Brighton and Hove wants representation on East Sussex's pensions committee

An advisory group has asked East Sussex County Council to look into adding Brighton councillors to its pension committee.
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On Friday (May 27), the East Sussex Pension Fund Board voted in favour of investigating whether members of Brighton and Hove City Council (BHCC) could be added to the fund’s decision-making committee.

The board, an advisory group made up of representatives of the fund’s employers and members, had been considering a proposal from Green Party councillor Tom Druitt, who sits on the board as a representative of BHCC (as it is an employer which pays into the fund).

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Cllr Druitt’s argument ran that there is both a democratic deficit in the current arrangements and a case that the committee was failing in its fiduciary duties by not fully withdrawing its investments in oil and gas companies. He said both these issues could be resolved by adding two BHCC councillors to the committee.

Divestment campaigners in February outside County Hall, Lewes (Photo by  Katie Vandyck)Divestment campaigners in February outside County Hall, Lewes (Photo by  Katie Vandyck)
Divestment campaigners in February outside County Hall, Lewes (Photo by Katie Vandyck)

Cllr Druitt said: “We can no longer ignore the fact that investing in fossil fuels is destabilising the ecosystems that support life on earth; it is causing crop failure, creating food scarcity, fuelling inflation and putting many of our scheme members into poverty.”

He added: “By passing not one but three motions calling on the East Sussex Pension Fund to divest from fossil fuels, Brighton and Hove City Council has made it manifestly clear that it does not believe that the fund is currently fulfilling its fiduciary duty to its members. In this, it has been joined by other scheme employers including Hastings Borough Council, Lewes District Council and Peacehaven Parish Council.

“However, while residents in Hastings, Lewes and Peacehaven are all represented on the pension committee, Brighton and Hove residents are not represented at all. If they were they would be making the case for wholesale divestment of fossil fuels, thereby supporting the fund to fulfil its fiduciary duty to scheme members.”

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This argument was supported by petitioners, represented at the meeting by Sarah Hazlehurst, a Brighton-based pension fund member.

Support for divestment was clearly not shared by all members of the board (notably its independent and non-voting chairman Ray Martin, who argued that engagement was generally viewed as a more effective strategy).

The argument around democratic deficit also saw barriers. Prior to the meeting, officers had told the board the Pension Committee could only be made up of elected members of ESCC, as it was the administering authority of the fund.

Despite this legal advice, members of the board gave examples of other pension committees elsewhere in the country, which were said to be made up of members of multiple authorities.

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Officers were unsure of the exact make-up and operation of these other funds, but said it was likely the case that their investment decisions were made solely by the administering authority in order to comply with law.

Even so, the board ultimately voted to refer the matter to East Sussex County Council and ask it to review how the pension committee is set up. They asked that this review looks into the set up of the other pension funds elsewhere in the country.