dorset council (“the council”) is the administering authority for the local government pension scheme (lgps) in dorset which provides pensions and other benefits for employees of the council, other local authorities and a range of other organisations within the county. the lgps is a national scheme administered locally and is a ‘defined benefit’ scheme which means that benefits for scheme members are calculated d on factors such as age, length of membership and salary. member benefits are not calculated on the basis of investment performance as they would be in a ‘defined contribution’ scheme. the council has delegated its responsibilities as an administering authority to the pension fund committee, which consists of five elected members of the council, three elected members of bournemouth, christchurch and poole council, and one scheme member representative nominated by the trade unions. administering authorities are required to maintain a pension fund for the payment of benefits to scheme members funded by contributions from scheme members and their employers, and from returns on contributions invested prior to benefits becoming payable. contribution levels for scheme members are set nationally, and contribution levels for scheme employers are set locally by actuaries engaged by administering authorities. as at 30 june 2021 the value of the dorset county pension fund (“the fund”) was approximately £3.5 billion. the council is seeking an organisation that can provide an advisory service to its pension fund committee and officers on all matters relating to the investments of the dorset county pension fund.