Blog

  • Paul Uppal – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Paul Uppal – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Uppal on 2014-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the need for local authority pension schemes to integrate environmental, social and governance issues into their investment decision-making.

    Brandon Lewis

    These issues are matters for individual local authorities that administer pension funds to consider when deciding upon their investment strategies. Each administering authority is required to publish a statement of principles, which should address such issues. Statutory guidance states that the authority must report periodically to scheme members on the implementation of their policies.

    Notwithstanding, local authorities need to focus on delivering a good rate of return for their fund and value for taxpayers, given local government pensions cost taxpayers (via employer contributions) almost £6 billion a year.

  • Paul Uppal – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Paul Uppal – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Uppal on 2014-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to encourage local authority pension funds to become active owners or stewards of their assets as defined in the Financial Reporting Council’s Stewardship Code.

    Brandon Lewis

    Each local authority that administers a pension fund is already subject to statutory guidance that states that it should recognise the Financial Reporting Council’s Stewardship Code and ensure that the Code is adopted by their fund managers, investment consultants and advisers. The guidance also states that the authority should include a statement of its policy on responsible ownership in its statement of the principles governing its investment decisions and report periodically to scheme members on the implementation of the policy. Sixteen of the eighty nine local government pension funds in England and Wales are themselves signatories to the Stewardship Code as asset owners.

  • Paul Uppal – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Paul Uppal – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Uppal on 2014-03-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to encourage local authority pension funds to become signatories to the Stewardship Code.

    Brandon Lewis

    Each local authority that administers a pension fund is already subject to statutory guidance that states that it should recognise the Financial Reporting Council’s Stewardship Code and ensure that the Code is adopted by their fund managers, investment consultants and advisers. The guidance also states that the authority should include a statement of its policy on responsible ownership in its statement of the principles governing its investment decisions and report periodically to scheme members on the implementation of the policy. Sixteen of the eighty nine local government pension funds in England and Wales are themselves signatories to the Stewardship Code as asset owners.

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-03-24.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what his Department’s policy is on allowing officials to appear before all-party parliamentary groups.

    Mr Francis Maude

    Guidance on officials appearing before all-party parliamentary groups is set out in Volume 2 of the Directory of Civil Service Guidance, copies of which are available in the Library of the House and online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/60997/guide-civil-service-guidance-volume-2_0.pdf

    “

  • Adam Afriyie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Adam Afriyie – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Afriyie on 2014-03-24.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to incentivise departmental officials to bring old Government data sets online in accessible formats.

    Mr Francis Maude

    The UK has been recognised as the international leader in data transparency. During our Presidency of the G8 in 2013 we led Members to commit to publishing data openly by default as a matter of principle through the Open Data Charter.

    Departments are engaging the public and special interest groups about the most important data held by Government (whether old or new); publishing open data strategies and reporting to Parliament on progress on a quarterly basis.

    Those data sets that are judged to have the most significant economic and social impact we refer to as the National Information Infrastructure, and are our priority for making available and accessible.

  • Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    Chris Ruane – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Attorney General

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2014-03-24.

    To ask the Attorney General, what the Law Officers’ Departments’ policy is on allowing officials to appear before all-party parliamentary groups.

    Mr Dominic Grieve

    I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to him by the Minister for the Cabinet Office on the 26th March 2014 (Official Report, Col 300W).

  • Lord Marlesford – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Marlesford – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Marlesford on 2014-03-24.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Wallace of Saltaire on 20 March (WA 49), what steps they are taking to prevent civil servants from exposing to public view in the street classified government documents in their possession.

    Lord Wallace of Saltaire

    The Cabinet Office Security Policy Framework (SPF) provides guidance on all security matters.

    The Framework can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/security-policy-framework

    “

  • Lord Harrison – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lord Harrison – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Harrison on 2014-03-24.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to encourage local authority pension schemes to take into account environmental, social and governance factors in their decisions.

    Baroness Stowell of Beeston

    These issues are matters for individual local authorities that administer pension funds to consider when deciding upon their investment strategies. Each administering authority is required to publish a statement of principles, which may address such issues. Statutory guidance states that the authority must report periodically to scheme members on the implementation of their policies.

    Notwithstanding, local authorities need to focus on delivering a good rate of return for their fund and value for taxpayers, given local government pensions cost taxpayers (via employer contributions) almost £6 billion a year.

  • Lord Harrison – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Lord Harrison – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Harrison on 2014-03-24.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to incentivise good stewardship of assets by charities.

    Lord Wallace of Saltaire

    Charity trustees have a legal duty to protect their charity’s assets and resources. The Charity Commission for England and Wales has published updated guidance on stewardship of charity assets which has been widely welcomed. As part of its charity law project, the Law Commission is currently considering the powers and duties of charity trustees in relation to social investment.

  • Lord Harrison – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Lord Harrison – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Harrison on 2014-03-24.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the case for large occupational defined benefit pension schemes to be active owners or stewards of their assets, in line with the definition of stewardship as highlighted in the Financial Reporting Council’s Stewardship Code.

    Lord Freud

    The Government supports the principles set out in the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) UK Stewardship Code including schemes becoming active stewards of their investments and reporting on that stewardship. The Code sets out a number of areas of good practice to which the FRC believes institutional investors should aspire, and operates on a ‘comply or explain’ basis. It includes guidance for pension schemes and other asset owners on steps they can take to protect and enhance the value that accrues to the ultimate beneficiary. The FCA requires UK authorised asset managers to report on whether or not they apply the Code.

    The UK stewardship code is voluntary, however we would encourage workplace pensions schemes to comply with the principles set out in the code. In addition we are developing governance standards of workplace defined contribution schemes, and have asked the Law Commission to investigate how fiduciary duties currently apply in the investment chain. The Pensions Regulator’s defined contribution Code of Practice also sets out the legal requirements and standards they expect trustees of defined contribution schemes to attain. This includes a section on investment which also references the FRC Stewardship code. These initiatives are part of our on-going work to ensure schemes are governed and administered to deliver in members’ interests.