TAYSIDE’S LOCAL authority pension funds will have to wait a while longer to find out if they are entitled to pull out of investments in tobacco stocks, a meeting of the superannuation investment sub-committee heard yesterday.

Fund managers hold around £22 million in tobacco stocks, which have been performing well, and the council’s investment advisers Hymans Robertson previously urged that legal opinion be sought before any decision on pulling out was taken.

They suggested that the only basis for making investment decisions should be the common financial interest of the fund and its members and warned that sub-committee members responsible for making the decision to pull out of tobacco investments may be liable for any losses incurred as a result.

Dundee City Council, which administers the funds, followed their advice and requested a legal opinion on the matter, which was expected to be available for the last meeting in May.

When it was not received in time members were told that it would be available for yesterday’s meeting.

However, convener Fraser Macpherson told the meeting that, due to circumstances outwith the council’s control, the matter would have to be carried over to the next meeting in November.

Councillor Neil Powrie expressed his concern at the delay.

“It’s a long, long time since we first had a serious discussion about this and it is just a great pity that it has dragged on so long,” he said.