Latest news with #StrathclydePensionFund
Glasgow Times
5 days ago
- Glasgow Times
Some Glasgow City Council online services still down
The local authority's ICT supplier CGI discovered malicious activity on servers managed by a third-party early in the morning of June 19. Servers where malicious activity was discovered were isolated to protect the wider network – but taking them offline disrupted a number of day-to-day digital services. Residents are still unable to pay parking and bus lane penalty charges online, however these can be paid over the phone. People who need replacement birth, marriage and death certificates also can't order these online currently. The council has advised many older certificates are available from other registrar offices, and it has 'put in place arrangements to order more recent certificates by email'. A temporary service for members of the public looking for property enquiry certificates has been set up as the online search is unavailable. However, the council's public access planning portal, which shows planning applications and allows representations on them, is up and running again. READ MORE: 'We apologise': Latest on Glasgow City Council's cyber attack Residents are once again able to book appointments with registrars and the council's revenues and benefits team and Strathclyde Pension Fund members can access their online accounts again. An online form allowing Freedom of Information requests is also available again. The council said: 'Wherever possible, we have put in place alternative ways to access services on a temporary basis. 'We are also actively working to safely restore the affected services in new locations, with several of the highest priority applications now restored.' Independent experts have completed a forensic examination of the affected servers and the council is awaiting a full analysis of their work. So far, investigations have not found any evidence of data being stolen, the council has said, and no council financial systems have been affected in the attack, with no details of bank accounts or credit/debit cards processed by those systems being compromised. Glasgow City Council is working with Police Scotland, the Scottish Cyber Co-ordination Centre, the National Cyber Security Centre and security experts brought in by CGI to investigate the attack.
STV News
6 days ago
- STV News
Council still working to restore services three weeks after cyber attack
Glasgow City Council is still working to restore some of its online services three weeks on from a cyber attack. The local authority's ICT supplier CGI discovered malicious activity on servers managed by a third-party early in the morning of June 19. Servers where malicious activity was discovered were isolated to protect the wider network, but taking them offline disrupted a number of day-to-day digital services. Residents are still unable to pay parking and bus lane penalty charges online, however these can be paid over the phone. People who need replacement birth, marriage and death certificates also can't order these online currently. The council has advised many older certificates are available from other registrar offices, and it has 'put in place arrangements to order more recent certificates by email'. A temporary service for members of the public looking for property enquiry certificates has been set up as the online search is unavailable. However, the council's public access planning portal, which shows planning applications and allows representations on them, is up and running again. Residents are once again able to book appointments with registrars and the council's revenues and benefits team and Strathclyde Pension Fund members can access their online accounts again. An online form allowing Freedom of Information requests is also available again. The council said: 'Wherever possible, we have put in place alternative ways to access services on a temporary basis. 'We are also actively working to safely restore the affected services in new locations, with several of the highest priority applications now restored.' Independent experts have completed a forensic examination of the affected servers, and the council is awaiting a full analysis of their work. So far, investigations have not found any evidence of data being stolen, the council has said, and no council financial systems have been affected in the attack, with no details of bank accounts or credit/debit cards processed by those systems being compromised. Glasgow City Council is working with Police Scotland, the Scottish Cyber Co-ordination Centre, the National Cyber Security Centre and security experts brought in by CGI to investigate the attack. Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
The National
24-06-2025
- Politics
- The National
Protesters target pension fund over links to Gaza and climate change
Members of Palestine solidarity, climate action and trade union groups took to the city centre ahead of the Strathclyde Pension Fund committee meeting after it was revealed the fund invests an estimated £434 million in fossil fuel companies Shell, TotalEnergies and Eni. Research by Oil Change International revealed that all three companies supply oil to Israel and are complicit in the ongoing bombardment of Palestinian territories, with Tuesday's protest aiming to pressure the fund to commit to future divestment from arms and technology used by Israeli forces. READ MORE: Palestine protest targets University of Glasgow over Israel-linked investments Matthew Jones from Time to Divest Glasgow, one of the groups involved in the demonstration, said: 'It is clear that the genocide in Gaza will be seen as one of history's great crimes. 'The International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the International Criminal Court have stated that crimes are taking place, that the occupation of Gaza and the West Bank are illegal and that governments and other bodies including investors must act. 'It is time to divest from companies involved with Israel and particularly those directly involved in the genocide to protect ourselves and Strathclyde Pension Fund from being complicit in these war crimes." The protest comes four years after Glasgow City Councillors voted in favour of divesting the Strathclyde Pension Fund from fossil fuels, though a timeline for such divestment has still not been set and no clear strategy for ending investments has been implemented. Figures from March show the fund invests £41.3 million in Eni, £12.5 million in French oil company TotalEnergies and £11.8 million in Royal Dutch Shell. Stuart Graham from the Unison Scotland International Committee said: "In 2021 Strathclyde Pension Fund claimed it was putting fossil fuel companies on notice that, if they don't take their responsibilities on climate seriously, they would be dropped from the portfolio. (Image: Friends of the Earth Scotland) 'Four years on, what progress has been made? The deferred wages of Council and public sector workers are literally fuelling the genocide of the Palestinian people by its investments in Eni, Shell and Total providing Israel with oil to continue its war crimes." "We demand that Strathclyde Pension Fund invests in life and the local infrastructure Glasgow requires to move towards a low carbon economy that would create jobs and long-term investments, not investing in energy companies that are driving global climate breakdown while enabling and profiting from genocide. 'Nor do we want our retirement based on the profits of war through financing weapons manufacturers, particularly when it is always the working class against whom these weapons are used." In March 2024, Glasgow City Council passed a motion where it recognised that the ICJ's ruling places moral obligations on institutions in the UK at all levels of government to ensure they are not directly or indirectly supporting genocide. READ MORE: Israeli forces kill at least 25 people waiting for aid in Gaza Direct investments in companies that profit directly or indirectly from genocide exist still in Strathclyde Pension Fund's portfolio more than a year after this decision. Campaigners urged Glasgow City Council Pension Committee, as the administrating body of Strathclyde Pension Fund, to act decisively to ensure it acts in line with its commitments and avoid allegations of directly or indirectly supporting genocide via its investment strategies. Groups protesting included Unison Scotland, Glasgow Trades Union Council, Time to Divest Glasgow, Friends of the Earth Scotland, Extinction Rebellion Glasgow, Protest in Harmony Glasgow and Divest Strathclyde.
The Herald Scotland
07-05-2025
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
Glasgow City Council and its 'golden goodbyes' explained
Ms O'Donnell will therefore receive normal pension arrangements with no additional cost to the Strathclyde Pension Fund or Glasgow City Council. Here's how we got to this point. Read More: What is the background? In February 2024, the chief executive of Glasgow City Council, Annemarie O'Donnell, announced that she would step down later that year. She had been in post for more than a decade, and spent more than 30 years in local government in Glasgow. Annemarie O'Donnell (Image: GCC) When she stepped down she received a £357,845 "in year" contribution to her pension, with a number of other council figures receiving so-called 'golden goodbyes'. Elaine Galletly, former director of Legal and Administration, received a £223,065 pension contribution and £59,971 for 'compensation for loss of office'. Carole Forrest, a former solicitor to the council, got a redundancy payment of £95,000 and Anne Connolly, a former principal advisor to the chief executive got a pension and redundancy package of £191,767. Robert Anderson, head of human resources, got a pension and redundancy deal worth £147,654. Why has it proven controversial? Glasgow City Council has been struggling to balance its budget in recent years, and has done so by cutting services and raising revenues through things like remortgaging council owned buildings. Five senior staff being given exit deals worth over £1million would be controversial in that circumstance anyway, but it has proved even more so given there was no political oversight. Legal firm Brodies conducted an investigation into the payments and found no evidence of officials having acted "improperly" but concluded that Ms O'Donnell's exit was not "lawfully approved" in line with council rules. The payments, which came as part of a restructuring exercise, were "in accordance" with Glasgow City Council policies but were approved solely by council officers with no input from elected members. Given that the officers involved in approving the Restructure Report benefited from it by being proposed for early retirement or severance packages it could give the "appearance of a conflict of interest", Douglas Ross KC said. What has the reaction been? Susanne Millar, who succeeded Ms O'Donnell as chief executive, said it wasn't "credible" that the officials couldn't have known approving early retirement deals without it being referred to committee would be controversial. Councillor Greg Hepburn said: "Is it credible that no one would think this would be something that would be politically controversial? That they wouldn't think to take it to committee? "It's not something that would have passed a committee, I feel confident in saying." Jim Cavanagh of Labour said: "There are people out there on the streets, poverty-stricken beyond belief. People's opinions of this council are at rock bottom, and we as councillors are taking the flack for it. 'We didn't know anything. Nobody told us anything. We never knew at any stage what was happening.' Audit Scotland, which audits public bodies, said it would be opening its own investigation. What will happen next? So far Ms O'Donnell is the only one of the five officials to have agreed to repay her 'golden goodbye'. It remains to be seen whether any others will follow suit, and what Audit Scotland will say in its report.
