Issue - meetings

Report by the Head of Governance to the Strategy and Resources Committee on 5 February 2024 (attached).

Council considered a report by the Head of Governance regarding the Treasury Management Strategy Statement 2024/25 to the Strategy and Resources Committee on 5 February 2024 (circulated previously).

The Committee considered a report by the Director of Resources and Deputy Chief Executive (circulated previously) regarding the Treasury Management Strategy Statement for 2024/25 together with Minute Extract of Strategy and Resources on 5th February 2024.

The Head of Governance highlighted the following:

·       Section 5.1 of the report detailed the Capital expenditure and the net financing need.

·       Section 5.2 of the report detailed the impact of the Capital Financing Requirement (CRF).

·       Section 5.4 of the report detailed forecast year end resources.

·       Section 6.1 of the report detailed external debt projections.

·       Section 6.3 of the report detailed forecasts of interest rates.

·       The Annual Investment Strategy could be seen at section 7 of the report, with section 7.2 detailing counterparty limits and durations.

In response to questions, the Director of Resources and Deputy Chief Executive and the Head of Governance advised the following:

·       External treasury advisors who had worked with the Council for a number of years produce a forecast for interest rates and provided guidance to the Council in relation to borrowing.

·       The Treasury Advisory Service looked at the economy together with previous trends and this work was outsourced to them by the Council because they were the experts in providing treasury advice. 

RESOLVED, that the decisions and recommendations of the Strategy and Resources Committee be endorsed.

Report by Head of Governance (attached)

The Committee considered a report by the Head of Governance (circulated previously) regarding the Treasury Management Strategy Statement 2024/25.

The Director of Resources and Deputy Chief Executive highlighted the following:

·         Section 5.1 of the report detailed how Capital expenditure would be financed.

·         Section 5.2 of the report detailed the Capital financing requirement.

·         Section 5.4 of the report detailed Year end resources.

·         Section 6.1 of the report detailed external debt figures.

·         Section 6.3 of the report detailed forecasts of interest rates.

·         The investment strategy could be seen at section 7 of the report.

·         If it was felt that there was a significant risk of a sharp FALL in borrowing rates, then borrowing could be postponed.

·         If it was felt that there was a significant risk of a much sharper RISE in borrowing rates than that currently forecast, fixed rate funding will be looked to be drawn whilst interest rates were lower.

·         Any decisions would be reported to the Leader and the Lead Member for Resources and Commercialisation.

RECOMMENDED that Council approve the Treasury Management Strategy Statement, Minimum Revenue Provision Policy Statement and Annual Investment Statement 2024/25, including the Treasury Management and Prudential Indicators for 2024/25 to 2026/27.