News roundup: Warrington’s £200m business park acquisition, Birmingham’s council leader resigns, fire safety funding in the wake of Grenfell
0Warrington spends £200m on business park
Warrington Borough Council has completed the £200m purchase of a business park within an enterprise zone on its patch. The council has bought 123 acre Birchwood Park site, housing more than 150 companies, from Oaktree Capital Management. The deal is set to reap the authority more than £10m a year in rental income.
Clancy resigns from Birmingham role
Former Room151 commentator John Clancy has resigned as leader of Birmingham City Council following a strike by refuse workers. In a statement, Clancy said: “It has become clear to me that frenzied media speculation about the Birmingham waste dispute is beginning to harm Birmingham City Council and the Birmingham Labour Party. I can see no end to such speculation, as ill-informed as much of it is, for as long as I remain Leader.” During his 21 months in charge, Clancy oversaw the issuing of the first Brummie Bond for local housing projects, renegotiating the ICT joint venture agreement with Capita, and reaching agreement to reduce the council’s annual payments to the West Midlands Local Government Pension Fund.
Pension pool seeks private markets head
Brunel Pension Partnership (BPP) is seeking a head of private markets, covering real estate, infrastructure and private equity investment. According to website IPE.com, the new role will cover responsibility for assets of more than £5bn of the Local Government Pension Scheme pool’s £28bn of assets.
ACCESS looks for ACS operator
The ACCESS LGPS pool is seeking to appoint a firm as operator of its collective investment vehicle. Kent County Council, on behalf of the pool, has launched a tender for an operator for its authorised contractual scheme and other vehicles, to manage around £25m of assets. The tender said that the pool is expecting the operator to run around 25 to 30 sub-funds.
28 councils request fire safety funding
A total of 28 councils have contacted the Department for Communities and Local Government requesting financial assistance to carry out fire safety measures in the wake of the Grenfell Tower Tragedy. Local government minister Alok Sharma told the House of Commons: “We are dealing with each local authority on a case-by-case basis in order to establish whether there is a need for assistance.”
Blackpool Council buys airport
Blackpool Council has bought Blackpool Airport, bringing the company back into full public ownership for the first time in 13 years. The council, which was previously a 5% shareholder in the airport, has signed a £4.25m deal with previous owners Balfour Beatty to fully take over the operating company Regional and City Airports (Blackpool) Holdings Ltd. Simon Blackburn, leader of Blackpool Council, said: “As the current company stands, Blackpool Airport is profitable and as such we can be confident that the money for the purchase can be repaid.”
