Call for checks to ensure investments are 'ethical'

CITY COUNCIL HAS £351M TIED UP, MAINLY IN THE BANKING SECTOR

- By JOE LOCKER Local democracy reporter

A COUNCILLOR wants Nottingham City Council to provide more information on its hundreds of millions of pounds in investments so they can be scrutinised to make sure they are ethical.

The authority held £351.1m of investments as of the end of March, up from £330.7m the year before. The vast majority are in the banking sector, while £101m is in short-term, low-risk money market funds, and £9.9m in the UK Government.

Investments, while not broken down into specifics, offer an average 4.77 per cent return on interest, council documents show.

It is common for local councils to put money into an investment portfolio to generate funding which can go back into its activities.