Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

North-east infrastructure could be funded by pension pot

Aberdeen councillor Taqueer M Malik.
Aberdeen councillor Taqueer M Malik.

A public sector pension fund could be used to fund massive north-east infrastructure projects as council funding continues to plunge.

A report to the pensions committee next week has recommended that senior Aberdeen City Council civil servants to investigate a partnership with the North East Scotland Pension Fund.

They are looking to the example of Greater Manchester, where the former Colgate Palmolive factory in Salford was transformed into the Soapworks shopping centre.

Council chiefs there also a partnered with the fund in the £800 million project to develop Airport City.

The city already has a range of huge infrastructure schemes in the pipeline like the developments of the art gallery redevelopment and Union Terrace Gardens.

A £333m cost has been attached to the TECA exhibition centre project which was funded through Aberdeen becoming the first council in Scotland to launch a bond on the stock exchange.


>> Keep up to date with the latest news with The P&J newsletter


But now with decreasing funding expected in years to come, the authority is looking at the pension fund.

Aberdeen councillor Taqueer M Malik, convener of the pension committee, said “The report highlights the opportunities that could be made available to the pension fund to invest in north- east infrastructure projects such as identified in the regional economic strategy, city region deal and the city centre masterplan.

“It highlights the success that Greater Manchester has had from pension funds including investment from Strathclyde Pension fund and I see no reason why the North East Scotland Pension Fund could not follow Greater Manchester’s lead and invest in infrastructure projects that bring about regeneration change to the north- east of Scotland.”

Other ambitious projects are also planned for the city although the pension pot may not be legally allowed to invest in them.

Opposition SNP finance spokesman Alex Nicoll raised concerns that decisions would have to be made for the pension fund and not the council.

He added: “It’s clear from the report that, legally, the pension fund cannot invest in Aberdeen’s capital programme.

“However, there is scope to continue dialogue in terms of the wider economic region and that seems sensible – although we really need to remain focused on the fact that any investment must be in the best interests of the pension fund and not a local authority.”