The assets of the Group’s pension schemes are held under trust, separate from the assets of the Group and are invested with a number of independent fund managers. There are ten trustees for the principal UK scheme of whom four are employee representatives nominated by the members on a regional basis and one is a pensioner trustee.

The chairman of the trustees of the principal UK scheme is a professional trustee who served for eight years as a fund member elected representative on the National Association of Pension
Funds’ investment council. He also sits independently on two industry-wide schemes, as a Department of Trade and Industry appointed trustee of the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme and as an elected representative of all railway employers on the board of the Railways Pension Scheme. He is the current Chairman of the Railways Pension Scheme trustees. The other trustees of the principal UK scheme include senior Group and UK Bus executives.

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (“PwC”) acted as the actuary for The Yorkshire Traction Company Limited Pension Plan up until the scheme was merged into the principal UK Scheme on 1 April 2008. PwC do not act as actuaries or advisors to any of the other principal UK pension schemes.

A Pensions Oversight Committee was in operation throughout the year. This Committee is chaired by a non-executive director and also comprises one executive director and other members of senior management.

The Committee operates at a strategic level and its remit covers all matters affecting the Group’s pension schemes from the perspective of the Group’s shareholders and other stakeholders, and it will consider, develop and propose recommendations to the Board in respect of such issues as may arise.

The Committee reviews pension scheme funding, investment strategy, risk management, internal controls surrounding pension matters and the related administration for all of the employee pension schemes of the Group.