East Sussex Pension Fund Investments

The request was successful.

Dear East Sussex County Council,

I would like to request the following information:

1) The full details of what the East Sussex County Council Pension Fund currently invests in, including the name and amounts of each asset class or investment being held.

Ideally this information would be broken down into the different categories, including: Index Linked Securities, Unit trust Property, Cash Instruments, Unit Trust Equities, Infrastructure, Fixed Interest Securities, Equities Segregated Unlisted, Equities Segregated UK, Equities Segregated Foreign as well as any other investments that the Pension Fund holds.

2) A full list of all the companies which the Pension Fund currently invests in (this should be covered in the above question). This list should include the names of each company and the amount invested in each company.

I would like to receive the information in electronic format if possible. If one part of the request can be answered sooner than others, please send that information first
followed by any subsequent data. If you need further clarification, please contact me by email.

Many public authorities release their contracts, minutes and other information of interactions with private vendors in line with the Freedom of Information Act. The exemption for commercial interest under the Act (section 43) is a qualified exemption, which means information can only be withheld if it is in the public's interest. The public
have an interest in knowing what the Pension Fund is investing in, the terms of contracts and the minutes of meeting with public authorities, whether or not public money changes hands immediately.

If you are relying on section 41 (the exemption for legal breach of confidence) then I would like to know the following:

* When these confidentially agreements were agreed
* All correspondence and email in which these confidentiality agreements were discussed
* The precise wording of the confidentiality agreements.

I ask these questions because guidance issued by both the Lord Chancellor (draft guidance on FOI implementation) and the Office of Government Commerce (Model terms and conditions for goods and services) specifically state that public authorities should not enter into these types of agreements; they go directly against the spirit of the laws of disclosure. I would also point to the Information Commissioner's guidance on accepting blanket commercial
confidentiality agreements: 'Unless confidentiality clauses are necessary or reasonable, there is a real risk that, in the event of a complaint, the Commissioner would order
disclosure in any case.'(i)

Finally, within the law of confidence these is also a public
interest test. Therefore, the information should be disclosed in full. If any parts are redacted they must be for information that can be proven to be a legal breach of confidence in court, and only then where secrecy can be shown to be in the public interest. These are difficult positions to argue when public money is at stake or where a public authority is offering a private company a monopoly to charge its stakeholders.

I reserve the right to appeal your decision to withhold any
information or to charge excessive fees, and understand that under the act, I am entitled to a response within 20 working days. I would be grateful if you could confirm in writing that you have received this request.

Regards,

Edward Jones

(i) 'Freedom of Information Awareness Guidance 5: Commercial
Interests' Office of the Information
Commissioner, Page 10,

http://www.ico.gov.uk/upload/documents/l...

Freedom of Information, East Sussex County Council

 

 

Dear Mr Jones

 

FOI Request ref:  1641 / Jones / ESCC Pension Fund Investments

 

Thank you for your request for information about the above. Your request
was received on 3/10/2012 and I am dealing with it under the terms of the
Freedom of Information Act 2000.

We always aim to respond as quickly as possible, and in this case will do
so no later than 30/12/2012, which is the 20 working day deadline. The
deadline is counted from the first working day we receive it, not the date
a letter is written / posted or an email sent.

In some circumstances a fee may be payable and if that is the case, I will
let you know. A fees notice will be issued to you, and you will be
required to pay before we proceed in dealing with your request.

Please quote the above reference number in any communication regarding
this request.

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

 

Jeremy Coleman

Freedom of Information Officer

 

East Sussex County Council

Governance and Community Services Department

C3F, County Hall

St Anne’s Crescent

Lewes

East Sussex BN7 1UE

 

Phone: 01273 482913
Fax: 01273 481208

email: [1][East Sussex County Council request email]   web: [2]www.eastsussex.gov.uk/foi

P  please consider the environment - do you really need to print this
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2. http://www.eastsussex.gov.uk/foi

Freedom of Information, East Sussex County Council

1 Attachment

 

 

Dear Mr Jones

 

FOI Request ref:  1641 / Jones / ESCC Pension Fund Investments

 

Thank you for your request for information about the above, which has been
dealt with under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Your
request and our response are set out in the text boxes below. Please note
that the information is provided subject to the copyright and reuse of
information terms and conditions set out at the bottom of this email.

 

Request:

 

I would like to request the following information:

    

     1) The full details of what the East Sussex County Council Pension

     Fund currently invests in, including the name and amounts of each

     asset class or investment being held.

    

     Ideally this information would be broken down into the different

     categories, including: Index Linked Securities, Unit trust

     Property, Cash Instruments, Unit Trust Equities, Infrastructure,

     Fixed Interest Securities, Equities Segregated Unlisted, Equities

     Segregated UK, Equities Segregated Foreign as well as any other

     investments that the Pension Fund holds.

    

     2) A full list of all the companies which the Pension Fund

     currently invests in (this should be covered in the above

     question). This list should include the names of each company and

     the amount invested in each company.

 
Response:

 

Please see the attached document.  

 

The accounts have been provided to 31 August 2012. These are the currently
held audited figures. The accounts are closed on the last day of each
month and, following audit, are available on the 10^th business day
following month end. The next set of accounts will be those that were
closed on 30 September 2012 and they will be available on the 15^th
October 2012.

 

 

 

 

 

I hope that this answers your enquiry. If you believe that the County
Council has not complied with the FOI Act in responding to your request,
you may ask for an internal review. If you wish to do so, please set out
the grounds of your appeal in writing to:

 

Philip Baker, Assistant Director, Legal and Democratic Services, East
Sussex County Council, County Hall, St Anne’s Crescent, Lewes, East
Sussex. BN7 1UE.

or by email to him at [1][email address]

 

Please quote the FOI reference number in any communication regarding this
particular request.

 

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you then
have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a
decision. Generally, the Information Commissioner cannot make a decision
unless you have exhausted the County Council’s internal review procedure
as described in the previous paragraph. The Commissioner can be contacted
at: Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane,
Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.  [2]Tel: 0303 123 1113.  [3]www.ico.gov.uk

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

Jeremy Coleman

Freedom of Information Officer

Room C3F

County Hall

St Anne's Crescent

Lewes

East Sussex BN7 1UE
Phone: 01273 482913
Fax: 01273 481208

email: [4][East Sussex County Council request email]   web: [5]www.eastsussex.gov.uk/foi

 

 

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would infringe copyright – for example by making multiple copies, or by
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2. Copyright in the information is owned by East Sussex County Council
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first ask our permission. Such re-use may or may not involve the granting
of a licence and the application of a Fee.

 

This message is intended for the use of the addressee only and may
contain confidential or privileged information. If you have received it in
error please notify the sender and destroy it. You may not use it or copy
it to anyone else.

E-mail is not a secure communications medium. Please be aware of this
when replying. All communications sent to or from the County Council
may be subject to recording and/or monitoring in accordance with
relevant legislation.

Although East Sussex County Council has taken steps to ensure that this
e-mail and any attachments are virus free, we can take no responsibility
if a virus is actually present and you are advised to ensure that the
appropriate checks are made.

You can visit our website at http://www.eastsussex.gov.uk

References

Visible links
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2. file:///tmp/Tel:0303%20
3. http://www.ico.gov.uk/
4. mailto:[East Sussex County Council request email]
5. http://www.eastsussex.gov.uk/foi