Agenda item

To move the exclusion of the press and the public for the following item in view of the likely disclosure of exempt information within the meaning of paragraph 3 of schedule 12 A to the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).

The public and the press will be asked to leave the meeting whilst the item of business is considered.

QUESTIONS FROM MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC FOR DORSET COUNCIL PENSIONS COMMITTEE 11 MARCH 2021

 

From:  Darrell Minards, on behalf of South West Action on Pensions (SWAP):

 

Q1) Councillor Beesley stated that he was confident Dorset / BCP had a measurable set of goals for decarbonisation vs divestment.  Given this confidence will this now be included in each councils Climate Emergency Plan on Carbon neutrality as part of your Climate Emergency Declaration and if not why not given the carbon footprint of the pension plan as a part of Dorset/BCPs impact?

 

Answer

Responsibility for all matters relating to the administration of the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) in Dorset is delegated to the Pension Fund Committee which comprises five Dorset Council councillors, three BCP Council councillors and one scheme member representative nominated by the trade unions.

 

Whilst the Committee are fully supportive of the climate and ecological emergency declarations by a number of scheme employers, including Dorset Council and BCP Council, we believe that it is more informative to consider the carbon emissions’ consequences of the pension fund’s investments separately from those of its scheme employers.

 

Q2) Secondly its been stated by Councillor Beesley and also Drew Mellow that the strategy is to influence the fossil fuel companies towards decarbonisation.  Exactly what specific steps has this committee taken either via voting in shareholder meetings or raising questions at shareholder meetings in the six months since the September meeting?  Please provide the specific meeting details as a matter of record.

 

Answer

As part of the government’s requirement for Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) funds to pool investments the Dorset County Pension Fund no longer holds direct investments in companies.  Instead, the vast majority of its equity investments are now in pooled investment vehicles managed by the Brunel Pension Partnership, the LGPS investment pooling manager set up and fully owned by the administering authorities of ten LGPS funds including Dorset.

 

All voting and engagement with companies is now undertaken by Brunel on behalf of the ten shareholder funds.  Brunel’s website documents its Stewardship Policy and Voting Guidelines, as well as its voting and company engagement records.

 

https://www.brunelpensionpartnership.org/stewardship/

 

Dorset County Pension Fund is also a member of the Local Authority Pension Fund Forum (LAPFF) which represents the majority of LGPS funds and LGPS investment pooling managers.  LAPFF engages with hundreds of companies every year to promote the highest standards of corporate governance and responsibility, including aligning their business models with the Paris Climate Agreement.

 

Full details of the work of the LAPFF, including its quarterly company engagement reports, can be found on its website.

 

https://lapfforum.org/

 

From:  Julie-Ann Booker, on behalf of Dorset Action on Pensions

We know that to stop catastrophic climate change we have to keep fossil fuels in the ground and transition quickly towards a clean renewable economy. The fossil fuel industry has spent decades spreading lies about the climate to protect their profits at the expense of people and planet.

It’s imperative that all councils and pension funds break ties with this morally bankrupt sector and divest from fossil fuels. By doing so, they can take necessary action to protect fund members’ pensions from risky investments, and take a stand against an industry which is causing climate chaos and endangering our future and the future of our children and grandchildren.

Dorset Council Pension committee has chosen an investment strategy of ‘decarbonisation’ rather than ‘divestment’.  A growing number of people in Dorset understand that continued investment in fossil fuels is bad for our planet, bad for our health, bad for our future and bad for our bank account.  They are seriously questioning why Dorset Pension Fund committee continue to put money into fossil fuel companies.

 

Dorset Action have now launched a campaign calling on Dorset Council to totally divest from fossil fuels.  Information on the campaign can be found on the Dorset Action website: https://dtaction.co.uk/ 

 

Amongst other things the campaign asks people to write to the Dorset Pension Fund Committee Chair and explain why they want the committee to stop funding fossil fuel companies and to copy their letter to the Brunel Partnership.

 

QUESTION:  On 15 September 2020 Dorset Council provided, following a Freedom of Information request, a report showing the current investments in highly polluting companies, such as Canadian Natural Resources, which is an oil tar sands company.  Since September 2020 which of the companies listed in your report have you now removed from your direct investment list?

 

ANSWER:  Dorset County Pension Fund no longer owns any of the direct investments you have listed.