'm sure Nick Ramsay would be as well. We're there to represent the views of Members and, as such, if Members have an issue, discuss it with us and then you or I, or Nick Ramsay, can raise it formally.

I almost feel as if I don't need to respond to that, because Mike Hedges has done his own publicity for himself and Nick Ramsay, who are the direct representatives of us as elected Members here on the pensions board. So, I thank Mike for making himself available for discussion informally with Members on the nature of the investments, but also, as I said, in addition to that informal raising of these issues with our representatives, any issue can be raised formally directly with the board in writing to the chair and the members.