Like any well run organisation it is important that we effectively manage our money and as a public sector organisation it is important that we are accountable for how we use the money we spend.
You can find more details about how we invest the Pension Fund through the
investments
pages. This section is concerned with what is called our Operating Budget, which is the part of our expenditure which is like a local authority.
Each year we set a budget for the forthcoming financial year which is designed to deliver the objectives set out in our Corporate Strategy. The budget for 2025/26 was approved at a meeting of the Authority on 13 February 2025 and is shown below.
| Operational Budget |
2024/25
Budget
|
Transfers
Between
Budget
Heads |
Salaries
Budget
Movement
|
Other
Budget
Movements
|
2025/26
Approved
Budget
|
| Cost of Services |
|
|
|
|
|
| 1) Pensions Administration |
3,646,910 |
64,000 |
370.040 |
(119,580) |
3,961,370 |
| 2) Investment Strategy |
656,400 |
0 |
(13,880) |
24,110 |
666,630 |
| 3) Resources |
1,434,760 |
(64,000) |
192,310 |
22,880 |
1,585,950 |
| 4) ICT |
1,495,590 |
0 |
179,970 |
109,500 |
1,785,060 |
| 5) Central Costs |
840,180 |
0 |
(11,400) |
26,590 |
855,370 |
| 6) Democratic Representation |
127,060 |
0 |
0 |
29,040 |
156,100 |
Residual Unfunded Liabilities
of South Yorkshire
County Council |
332,000 |
0 |
0 |
(20,000) |
312,000 |
| Subtotal Revenue Expenditure |
8,532,900 |
0 |
717,040 |
72,540 |
9,322,480 |
| Capital Expenditure |
98,500 |
0 |
0 |
36,500 |
135,000 |
Levy on District Councils
for Residual Liabilities |
(332,000) |
0 |
0 |
20,000 |
(312,000) |
Subtotal before transfers to /
(from) reserves |
8,299,400 |
0 |
717,040 |
129,040 |
9,145,480 |
Appropriations to/(from)
Reserves Total |
(28,000) |
0 |
0 |
(66,650) |
(94,650) |
| Grand Total |
8,271,400 |
0 |
717,040 |
62,390 |
9,050,830 |
After the District Councils have met the costs of the unfunded pension liabilities of the former South Yorkshire County Council through a levy, the Authority’s remaining costs are charged to the Pension Fund for the services provided as shown below:
| Total Charge to the Pension Fund comprises: |
2024/25
Budget
£ |
2025/26
Budget
£ |
| Administration Expenses |
5,960,900 |
6,462,580 |
| Investment Management Expenses |
616,820 |
838,890 |
| Oversight & Governance Expenses |
1,693,680 |
1,749,360 |
|
8,271,400 |
9,050,830 |
The budget allows us to employ just under 130 full time equivalent staff as shown below:
|
2024/25
Establishment
FTE |
Miscellaneous
Changes
FTE |
Growth
FTE |
2025/26
Establishment
FTE |
| Pensions Administration |
77.7 |
-0.5 |
0.0 |
77.2 |
| Investment Strategy |
4.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
4.0 |
| Resources |
28.0 |
-0.6 |
1.0 |
28.4 |
| ICT |
19.3 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
19.3 |
| Central Costs |
1.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
1.0 |
| Democratic Representation |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
| Total |
130.0 |
-1.1 |
1.0 |
129.9 |
For 2025/26, there is a decrease of less than 1 FTE to the overall staff numbers in order to resource the organisation to meet its corporate objectives.
Like any well managed organisation we maintain reserves in order to pay for specific projects and the estimated level of our reserves as at the end of 2025/26 is shown below:
| Reserve |
Balance at April
2025 |
Contributions to
Reserves |
Contributions
from Reserves |
Transfers
Between Reserves |
Balance at
31 March 2026 |
| Corporate Strategy Reserve |
135.985 |
0 |
(57,000) |
0 |
78,985 |
| ICT Reserve |
68,030 |
10,000 |
(27,650) |
0 |
50,380 |
| Capital Projects Reserve |
74,290 |
0 |
(20,000) |
0 |
54,290 |
| Total Earmarked Reserve |
278,305 |
10,000 |
(104,650) |
0 |
183,655 |
| Net total transfer (from) reserves: |
(94,000) |
|