Financial Links with or Investment in Nuclear Weapons

Roedd y cais yn llwyddiannus.

Dear Middlesbrough Council,

In accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I'd be most grateful if you can provide me with the following information:

1) Whether your pension fund(s) has any exclusion criteria against indiscriminate weapons, weapons of mass destruction, or nuclear weapons
1a) What such exclusion criteria are, if any
1b) The amount invested in your pension fund(s) and the names thereof

Please be advised: if another body is responsible for pension provisions, I would still like a response to the questions below.

I would also like a response to the questions below if you ARE responsible for your own pension.

2) A list of any non-pension investments funds, whether they have any exclusion criteria against indiscriminate weapons, weapons of mass destruction, or nuclear weapons
2a) What such exclusion criteria are, if any
2b) What amount is currently invested in each

3) A list of banks currently holding funds for you and an approximate amount held by each bank.

4) Whether the council has any internal exclusion policies relating to investment in, or banking with institution that are financially linked with, indiscriminate weapons, weapons of mass destructions, or nuclear weapons.
4a) What such exclusion policies are

Yours faithfully,
Simon Ramacci

foi, Middlesbrough Council

Thank you for contacting the Information Requests Team. If your email is
concerning a request for information, please treat this email as an
acknowledgment of your request. You will receive no further communication
until a response is provided to you.

If you are requesting personal information about yourself (Subject Access
Request), a member of the team will contact you regarding making your
request live. Subject Access Requests are subject to a statutory 30
calendar day response period.

We are still dealing with information requests (Freedom of Information
(FOI) and Subject Access Requests) but we may take longer than normal to
respond than the 20 working day timescale. This is in line with advice
from the Information Commissioner.

Regards
Information Requests Team

 

 

 

 

 

dangos adrannau a ddyfynnir

foi, Middlesbrough Council

Dear Simon Ramacci

I refer to your request for information received on 13th April 2022, regarding investment links.

Middlesbrough Council is unable to proceed with your request without clarification of the information you wish to receive. To help us do so, we would like to know what you are referring to in question 1b when you ask for 'the names thereof', i.e. are you referring to a list of equities?

In relation to questions 2-4 are you referring to the Pension Fund or Middlesbrough Council?

Please note that if we do not receive appropriate clarification of your information requirements within three months from the date of this email, then Middlesbrough Council will consider your request closed.

Please do not hesitate to contact the Information Requests Team via email [Middlesbrough Council request email] should you require any further advice or assistance with this or any other matter.

Yours sincerely

Information Requests Team

Legal and Governance
P.O. Box 500
Civic Centre
Middlesbrough
TS1 9FT

Email: [Middlesbrough Council request email]

dangos adrannau a ddyfynnir

Dear foi,

Thank you very much for asking for clarification. I had noticed that the questions were not very clear, and have since improved them for other LAs.

To answer your queries:

Q1 Asks about the name, amount invested, and exclusion criteria of any pension fund directly under the control of Middlesbrough Council

Where you have pension funds or not under your direct control, I then ask for the following to be provided

Q2 Any investment funds that are NOT part of pension schemes, and are directly under your control, their names, amounts, and any exclusion criteria

Q3 The names of any banks (or building societies or credit unions) currently used by Middlesbrough Council, and an approximate amount held with each bank

Q4 Whether Middlesbrough Council has any exclusion criteria for how their money is invested (pension and NON-pension), or for which banks may be used to hold their money

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you require further clarification, and thank you again for raising this issue with me!

Yours sincerely,
Simon Ramacci

foi, Middlesbrough Council

Thank you for contacting the Information Requests Team. If your email is
concerning a request for information, please treat this email as an
acknowledgment of your request. You will receive no further communication
until a response is provided to you.

If you are requesting personal information about yourself (Subject Access
Request), a member of the team will contact you regarding making your
request live. Subject Access Requests are subject to a statutory 30
calendar day response period.

We are still dealing with information requests (Freedom of Information
(FOI) and Subject Access Requests) but we may take longer than normal to
respond than the 20 working day timescale. This is in line with advice
from the Information Commissioner.

Regards
Information Requests Team

 

 

 

 

 

dangos adrannau a ddyfynnir

foi, Middlesbrough Council

Dear Mr Ramacci

Thank you for providing clarification in relation to your information request. A response will be provided within 20 working days as allowed under the FOIA.

Yours sincerely

Information Requests Team

Legal and Governance
P.O. Box 500
Civic Centre
Middlesbrough
TS1 9FT

Email: [Middlesbrough Council request email]

dangos adrannau a ddyfynnir

foi, Middlesbrough Council

2 Atodiad

                                       

[1]cid:image001.png@01D2667F.F9FE5480

 

 

Dear Mr Ramacci

 

REF NO:017772

 

I am writing to confirm that Middlesbrough Council has now completed its
search for the information you requested on 21^st April 2022.  Your
request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the
Freedom of Information Act. 

 

In your request you asked for the following information:

 

1) Whether your pension fund(s) has any exclusion criteria against
indiscriminate weapons, weapons of mass destruction, or nuclear weapons

1a) What such exclusion criteria are, if any

1b) The amount invested in your pension fund(s) and the names thereof

 

Please be advised: if another body is responsible for pension provisions,
I would still like a response to the questions below.

 

I would also like a response to the questions below if you ARE responsible
for your own pension.

 

2) A list of any non-pension investments funds, whether they have any
exclusion criteria against indiscriminate weapons, weapons of mass
destruction, or nuclear weapons

2a) What such exclusion criteria are, if any

2b) What amount is currently invested in each

 

3) A list of banks currently holding funds for you and an approximate
amount held by each bank.

 

4) Whether the council has any internal exclusion policies relating to
investment in, or banking with institution that are financially linked
with, indiscriminate weapons, weapons of mass destructions, or nuclear
weapons.

4a) What such exclusion policies are

 

On 21^st April you provided the following clarification in relation to
your request:

 

Thank you very much for asking for clarification. I had noticed that the
questions were not very clear, and have since improved them for other LAs.

 

To answer your queries:

 

Q1 Asks about the name, amount invested, and exclusion criteria of any
pension fund directly under the control of Middlesbrough Council

 

Where you have pension funds or not under your direct control, I then ask
for the following to be provided

 

Q2 Any investment funds that are NOT part of pension schemes, and are
directly under your control, their names, amounts, and any exclusion
criteria

 

Q3 The names of any banks (or building societies or credit unions)
currently used by Middlesbrough Council, and an approximate amount held
with each bank

 

Q4 Whether Middlesbrough Council has any exclusion criteria for how their
money is invested (pension and NON-pension), or for which banks may be
used to hold their money

 

Response: Please find a response in relation to the Teesside Pension Fund
and Middlesbrough Council Finance & Investment Team.  Under S21 of the
FOIA (Information Accessible by other mean), some of the requested
information is published and links have been provided where applicable.

 

Teesside Pension Fund

Teesside Pension Fund do not have any exclusion criteria when making
investments.  However, our active investment is carried out by Borders to
Coast Pension Partnership and our passive investment is carried out by
Statestreet.

 

The following link will take you to Teesside Pension Fund committee papers
and if you look at Statestreet Appendix C ESG related changes to managed
pension fund index funds. You will find Statestreet’s exclusion criteria
there.

 

[2]Agenda for Teesside Pension Fund Committee on Wednesday 9th December,
2020, 11.00 am | Middlesbrough Council

 

The following link will take you to Teesside Pension Fund committee papers
and if you look at the Agenda reports pack you will find Borders to Coast
Pension Partnership Responsible Investment Policy in Appendix A.

 

[3]Meeting of Teesside Pension Fund Committee on Wednesday 17th June,
2020, 11.00 am | Middlesbrough Council

 

The banks, building societies and amounts invested can be found on the
attached spreadsheet for Teesside Pension Fund.

 

Middlesbrough Council Finance:

 

All the investments are held on call in liquidity accounts with either
central government or highly credit rated financial institutions/banks to
ensure the principal sums are protected as much as possible.  As part of
our treasury management practices there is an ethical policy which means
we should not invest in criminal activities or anything similar e.g.
nuclear weapons, with public money.

 

Further details on our treasury and investment strategy for the
non-pension fund activities of the Council can be seen with reference to
Appendix 5 of the Revenue Budget, Investment Strategy and Capital Strategy
report to Council on 23rd February 2022.  This is available on the
Council’s website ([4]www.middlesbrough.gov.uk).

 

As of close of play 25/04/22, the Non-Pension investment holdings were as
follows:

 

┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────┬──────────────────────────┐
│NatWest Bank │ £7,500,000│
├───────────────────────────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────┤
│Lloyds Bank │ £10,000,000│
├───────────────────────────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────┤
│Handelsbanken │ £5,000,000│
├───────────────────────────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────┤
│  │  │
├───────────────────────────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────┤
│Bank Account Balance – Nat West │ £9,300,000│
└───────────────────────────────────────────────────┴──────────────────────────┘

If you have any queries about this response, please do not hesitate to
contact the Information Requests Team via email [Middlesbrough Council request email]. 
Please remember to quote the reference number shown above in any future
communications.

If you are unhappy with the way your request has been handled you may ask
for an internal review within 40 days of receipt of the response. You
should email [Middlesbrough Council request email] or write to:-

Ann-Marie Johnstone,

Governance and Information Manager,
P.O. Box 500
2^nd Floor

Civic Centre

Middlesbrough

TS1 9FT

 

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have
the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for an
independent review.  The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: -

Information Commissioner’s Office,
Wycliffe House,
Water Lane,
Wilmslow,
Cheshire,
SK9 5AF

Yours sincerely

Information Requests Team

Legal and Governance
P.O. Box 500
Civic Centre

Middlesbrough

TS1 9FT

Email:   [Middlesbrough Council request email]
 

 

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dangos adrannau a ddyfynnir

References

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