151 BRIEF

  • Border to Coast to launch £1bn emerging markets fund

    The Border to Coast LGPS pension pool is preparing to launch a £1bn emerging markets fund that will provide partner funds with access to some of the world’s fastest-growing economies.

    The Emerging Markets Equity Alpha Fund is expected to launch in the first half of 2023. Once launched, it will seek to outperform the MSCI Emerging Markets Index by at least 2% a year (net of fees) over rolling three-year periods.

    Border to Coast is seeking two external equity managers to manage around £650m of the fund. They will join two China specialist managers who have already been appointed.

    “Emerging markets are very diverse, and this year we have seen first hand how polarised individual market performance can be. We are therefore expecting successful managers to be experts in both bottom-up stock selection and country risk analysis,” said Graham Long, Border to Coast’s head of external management.

    “Importantly, we want to partner with managers that have fully integrated ESG risk factors, including climate change considerations, into their investment process, reflecting our own beliefs in responsible investment and active stewardship.”

    Border to Coast is one of the largest of the LGPS pension pools, with 11 partner funds and combined assets of £55bn.

    A formal tender process to select the managers is due to be launched on 4 May 2022, with the successful managers expected to be appointed in the second half of 2022.

    —————

    FREE weekly newsletters
    Subscribe to Room151 Newsletters

    Room151 LinkedIn Community
    Join here

    Monthly Online Treasury Briefing
    Sign up here with a .gov.uk email address

    Room151 Webinars
    Visit the Room151 channel

    Read more

  • Plans to extend right to buy lack support from housing sector

    Housing bodies and charities have reacted negatively to suggestions that the government intends to revive the right to buy by allowing people to purchase the properties they rent from housing associations.

    Plans to extend right to buy were reported in the Telegraph, with the suggestion that the 2.5m households in England who rent properties from housing associations would have the opportunity to purchase their homes at a discounted price.

    However, the National Housing Federation (NHF), which represents housing associations in England, pointed out that proposals to extend right to buy had originally been part of an agreement between the NHF and government in 2015.

    “Our agreement with the government at that time was based on a clear set of principles, our red line being that every single social home sold would be replaced. Recent pilots have demonstrated how difficult this is to achieve, as there is not enough money from sales to build new social homes,” said Kate Henderson, NHF chief executive.

    Henderson said that since that agreement had been made, the housing crisis had worsened, particularly for low-income families. Recent NHF research showed that there are 4.2m people in need of social housing in England today.

    “Every social home sold will make that waiting list longer. Housing associations are also facing new financial challenges, including the urgent need to make all their buildings safe and decarbonise homes. Our priority is to continue our partnership with government to increase the supply of good quality social housing.”

    Polly Neate, chief executive of housing charity Shelter, added that an extension of right to buy was a “hare-brained idea” and the “opposite of what the country needs” as the cost-of-living crisis pushes more people to the brink of homelessness.

    “There could not be a worse time to sell off what remains of our last truly affordable social homes,” Neate said.

    “Right to buy has already torn a massive hole in our social housing stock as less than 5% of the homes sold off have ever been replaced. These half-baked plans have been tried before and they’ve failed.”

    —————

    FREE weekly newsletters
    Subscribe to Room151 Newsletters

    Room151 LinkedIn Community
    Join here

    Monthly Online Treasury Briefing
    Sign up here with a .gov.uk email address

    Room151 Webinars
    Visit the Room151 channel

    Read more

  • Mayor plans science-based boost to Liverpool City Region’s economy

    Liverpool City Region’s mayor has unveiled an innovation plan that he claims could boost the local economy by more than £40bn and create 44,000 jobs.

    Steve Rotheram said that he intended to “supercharge Liverpool City Region’s innovation powerhouse credentials” and turn it into a “science superpower”.

    This would involve investing 5% of the region’s economy in research and development by 2030, adding an estimated £41.7bn to the city region’s economy.

    Launched at an event in Parliament this week, a new Innovation Prospectus details how the city region’s existing expertise in infection control, materials chemistry and artificial intelligence could be a launchpad for future discoveries and investment.

    Rotheram said that, with net-zero projects such as Mersey Tidal Power and hydrogen energy factored in, the city region has more than £12bn of innovation projects primed for investment.

    “I am determined to make our region the country’s innovation engine and to make that happen, we will be investing 5% of our GVA [Gross Value Added] in research and development over the next few years – nearly double the government’s national targets.”

    —————

    FREE weekly newsletters
    Subscribe to Room151 Newsletters

    Room151 LinkedIn Community
    Join here

    Monthly Online Treasury Briefing
    Sign up here with a .gov.uk email address

    Room151 Webinars
    Visit the Room151 channel

    Read more

  • Social care funding problems becoming more acute, Unison warns

    There is “growing concern that problems around long-term funding for adult social care are becoming more acute”, according to Unison’s senior national officer for social care.

    Giving evidence to the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee, Gavin Edwards said that Freedom of Information requests had identified a social care shortfall of £2.4bn in 2022/23 and £2.3bn in 2023/24 for councils in England.

    “There is definitely a deepening of those problems. Because adult social care is such a big part of the revenue spending of so many councils, there is only one effect that is going to have – cuts in spending on adult social care,” he told MPs on the committee.

    Edwards said Unison had seen an increase in enquiries from its members on staffing shortages, which was impacting the quality of care.

    He criticised some of the short-term funding available to support social care through funds in areas such as infection control and recruitment and retention.

    “These are significant pots of money that are coming in on a short-term basis. I don’t think that allows councils to plan ahead. This is a vital public service that we are talking about, and councils should be able to plan ahead in terms of what the offer is going to be on social care.”

    —————

    FREE weekly newsletters
    Subscribe to Room151 Newsletters

    Room151 LinkedIn Community
    Join here

    Monthly Online Treasury Briefing
    Sign up here with a .gov.uk email address

    Room151 Webinars
    Visit the Room151 channel

    Read more

  • Local authority supply chains responsible for 10% of UK emissions

    Council supply chains are responsible for over 10% of UK carbon emissions, according to research from finance technology company Oxygen Finance.

    The research suggests that local authority supply chains emitted more than 43m tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2020/21 based on published data by all English authorities and a proportion of those in Wales.

    Typically, 96% of carbon emissions from councils comes from their supply chain, with only 2% coming from the council’s own operations, and another 2% from indirect emissions from purchased energy.

    Over 300 council in the UK have declared a climate emergency, with many pledging to go well above the minimum requirements set by government and achieve net zero by 2030. However, supply chain emissions have continued to rise with a 14% increase in emissions over the past five years to 2021.

    “Until now, the scale of these emissions hasn’t been visible, and as a result authorities have tended to focus efforts on emissions from direct operations and indirect emissions from energy,” said Rebecca Dyer, carbon product manager at Oxygen Finance.

    “This data presents local authorities with a real opportunity to work collaboratively with suppliers and other public bodies to act where it will have the greatest impact.”

    —————

    FREE weekly newsletters
    Subscribe to Room151 Newsletters

    Room151 LinkedIn Community
    Join here

    Monthly Online Treasury Briefing
    Sign up here with a .gov.uk email address

    Room151 Webinars
    Visit the Room151 channel

    Read more

  • LGPS pool to vote against mining giant’s climate report

    The LGPS Central pool has said that it intends to vote against Glencore’s climate progress report at the commodity trading and mining company’s annual general meeting on 28 April.

    This, it said, was due to “shortcomings in target setting over the next decade”. Glencore had made some improvements to its climate transition plan but the short-term emissions’ targets, LGPS Central suggested, were not ambitious enough.

    Glencore is an Anglo-Swiss multinational with revenue of more than $200bn and 135,000 employees around the globe. It has also been criticised recently by the Australian Centre for Corporate Responsibility, which claimed that Glencore was underestimating its global emissions.

    LGPS Central manages the pooled assets of eight Midlands-based LGPS funds. It said its decision to vote against the climate progress report was made “in the spirit of asking more also of leading companies and in recognition of our own ambition to achieve net zero emissions across our portfolios by 2050”.

    “Glencore has taken some very positive steps towards Paris-alignment. What we would like to see now are even stronger short-term targets (2026) and an explicit 2030 target,” said Patrick O’Hara, LGPS Central’s director of responsible investment and engagement.

    “We also encourage Glencore to proactively and transparently lobby for Paris-aligned climate policies in key markets, including Australia, both directly and through industry associations they are a member of.”

    —————

    FREE weekly newsletters
    Subscribe to Room151 Newsletters

    Room151 LinkedIn Community
    Join here

    Monthly Online Treasury Briefing
    Sign up here with a .gov.uk email address

    Room151 Webinars
    Visit the Room151 channel

    Read more

  • GLIL raises further £1.2bn for UK infrastructure investment

    GLIL Infrastructure has raised a further £1.2bn from its Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) fund members and from workplace pension provider Nest.

    GLIL, which invests predominantly in the UK, has now increased its total committed capital to £3.625bn. Of this, £2.1bn has already been deployed into an infrastructure portfolio that includes renewable energy production, energy transition infrastructure, schools, hospitals, trains, water and ports.

    The latest fundraising is the biggest since GLIL was launched in 2015 as a vehicle for long-term investors such as pension funds.

    “Pension funds are playing an increasingly important part in UK infrastructure, and their capital is critical to driving further investment in the sector,” said Ted Frith, COO at GLIL Infrastructure.

    “Infrastructure provides and attractive risk and return profile for pension funds and connects their pensioners and investors with real value creation and some of the nation’s most exciting projects, from renewable energy to trains and ports to schools and hospitals.”

    GLIL members include: the Greater Manchester, Merseyside and West Yorkshire pension funds (through the Northern LGPS pool); the Lancashire County Pension Fund, Royal County of Berkshire Pension Fund and the London Pensions Fund Authority (through the Local Pensions Partnership pool); and Nest.

    —————

    FREE weekly newsletters
    Subscribe to Room151 Newsletters

    Room151 LinkedIn Community
    Join here

    Monthly Online Treasury Briefing
    Sign up here with a .gov.uk email address

    Room151 Webinars
    Visit the Room151 channel

    Read more

  • Gove calls for improvements to supply and quality of social housing

    Levelling up secretary Michael Gove has said that he intends to “tilt” government funding to increase the supply of social housing in England.

    Gove told a conference organised by housing charity Shelter that it was “urgent that we address the lack of social housing and the poor quality of social housing”. He said that the availability of social housing was “simply inadequate for any notion of social justice or economic efficiency”.

    The number of homeowners has fallen across the country, Gove said, but the number of social homes had not increased – with an increase in private rented accommodation taking place instead.

    “The quality of the private rented sector, the circumstances in which people find themselves, the inadequacy of so many of those homes, the fragility and vulnerability that so many people find in their daily lives … is insupportable and indefensible,” Gove added.

    “That is a function of broader supply questions, but it is also a critical function of our failure to ensure that there are homes that are genuinely affordable for rent.”

    —————

    FREE weekly newsletters
    Subscribe to Room151 Newsletters

    Room151 LinkedIn Community
    Join here

    Monthly Online Treasury Briefing
    Sign up here with a .gov.uk email address

    Room151 Webinars
    Visit the Room151 channel

    Read more

  • Infrastructure levy ‘to replace section 106 agreements’

    There is increasing speculation that the government plans to replace section 106 agreements with an infrastructure levy that councils can use to increase the supply of affordable housing.

    The Sunday Telegraph has suggested that the government will put forward a proposal involving the axing of section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and the introduction of a levy on developers. If the plans are approved by the Cabinet, a formal consultation could be launched within weeks with the proposal included in next month’s Queen’s Speech.

    Local authorities currently use section 106 agreements to force developers to include a set number of affordable homes in their developments. A replacement “consolidated infrastructure levy” would charge developers a fee based on a proportion of value of their housing project and could raise around £7bn.

    A levy was first proposed in 2020 as part of the government’s planning white paper. Confirmation that it was still the favoured approach came when the government responded to the House of Lords’ Built Environment Committee report in January.

    The response suggested that a levy would “aim to reduce complexity and uncertainty and enhance the transparency of developer contributions”.

    —————

    FREE weekly newsletters
    Subscribe to Room151 Newsletters

    Room151 LinkedIn Community
    Join here

    Monthly Online Treasury Briefing
    Sign up here with a .gov.uk email address

    Room151 Webinars
    Visit the Room151 channel

    Read more

  • Scammers ‘targeting council tax rebate scheme’

    Residents have been warned not to disclose their bank details over the phone if they are contacted in relation to the government’s £150 council tax energy rebate scheme.

    The warning, from a range of organisations including the Local Government Association (LGA), individual councils and Age UK, highlights scam phone calls and emails where people are asked to give their bank details to receive the rebate.

    According to Mohan Iyengar, vice-chair of the LGA’s Safer and Stronger Communities Board: “Councils are working hard to ensure eligible residents receive their energy rebate payments as soon as possible. However, criminals are becoming increasingly sophisticated in their attempts to take advantage of the financial worries people are facing and, as a result, many of these scams look legitimate on first impression.”

    Similar warnings have been made by a number of local authorities including Durham County Council, the London Borough of Southwark and Wakefield Council. Age UK also reminded older residents that councils would never cold call or email to ask for bank details to make the payment.

    Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced the council tax rebate in February this year in response to rapidly rising gas and electricity bills, with payments being administered by local authorities for all households in bands A through to D.

    Where council tax is paid by direct debit, the rebate will be sent automatically, but those who do not pay by direct debit may have to provide bank details to their local authority. If residents receive a potentially fraudulent message, they are being advised to report it to their mobile phone provider and contact Action Fraud.

    Around 20 million households in England will benefit from the rebate. It is part of a wider £9.1bn package that includes a £200 discount on energy bills (that has to be paid back over five years) and £144m of discretionary funding for local authorities to support households who are in need but are not eligible for the council tax rebate.

    —————

    FREE weekly newsletters
    Subscribe to Room151 Newsletters

    Room151 LinkedIn Community
    Join here

    Monthly Online Treasury Briefing
    Sign up here with a .gov.uk email address

    Room151 Webinars
    Visit the Room151 channel

    Read more