Property holdings in Pension Fund

The request was successful.

Dear Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead,

I would like to request the following information:

1) The full details of what real estate assets the Berkshire 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

foi, Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead

Dear Mr Hall

 

I am writing to acknowledge receipt of your information request below. It
has been allocated reference number FOI73381.

 

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 allows for 20 working days to process
requests for information. You will receive a response no later than 8^th
March 2019.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Angelica Popa

Information Governance and Elections Officer

Law & Governance Service

Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead

Town Hall, St. Ives Road

Maidenhead SL6 1RF

 

 

show quoted sections

foi, Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Hall

 

I am writing to respond to your information request the details of which
are as follows:

 

1) The full details of what real estate assets the Berkshire 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.

 

Please find the requested data on the attached file.

 

The latest annual report and accounts are published on the council’s
website here: 
[1]https://www3.rbwm.gov.uk/bpf/downloads/f...

 

The Investment Strategy Statement (that replaces the Statement of
Investment Principles) can be found here: 
[2]https://www3.rbwm.gov.uk/bpf/downloads/f...

 

This concludes your information request.

 

If you are unhappy with the information we have provided in response to
your request please write to:

 

Jennifer Shaw

Data Protection Officer/ Senior Information Governance Officer

Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead

Town Hall, St Ives Road

Maidenhead

SL6 1RF

or send an e-mail to [3][RBWM request email]

 

Yours sincerely

 

Angelica Popa

Information Governance and Elections Officer

Law & Governance Service

Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead

Town Hall, St. Ives Road

Maidenhead SL6 1RF

 

Website: [4]http://www.rbwm.gov.uk

Follow us on Twitter: [5]@RBWM

Like us on [6]Facebook

 

 

 

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