Falkirk Council urged to invest pension fund in football rather than arms firms

Members have been getting a "significant volume" of letters demanding that pensions are not invested in arms or fossil fuels.

A call for Falkirk Council' pension fund to stop investing in arms manufacturers and start investing in the local football club was made today by a member of the public, who wants to know that local authority pensions are not "funding genocide".

Niamh Bainbridge spoke at a meeting of Falkirk Council's pensions committee today (Tuesday), saying: "As a resident of Forth Valley, I want to be comfortable knowing our council pension fund is not supporting genocide, displacement and war crimes alongside the climate crisis."

She told members she was not speaking on behalf of any group but had been concerned to read in a report that the fund invests £31 million in four arms manufacturers.

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Ms Bainbridge said: "As you know, that is only 0.88 per cent of the fund but it does make all the difference to the victims of the arms manufacturers.

"I believe that we can lower the percentage down to zero and can build up our local community in the process, especially because the proportion to the rest of the fund is so small."

She said there were many other options for investment, including renewable energy or local businesses such as Falkirk Football Club, which has a loyal fanbase and deep roots in the community.

She added: "As of yesterday, Israel has ended the ceasefire and resumed full-scale attacks on Gaza and the West Bank and this couldn't happen without weaponry which we are funding the creation of."

By contrast she said investing in Falkirk FC, who are currently chasing promotion to Scotland's Premier League, would be a much better use of the money.

"The fans are very loyal to the club and they strongly believe that when they invest in Falkirk FC the club will invest back into the community," she said.

The report that sparked her plea was a review of investment principles, which noted the committee and board have "received a significant volume of correspondence asking them to divest from companies who may be associated with the production of armaments".

Many of those comments related directly to the conflict in Gaza.

There are also frequent calls for pension funds to stop investing in fossil fuels and the report also noted that Clackmannanshire Council had recently made this call.

Members were told that the complexity of divestment could leave the fund open to legal challenge, and officers' advice to members was to get specialist advice before any new policies are created.

The pension fund - which includes Clackmannanshire and Stirling Councils - has a legal duty to invest in a way that will benefit the pensioners who rely on the fund for their incomes.

Currently, Falkirk Council uses a company called Hermes EOS which engages with companies on environmental, social and governance issues globally on behalf of a large group of investors.

Independent councillor Robert Spears, said he "didn't know whether to declare an interest or not" as a former captain of the Royal Engineers who had served in Iraq.

He asked Ms Bainbridge: "We mainly spent our time in that poor, downtrodden country, where there was real poverty, on restructuring. Are you saying that we shouldn't invest in my security."

She replied: "Divesting from future investments is not the same as ensuring security. I would also posit that you were rebuilding because of bombs that destroyed the area.

"I'm not saying we should have zero security - I'm saying these investments are unethical and irresponsible."

Members struggled to be heard at times due to a noisy protest outside the building.

They agreed that it would be prudent to get specialist advice to examine the complex issues around responsible investing.

SNP councillor Iain Sinclair said: "We have a duty to our members to protect their interests and protect the fund but we also have a responsibility to ensure that our investments have a positive impact on society and I think there's not enough clarity there for me.

"The report's recommendations to get more advice on this, I think is probably the right thing to do."

Labour councillor Anne Hannah, who took the chair for the meeting, said: "It's fairly clear that committee members are keen to look at options for greater control over our responsible investments but we are also very clear about our fiduciary duties as well."

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