Council                                          Agenda Item 46b

Subject:                                Gaza and Council Financial Exposure

Date of meeting:                 13 October 2025

Proposer:                             Councillor Sykes  

Seconder:                            Councillor Shanks

Ward(s) affected:                All

Notice of Motion

Green Group

This council notes:

1) The widespread view, including of the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS)¹ on 31/08/25 and a UN Independent Commission² on 16/09/25, that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza;

2) That recent legal analysis has raised concerns that third-party states, including the UK, must ensure their activities do not contribute to violations of international law;

3) That this analysis has further suggested these responsibilities apply to the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) and other local government activities under domestic law;3

4) The recent letter from our Council Leader to the Chair of the ESCC Pension Committee requesting an update further to report A/HRC/37/39 of the UN Human Rights Council and East Sussex Pension Fund (ESPF) exposure.

Therefore, Council resolves to:

1) Request officers to bring a report to the Audit, Standards and General Purposes Committee detailing the exposure of ESPF, of our treasury management and of our freehold landholdings to ‘involved companies³’;

2) Request the Leader of the Council to write to the Rt Hon Steve Reed, Secretary of State at MHCLG, informing him of the Council’s concerns and requesting that he support the action of divesting LGPS investments from ‘involved companies’.

Supporting information:

References

1. Israel committing genocide in Gaza, world's leading experts say - BBC News

2. Israel has committed genocide in the Gaza Strip, UN Commission finds | OHCHR

3. ‘Local government pension scheme investments in companies involved in the occupied palestinian territory and israel’s military offensive in the gaza strip’, Legal position paper by Max du Plessis S.C., Tatyana Eatwell and Joshua Jackson, with the assistance of Deighton Pierce Glynn solicitors, 27 Aug 2025 (https://palestinecampaign.org/wp-content/uploads/Position-Paper.pdf, accessed 18/09/2025)