Kensington and Chelsea Pension Fund Investments
Dear Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea,
I would like to request the following information:
1) The full details of what the Kensington and Chelsea Pension Fund currently invests in, including the name and amounts of each asset class or investment being held.
2) The investments broken down into different categories/types of holding, 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.
3) The industrial sector of each investment e.g. Aerospace & Defense, Oil & Gas Producers, Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology, Media, Banks, Mining, Government, Automobiles, Financial Services, Housing and any other sectors that the Pension Fund holds investments in. Examples of Pension Funds which have previously included this data in their publicly released investments include Buckinghamshire and Derbyshire. (i)
4) A full list of all the companies which the Pension Fund currently invests in (this should be covered in the above requests). This list should include the names of each company and the amount invested in each company.
5) Can you clearly specify the total value of all investments that the Pension Fund holds in sterling.
6) 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, can you also provide the password to the excel sheet. When considering the request for this data in excel format, please refer to Innes v Information Commissioner [2014] EWCA Civ 1086 (ii), which allows a requestor to express a preference for communication by a particular means, specifically: "an applicant's right to choose to have information provided to him in electronic form extends to a right to choose the software format in which it is embodied." (iii)
I would like to receive the information in electronic format. 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 confidentiality 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.' (iv)
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,
Edward Jones
(i) Buckinghamshire https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/2... Derbyshire https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/2...
(ii) Innes v Information Commissioner [2014] EWCA Civ 1086 http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/...
(iii) Section 11 FOIA and the Form of a Request https://panopticonblog.com/2014/08/01/se...
(iv) 'Freedom of Information Awareness Guidance 5: Commercial Interests' Office of the Information Commissioner, Page 10, https://www.humanrightsinitiative.org/pr...
Information request
Our reference: 3564834
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
Dear Mr Jones
Freedom of Information Act 2000
Thank you for your request for information that was received on 24 June
2020 concerning:
1) The full details of what the Kensington and Chelsea Pension Fund
currently invests in, including the name and amounts of each asset class
or investment being held.
2) The investments broken down into different categories/types of holding,
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.
3) The industrial sector of each investment e.g. Aerospace & Defense, Oil
& Gas Producers, Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology, Media, Banks, Mining,
Government, Automobiles, Financial Services, Housing and any other sectors
that the Pension Fund holds investments in. Examples of Pension Funds
which have previously included this data in their publicly released
investments include Buckinghamshire and Derbyshire. (i)
4) A full list of all the companies which the Pension Fund currently
invests in (this should be covered in the above requests). This list
should include the names of each company and the amount invested in each
company.
5) Can you clearly specify the total value of all investments that the
Pension Fund holds in sterling.
6) 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, can you also provide the password to the excel sheet. When
considering the request for this data in excel format, please refer to
Innes v Information Commissioner [2014] EWCA Civ 1086 (ii), which allows a
requestor to express a preference for communication by a particular means,
specifically: "an applicant's right to choose to have information provided
to him in electronic form extends to a right to choose the software format
in which it is embodied." (iii)
We are dealing with your request under the Freedom of Information Act
2000 and we aim to send a response by 22 July 2020.
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 may restrict the release of some or
all of the information you have requested. We will carry out an assessment
and if any exemptions apply to some or all of the information then we
might not provide that information to you. We will inform you if this is
the case and advise you of your rights to request an internal review and
to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office.
We will also advise you if we cannot provide you with the information
requested for any other reason together with the reason(s) why and details
of how you may appeal (if appropriate).
Please note : Due to the Covid-19 Coronavirus pandemic, there may be
delays in processing requests made under the Freedom of Information Act &
Environmental Information Regulations, and we are experiencing challenges
in providing information in non-electronic formats. However, we will
handle all requests as quickly as possible and keep you informed on how
your request is progressing.
Yours sincerely
Information Management Team
NOTE: Please do not edit the subject line when replying to this email.
Information request
Our reference: 3554035
Your reference: [FOI #672380 email]
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
Dear Mr Jones
Freedom of Information Act 2000
Thank you for your request for information that was received on 24 June
2020 concerning:
1) The full details of what the Kensington and Chelsea Pension Fund
currently invests in, including the name and amounts of each asset class
or investment being held.
2) The investments broken down into different categories/types of holding,
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.
3) The industrial sector of each investment e.g. Aerospace & Defense, Oil
& Gas Producers, Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology, Media, Banks, Mining,
Government, Automobiles, Financial Services, Housing and any other sectors
that the Pension Fund holds investments in. Examples of Pension Funds
which have previously included this data in their publicly released
investments include Buckinghamshire and Derbyshire. (i)
4) A full list of all the companies which the Pension Fund currently
invests in (this should be covered in the above requests). This list
should include the names of each company and the amount invested in each
company.
5) Can you clearly specify the total value of all investments that the
Pension Fund holds in sterling.
6) 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, can you also provide the password to the excel sheet. When
considering the request for this data in excel format, please refer to
Innes v Information Commissioner [2014] EWCA Civ 1086 (ii), which allows a
requestor to express a preference for communication by a particular means,
specifically: "an applicant's right to choose to have information provided
to him in electronic form extends to a right to choose the software format
in which it is embodied." (iii)
We are dealing with your request under the Freedom of Information Act
2000 and we aim to send a response by 22 July 2020.
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 may restrict the release of some or
all of the information you have requested. We will carry out an assessment
and if any exemptions apply to some or all of the information then we
might not provide that information to you. We will inform you if this is
the case and advise you of your rights to request an internal review and
to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office.
We will also advise you if we cannot provide you with the information
requested for any other reason together with the reason(s) why and details
of how you may appeal (if appropriate).
Please note : Due to the Covid-19 Coronavirus pandemic, there may be
delays in processing requests made under the Freedom of Information Act &
Environmental Information Regulations, and we are experiencing challenges
in providing information in non-electronic formats. However, we will
handle all requests as quickly as possible and keep you informed on how
your request is progressing.
Yours sincerely
Information Management Team
NOTE: Please do not edit the subject line when replying to this email.
Information request
Our reference: 3554035
Your reference: [FOI #672380 email]
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
Dear Edward Jones
Thank you for your request for information received on 24 June 2020.
Please find attached our response to your request.
If you are dissatisfied with your response please send your Internal
Review request to the email address below
[1][RBKC request email]
Yours faithfully
Information Management Team
NOTE: Please do not edit the subject line when replying to this email.
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[rbkc%20request%20email]
Dear Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea's handling of my FOI request 'Kensington and Chelsea Pension Fund Investments'.
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
Reference No: 3564834
Please can you furnish me with a full breakdown of the assets invested in by the fund managers.
So what I require is a list of all the companies invested in and the discrete investment figures for each company.
We have prevously had such a breakdown from nearly all the 101 LGPS in the UK previously.
Yours sincerely,
Edward Jones
Dear Mr Jones,
Thank you for your email. We do apologise that your request for information has not been met in full. The team have been contacted and we will send you all requested information no later than 7th August.
Kind regards
Information Management Team
Dear Mr Jones,
We do apologise for the delay. Further to the message below, we have just been informed that we are just waiting on information from one of the Fund Managers which is expected this week. Once received it will be forwarded to you.
Kind regards,
Information Management Team
Good afternoon Mr Jones,
We thank you for your patience. Please find attached our response to your request.
If you are dissatisfied with your response please send your Internal Review request to the email address below
[RBKC request email]
Kind regards,
Information Management Team
Dear Freedom of Information: CP-ICT: RBKC,
Thanks for this but I can't use csv files. As per my original request I did specify Excel.
Please can you resend as Excel.
Yours sincerely,
Edward Jones
Dear Freedom of Information: CP-ICT: RBKC,
Thanks for this but I can't use csv files. As per my original request I did specify Excel.
Please can you resend as Excel. This is the second time I am asking for this kindly to be carried out.
Yours sincerely,
Edward Jones
Good afternoon,
Thank you for your email. We apologise for the delay. Please see attached that should now be satisfactory.
Kind regards
Information Management Team
Dear Freedom of Information: CP-ICT: RBKC,
I believe therre are major errors in your figures.
Please can you explain why Pyrford Holdings are at 2.6bn and Baillie Gifford also in the bns whereas your total holdings are listed as 1.3bn
Yours sincerely,
Edward Jones
Dear Freedom of Information: CP-ICT: RBKC,
Please can you get back to me...
i wrote to you 10 days ago. Please answer my question.
Yours sincerely,
Edward Jones
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