Dodgy Public Sector Investments?

 A detailed breakdown of questionable public sector investments across UK councils, health trusts, universities, and more, grouped by institution type and listing specific companies, sectors, and controversies:

Council Pension Funds

Derbyshire County Council

  • Fossil Fuels: Shell, BP, ConocoPhillips

  • Arms: Raytheon (cluster munitions), Lockheed Martin (nuclear weapons), Boeing (fighter jets)

  • Tobacco: British American Tobacco, Philip Morris

  • Mining: Rio Tinto, Glencore (pollution, child labour)

Essex County Council

  • Military-Linked Firms: BAE Systems (Yemen strikes), Tata Group (Myanmar arms)

  • Controversial Commodities: Glencore (corruption), BAT tobacco (health harms)

  • Deflection: Prioritises “maximum return” despite human rights concerns

Kent County Council: £8BN pension fund: council/teachers/police/fire

* £400M Fossil Fuels

* £116M Tobacco

* No details yet on Arms/Gambling etc

Isle of Wight Council

  • Complicity Claims: £31.8m allegedly invested in firms tied to Israeli military

  • Response: Raised in Palestine Solidarity Campaign meetings

Sefton Council

  • Motion Passed: Divest from fossil fuels and arms in April 2025

  • Justification: Climate emergency and ethical governance

Wandsworth Council

  • Fund Value: £3.2 billion

  • Issues: Poor performance, alleged concealment, investment in underperforming equity/property funds

NHS Trusts and PFIs

Barts Health NHS Trust

  • PFI Contracts: Pays >£100 million/year to private contractors

  • Ownership: Several entities linked to offshore accounts and tax havens

General NHS Concerns

  • PFIs: High interest rates, opaque procurement

  • Example Contractors: Carillion (bankrupted), Skanska (labour violations)

Universities

University of Birmingham, Leeds, Imperial College

  • Holdings: Shell, BP, ExxonMobil

  • Ranking: Low scores on People & Planet’s Fossil Free Scorecard

  • Pushback: Alumni and student divestment campaigns

Cambridge and Oxford (partial divestment)

  • Remaining Holdings: Private equity in fossil-linked hedge funds and big pharma

  • Ethical Audits: Often hidden from public view

Transport Sector

Transport for London (TfL)

  • Property Deals: Partnered with developers accused of worker exploitation

  • Rail Bailouts: Abellio and Arriva tied to Dutch/Spanish tax havens

National Rail Franchises

  • Controversies: Govia (fare misreporting), Stagecoach (disqualified from HS2 bidding)

Science and Innovation Grants

Innovate UK and UKRI

  • Shell Firms: Grants occasionally awarded to opaque entities

  • Examples: AI firms with no registered staff or vague technical deliverables

  • Oversight Issues: Minimal post-award review

Local Authority Investment Schemes

Thurrock Council

  • Losses: £655 million in failed solar bond investments

  • Linked Entity: Liam Kavanagh’s Rockfire group

Croydon Council

  • Bankruptcy 2020: High-risk property borrowing and mismanagement

Spelthorne Council

  • Debt Load: £1 billion+ borrowed for commercial property with declining yields

Police and Crime Commissioners

Surveillance Tech Investments

  • Firms: Clearview AI, Palantir (privacy violations abroad)

  • Issues: Hidden procurement contracts, lack of ethical scrutiny

HMRC Pension Fund

Tax Avoidance Conflicts

  • Indirect Holdings: Cayman-based funds

  • Irony Noted: Agency in charge of enforcement linked to avoidance vehicles


A draft policy statement for a blanket exclusion of unethical investments in public sector funds, with provisions for quarterly ethical reviews. Feel free to adapt this for a blog, council motion, or open letter:

Ethical Investment Draft Motion: Public Sector Funds

Title: Motion for Blanket Exclusion of Arms, Fossil Fuels, Tobacco, and Human Rights-Violating Entities in Public Sector Investment Portfolios

Proposer: [Insert Name or Councillor/Public Group] Date: [Insert Date]

Purpose

To uphold ethical stewardship and align public sector investments with climate, peace, and human rights principles by excluding specified sectors and enhancing transparency through quarterly oversight.

Exclusion Criteria

All public sector funds, including but not limited to Local Government Pension Schemes (LGPS), must divest from and exclude:

  1. Fossil Fuels:

    • Oil, gas, and coal extraction companies

    • Fossil-fuel-based power generation

    • Pipeline infrastructure corporations

  2. Arms and Weaponry:

    • Nuclear weapons producers

    • Cluster munitions manufacturers

    • Firms supplying military operations in active conflict zones

  3. Tobacco and Nicotine Corporations:

    • Tobacco cultivation and production companies

    • Nicotine and Vape product firms targeting underage markets

  4. Human Rights Offenders:

    • Corporations complicit in war crimes, apartheid, or forced labour or general labour abuses

    • Entities sanctioned by the UK government or UN for abuses

  5. Gambling Industry

    • Online betting platforms and casino operators

    • Firms profiting from addictive gaming models

    • Companies with poor records on harm reduction or youth exposure

  6. Tax Haven-Linked Entities

    • Firms domiciled in jurisdictions with secrecy laws or zero corporate tax

    • Investment vehicles routed through Panama, Jersey, Cayman Islands, etc.

    • Contractors or suppliers with opaque ownership structures or general tax abuses

Portfolio Audit and Quarterly Review

To enforce this motion:

  • Conduct a full forensic audit of current holdings within 90 days

  • Initiate a quarterly ethical review of investment portfolios

    • Include external experts, civil society observers, and fund members

  • Publish transparent reports online, with:

    • Listed exclusions

    • Rationale for decisions

    • Any breaches or remedial actions taken

Education and Oversight

  • Host annual ethical investment forums for fund members

  • Integrate ethical clauses into procurement and investment tendering

  • Train committee members in ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) metrics and divestment pathways



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