News round-up: Herts joins LGPS pool, property revaluations, social care funding, Greenwich pension fund
0Greenwich awards pension fund mandates
Royal Borough of Greenwich has appointed two investment managers for separate pension fund mandates. Blackrock will run a passive equity mandate of around £400,000 split between tracking broad UK and global market cap weighted indices and a broad non-market cap, fundamentally weighted global equity index. Partners Group will take on a separate diversified alternatives mandate.
Government seeks views on business rate revaluations
The government has published a consultation paper seeking views on how more frequent property revaluations for business rates purposes can be implemented. The paper also explores alternative approaches including self-assessment and a formula approach.
LGA: ‘National Living Wage’ will swallow up social care funding
The Local Government Association has repeated its call for the government to bring forward £700m of funding for social care through the Better Care Fund. The money, due to be introduced by the end of the decade, should be paid immediately, the LGA said. It claimed that £372m raised through a new social care precept would be swallowed up by burdens caused by the introduction of the National Living Wage.
Herts opts for LGPS pool
Hertfordshire County Council Pension Fund has become the final Local Government Pension Fund scheme to commit to a proposed pool. The £3.5bn fund has pledged to join the ACCESS pool, mainly made up of funds in East Anglia and the Home Counties. Funds have until July to submit final proposals.
Councils set to launch shared legal service
A shared legal service between Surrey County Council, Brighton and Hove City Council and East and Wessex county councils will launch next month. The authorities expect Orbis public law to generate annual savings of £1m within three years and will look to raise income from providing legal advice to other public, voluntary and charitable bodies.
