Property holdings in Pension Fund

The request was successful.

Dear Torfaen Council,

I would like to request the following information:

1) The full details of what real estate assets the Greater Gwent (Torfaen) Pension Fund currently invests in, including the name and amounts of each type of real estate asset or investment being held.

This information should be broken down into the different
categories, including:
- Listed Real Estate securities;
Unlisted/Private Real Estate Property Funds/vehicles, companies or CIS;
- Directly held properties ; and
- (listed/unlisted) Real Estate Debt Funds/vehicles.

In the case of any unlisted real estate vehicles or real estate debt vehicles, the domicile of the underlying assets should be included.

A full list of all the companies, vehicles, CIS etc in which the Pension Fund invests in or has an outstanding commitment to should be covered in the above question. This list should include the names of each company and the amount invested in each company etc.

2) The current yields of the different investments the pension fund holds.

3) Can you clearly specify the total value of all real estate investments that the Pension Fund holds.

4) I would like to receive this information in an unlocked excel sheet without protected cells (.xls). If you have to password protect the excel sheet, please can you also provide the password to the excel
sheet.
5) Please supply a copy of the Pension Scheme’s latest Statement of Investment Principles and most recent Pension Fund Report & Accounts.
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 there 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.

Yours faithfully,

Samuel Hall

Call Torfaen, Torfaen County Borough Council

Thank you for taking the time to email Torfaen County Borough Council.

Please be aware that your enquiry is being addressed and a reply will be
sent within 10 working days.

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'

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YMWADIAD: Mae'r wybodaeth sy'n gynwysedig yn yr e-bost yma a) yn eiddo i
Gyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Torfaen; a b) yn gyfrinachol. Fe'i bwriedir ar
gyfer y derbynnydd yn unig. Os nad chi yw’r sawl y cyfeiriwyd hi ato, ni
ddylech ddadlennu, copïo na dosbarthu'r wybodaeth neu ei defnyddio i
weithredu. Os derbyniwch yr e-bost yma fel camgymeriad, gadewch i ni wybod
ar unwaith drwy ffonio ++44 (0) 1495 766366, a danfonwch yr e-bost yn ol
gydag unrhyw atodiadau. RHYBUDD: Gwnewch yn siwr bod gennych ddiogelwch
feirws digonol cyn agor neu ddatgysylltu unrhyw ddogfen sydd yn atodiad
i'r e-bost hwn. Mae’r Cyngor yn croesawu gohebiaeth yn Gymraeg a Saesneg.
Cewch ateb Cymraeg i bob gohebiaeth yn Gymraeg ac ni fydd yn arwain i
unrhyw oedi. Mae data personol sy'n cael ei brosesu gan y cyngor yn cael
ei wneud yn unol â'r gofynion sydd arnom ni o dan y Rheoliad Diogelu Data
Cyffredinol (RhDDC) (UE) 2016/679. Am fwy o wybodaeth ar sut yr ydym yn
gwneud hyn gwelwch ein Hysbysiad Preifatrwydd

References

Visible links
1. http://www.torfaen.gov.uk/

TCBC, FOI, Torfaen County Borough Council

3 Attachments

Dear Mr Hall

Thank you for your email dated 23rd January 2018 requesting information
under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.  I have logged your email and
will deal with your request in order that we can respond to you within the
statutory deadline of 20 working days.

I will contact you further as soon as the relevant information is
available.

This correspondence is available in large print, Braille or Welsh. Please
contact us for further details or if we can help in any way.

Yours sincerely

Lisa Coles

Senior Business Support Officer (Complaints/FOI) / Uwch Swyddog Cymorth
Busnes (Cwynion/Rhyddid Gwybodaeth)

Chief Executive’s Service / Gwasanaeth Y Prif Weithredwr

Torfaen County Borough Council / Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Torfaen

Phone/Ffôn: 01495 761615/ Fax/Ffacs: 01495 766331

Email/E-Bost: [1]l[email address]

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TCBC, FOI, Torfaen County Borough Council

4 Attachments

Dear Mr Hall

Further to your e-mail below, requesting information under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000, I am now in a position to respond to your questions
as follows:

As requested please see attached spreadsheet that provides a list of the
Greater Gwent (Torfaen) Pension Fund's property investments as at 31
December 2018, including yields and 1 year performance returns. Please
note that the Fund does not have any direct property investment, all
investment is via pooled funds, predominantly Property Unit Trusts.

The Fund’s current Investment Strategy Statement (which was introduced
with effect from 1st April 2017 to replace the previous Statement of
Investment Principles) and the 2017/18 Pension Fund Annual Report and
Accounts can be found on our website:

[1]http://gwentpensionfund.co.uk/media/2676...

[2]http://gwentpensionfund.co.uk/media/3990...

Information supplied in response to any Freedom of Information Act request
may be subject to copyright.  A single copy of information supplied under
the Freedom of Information Act may only be used for personal,
non-commercial research or study, unless stated otherwise.  It must not be
passed to others, copied or re-published in whole or in part without
permission from the copyright holder.  Any copyright statement that forms
part of or in any way refers to the information provided must not be
altered or removed.

If you have any queries about this letter or are unhappy about the service
you have received in relation to your request and wish to make a complaint
or request a review, please do not hesitate to contact me in writing.

If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint, you may apply
directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Generally, the
Information Commissioner’s Office (Wales) cannot make a decision unless
you have exhausted the complaints procedure provided by this Council. The
Information Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information
Commissioner’s Office (Wales), 2nd Floor, Churchill House, Churchill Way,
Cardiff, CF10 2HH. Telephone 016 2554 5297 or Fax 029 2067 8399 or e-mail
[email address].

Yours sincerely

Lisa Coles

Senior Business Support Officer (Complaints/FOI) / Uwch Swyddog Cymorth
Busnes (Cwynion/Rhyddid Gwybodaeth)

Chief Executive’s Service / Gwasanaeth Y Prif Weithredwr

Torfaen County Borough Council / Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Torfaen

Phone/Ffôn: 01495 761615/ Fax/Ffacs: 01495 766331

Email/E-Bost: [3]l[email address]

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From: TCBC, FOI
Sent: 23 January 2019 11:27
To: '[FOI #546800 email]' <[FOI #546800 email]>
Subject: Freedom of Information Request - Ref: 18/1146

Dear Mr Hall

Thank you for your email dated 23rd January 2018 requesting information
under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. I have logged your email and
will deal with your request in order that we can respond to you within the
statutory deadline of 20 working days.

I will contact you further as soon as the relevant information is
available.

This correspondence is available in large print, Braille or Welsh. Please
contact us for further details or if we can help in any way.

Yours sincerely

Lisa Coles

Senior Business Support Officer (Complaints/FOI) / Uwch Swyddog Cymorth
Busnes (Cwynion/Rhyddid Gwybodaeth)

Chief Executive’s Service / Gwasanaeth Y Prif Weithredwr

Torfaen County Borough Council / Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Torfaen

Phone/Ffôn: 01495 761615/ Fax/Ffacs: 01495 766331

Email/E-Bost: [7]l[email address]

Description: Description: Description: tcbc logo
avatar[8]www.torfaen.gov.uk / [9]Description: Description:
cid:image001.gif@01CB4DE0.4A1FEB50Follow us on Twitter / Description:
Description: cid:image002.gif@01CB4DE0.4A1FEB50[10]Find us on Facebook

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