Croydon ethical mandate, Council independence Bill, Energy investment, Norfolk/Suffolk waste deal…

Croydon rids itself of “unethical” investments
London Borough of Croydon’s pension fund is moving all of its equity assets – a total of around £350m – to a Legal & General global ethical investment fund. The decision was taken at a meeting of the council’s pension committee and follows local elections in May when Labour wrested control of the council from the Conservatives.

MP publishes council independence Bill
Labour MP Graham Allen has published a Bill proposing greater financial freedoms to local authorities. The bill would require government to guarantee that 10p in every pound of income tax raised by central government is redistributed to councils. It would also prevent central government from capping local authority’s taxation powers and would require all local authorities to operate a balanced budget so that in any one year financial outgoings, including interest payments, should not exceed income.

Think tank: councils should invest more in energy
Councils in Britain’s cities should make more use of their powers to engage in the energy supply market and raise finance for investment in low-carbon infrastructure, according to a leading think tank. The IPPR report identified a range of business model options, exploring how and why cities could assume a central role in addressing the large investment shortfall in the energy sector.

Norfolk and Suffolk sign waste deal
Rubbish from Norfolk will be offloaded to neighbouring Suffolk under a new deal. The agreement will see 40,000 tonnes of household waste turned into electricity at Suffolk’s new energy from waste plant. Both councils stand to make savings of around £1 million each through the two-year agreement. Norfolk will reduce its landfill costs, while Suffolk will benefit from economies of scale.

London CIV begins to take shape
London Councils has set up a limited liability company to run its proposed collective investment vehicle on behalf of the capital’s boroughs’ pension schemes.  The CIV will deliver a platform through which the boroughs can collaborate and collectively invest their assets. Chair of London Councils Jules Pipe said: “There are many more milestones to achieve before the CIV will be fully operational, but it is now possible to say that we are ‘in business’.

Councils win affordable homes cash
A total of 38 councils have won cash from the government’s Affordable Housing Programme for 2015-18. The overall £886m scheme, which is also open to housing associations and registered private developers, is aimed at providing 43,821 new homes – mostly at “affordable rent” levels. Kingston Upon Hull Council won the biggest local authority award of £15.2m.

Government announces schools top-up cash
The government has announced £390m of additional funding for the most underfunded schools in England. In an announcement, education minister said that there was an overwhelming consensus that the allocation of funding to education authorities is currently unfair. He said the new funding would ensure every local area’s allocation of funding will reflect a minimum basic per pupil amount and minimum amounts reflecting other pupil and school characteristics.