Pension fund's investments in tobacco bonds/shares

The request was partially successful.

Dear Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council,

I am seeking information about the value of the local authority pension fund’s investment in tobacco shares and bonds, as well as the income from those investments. Please provide whatever answers you can to the following.

1. What is the most recent available value of the pension fund?

2. What is the value of the fund’s directly-held investment in shares or bonds of the following companies: British American Tobacco, Imperial Brands, Japan Tobacco International, Altria Group Inc, Philip Morris International, Universal Corp, Alliance One International?

3. What is the total combined value of the fund’s directly-held investments in the companies named above?

4. What income did the fund receive from these investments in the last 12-month period for which records are available?

5. Does the fund have any other investments in tobacco via pooled investments? What is the value of these?

6. What is the local authority’s annual spend on smoking-related illness?

7. Please supply the number of deaths attributable to smoking in the local authority areas covered by your pension fund. Your Director of Public Health or equivalent should be able to supply this figure.

If you require clarification on any of the above questions, please get in touch on 0203 353 3616, or 07415154041 or email me at [email address]

Yours faithfully,

Rob Davies

Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council

Please quote ID [FOI_6872] on all correspondence

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Regards

Freedom of Information

Legal Service - Resources Directorate
Wigan Council, PO Box 100

Town Hall, Library Street, Wigan WN1 3DS
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Dear Sir

I am writing to respond to your recent request for information. This request has been handled under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

• The response to your request is detailed in the attachment(s)

If you are unhappy with any aspect of this response, an independent senior officer will review this decision. If you are not satisfied with our response you must put your complaint in writing within 40 working days of receipt of this response giving the reasons for your complaint. You can either email [Wigan Council request email] or write to Freedom of Information at the address below.

You can also complain to the Information Commissioner, who is the regulator for Freedom of Information. Her website is https://ico.org.uk/ and her helpline number is 0303 1231113.

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Kind Regards

Freedom of Information
Legal Services - Resources Directorate
Wigan Council, PO Box 100
Town Hall, Library Street, Wigan WN1 3DS
www.wigan.gov.uk
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This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and
intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom
they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please
notify the system manager.

Email may be automatically logged, monitored and/or recorded
for legal purposes.

As a public body, the Council may be required to disclose this
email or any response to it under the Freedom of Information
Act 2000 unless the information in it is covered by one of the
exemptions in the Act.

This footnote also confirms that this email has been swept for
the presence of computer viruses.

______________________________________________________________________
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Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council

Dear Sir,

 

Further to our recent response to your request, more information has now
been provided for Q6 and 7:

 

6. What is the local authority’s annual spend on smoking-related illness?

 

It is estimated that the total annual cost of smoking to the NHS across
Wigan is £15.5m

 

In regards to spend on care as a result of smoking related illnesses it is
estimated that £5.7m is funded from the local authority social care
budget. 

 

Source: [1]http://ash.lelan.co.uk/  

 

7. Please supply the number of deaths attributable to smoking in the local
authority areas covered by your pension fund. Your Director of Public
Health or equivalent should be able to supply this figure.

 

Latest data from Fingertips shows that for 2014-16 Wigan had 1,780 deaths
attributable to smoking (a rate of 344 per 100,000 population aged 35+).
The combined figure for GM LAs for the same period was 14,258 (rate for GM
not calculated by PHE).

 

Source data can be found [2]here, for info.

 

Many apologies for the confusion.

 

If you are unhappy with any aspect of this response, an independent senior
officer will review this decision. If you are not satisfied with our
response you must put your complaint in writing within 40 working days of
receipt of this response giving the reasons for your complaint.  You can
either email [3][Wigan Council request email] or write to Freedom of Information
at the address below.

 

You can also complain to the Information Commissioner, who is the
regulator for Freedom of Information. Her website is
[4]https://ico.org.uk/ and her helpline number is 0303 1231113.

 

Her staff may ask you to exhaust our internal complaints procedure if you
choose to complain to her office now.

 

Kind Regards

 

 

 

Freedom of Information

Legal Services - Resources Directorate

Wigan Council, PO Box 100

Town Hall, Library Street, Wigan WN1 3DS

 

 

>>Corporate Disclaimer<<
This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and
intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom
they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please
notify the system manager.

Email may be automatically logged, monitored and/or recorded
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As a public body, the Council may be required to disclose this
email or any response to it under the Freedom of Information
Act 2000 unless the information in it is covered by one of the
exemptions in the Act.

This footnote also confirms that this email has been swept for
the presence of computer viruses.
______________________________________________________________________
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