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Telegraph
a day ago
- Business
- Telegraph
London council to spend £100m from gold-plated pensions on homelessness
But experts questioned whether it was appropriate for Kensington and Chelsea to use its pension fund to 'indulge political objectives'. Neil Record, a former Bank of England economist, said: 'Local Government Pension Funds benefit from a de facto government guarantee which allows local councils to indulge their political objectives at the expense of prudent investment management. This is a particularly egregious example.' The Conservative-led council's pension scheme is worth £2bn, twice the amount needed to fully meet obligations to its members, meaning it is in rude health financially. The vast savings pot has become a target for councillors seeking to raise money for more spending without significantly increasing council tax bills. In February it was announced payments into Kensington and Chelsea's defined benefit scheme would be halted temporarily to save £9m earmarked for survivors of the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire. This went against the advice of the fund's actuaries who said it would be 'inappropriate' to lower contributions before next spring but agreed the move would 'not have a detrimental effect' on the council's ability to pay out pension benefits. Michael Hayles, of law firm Burges Salmon, said: 'The Kensington and Chelsea fund has a well-publicised strong funding level. 'However, as things stand, this investment will still need to stand up as an appropriate investment, with appropriate returns, bearing in mind the fiduciary duties of the pension fund when making investment decisions, notwithstanding the funding surplus.' There is no blanket legal guarantee that would compel the Government to meet the costs of all funds within the LGPS or make good their deficits. More than a quarter of schemes within the LGPS were in deficit in 2022, according to an official review published last year. Drawing down £100m is 'very low risk' Cllr Emma Will, who oversees property at the town hall, said more local authorities could follow Kensington and Chelsea's example, as many struggle to fund the costs of meeting their statutory obligations. She added: 'We are fortunate to have an extremely well-managed pension fund, it's been the best performing for 30 years [and] it's very over-funded, which is terrific.' Ms Will said that the unusual move was 'completely above board' and should not be discredited simply because 'it hasn't been done before'. She said that investing £100m was 'very low risk' because the council plans to pay its pension fund for use of the new properties with government grants it receives to tackle homelessness. 'It is innovative and we are quite excited. If we get this right it's like the holy grail. We believe it does work, and it's nil cost to the council and it's low risk and win-win for everyone.' Last year bills in Kensington and Chelsea for the average Band D property were £1,569.46 a year, up from £1,508.98 the previous year.
The Herald Scotland
26-05-2025
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
Law firm hails completion of £3.1bn worth of deals in a year
The Edinburgh office of UK law firm Burges Salmon said Scottish lawyers from across the firm's built environment, energy and utilities, transport and financial services sectors completed over 90 transactions, totalling more than £3.1bn in the past 12 months. The firm said 34 per cent of the team's work this year involved international elements with Burges Salmon continuing to work with its global preferred firm network of independent firms to implement a variety of complex cross-border transactions in jurisdictions like the US, Canada, China, Taiwan, South Africa and much of Europe. The firm's real estate team completed a large number of Built Environment deals. Notable mentions include working with international client Panox, one of Europe's largest hotel property owners, on its £49 million acquisition of the DoubleTree by Hilton Edinburgh City Centre and acting on the £45m purchase of offices at Prime 4, the business park and global energy services hub in Aberdeen. The team facilitated deals on behalf of UK and global clients including Finnish company UPM Raflatac on its £146m acquisition of UK-based Metamark, Clean Energy Cap Ltd, a private-wire renewable energy company on its landmark investment from True Green Capital Management, and Gooch and Housego Plc, the specialist manufacturer of optical components and systems on its acquisition of Phoenix Optical. On the banking and Finance side, the team advised on the long-term financing of a 106 megawatt wind farm in the Scottish Highlands. World's first soft robots to 'walk off' 3D printer Scientists in Scotland have created the first soft robots that can walk straight out of the machines that make them. The flexible, four-legged devices were developed using a new 3D printing system, which could pave the way for the use of intelligent soft robotic systems with no electronic parts. Soft machines – made from compliant materials such as soft plastics – have huge potential for use in areas such as nuclear decommissioning, the biomedical sector and in space, researchers say. A lack of standardised design and manufacturing processes, expense and the need for specialist expertise has so far limited real-world use of the devices, experts say. MONEY HQ 💷 Retirement planning: how to maintain your living standards This article appears as part of the Money HQ newsletter.
