Issue - meetings

At its meeting on 5 January 2022 the Executive Committee considered a suite of treasury and capital management documents and RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL that the following strategies and statements be ADOPTED:

·        The Capital Strategy 2022/23.

·        The Investment Strategy 2022/23.

·        The Minimum Revenue Provision Statement 2022/23.

·        The Treasury Management Strategy 2022/23

57.1           At its meeting on 5 January 2022 the Executive Committee had considered a suite of treasury and capital management documents and recommended to Council that the following be adopted: Capital Strategy 2022/23; Investment Strategy 2022/23; Minimum Revenue Provision Statement 2022/23; and Treasury Management Strategy 2022/23.

57.2           The report which was considered by the Executive Committee had been circulated with the Agenda for the current meeting at Pages No. 26-59.

57.3           The Chair of the Executive Committee proposed the recommendation and the Vice-Chair seconded it.

57.4           In response to a query, the Head of Finance and Asset Management advised that each strategy included information on risk but he highlighted a number of key risks to the Council including holding commercial properties and ensuring they remained leased with tenants paying rents and attracting new tenants to any voids; however, there would be a risk to the Council’s budget of not having those properties given the significant income generated by them. In terms of the Treasury Strategy, the usual risks were included within the report along with how the strategy sought to mitigate those

57.5           Accordingly, it was

                  RESOLVED          That the following strategies and statements be ADOPTED:

·      The Capital Strategy 2022/23.

·      The Investment Strategy 2022/23.

·      The Minimum Revenue Provision Statement 2022/23.

·      The Treasury Management Strategy 2022/23.

To recommend to Council adoption of a range of statutorily required polices and strategies relating to treasury and capital management. 

That it be RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL that the following strategies and statements be ADOPTED:

·        The Capital Strategy 2022/23.

·        The Investment Strategy 2022/23.

·        The Minimum Revenue Provision Statement 2022/23.

·        The Treasury Management Strategy 2022/23.

71.1          The report of the Head of Finance and Asset Management, circulated at Pages No. 80-112, set out a range of strategies and statements which the Council was required to adopt before the start of the financial year to provide clarity on the plans for the financial management of the authority in the forthcoming year. Members were asked to consider the strategies and statements and recommend them to the Council for adoption.

71.2          A revised edition of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) Prudential Code had been consulted on during 2021 and had been published in December 2021 with immediate adoption – the new requirements had been included within the particular documents. The main changes in the revised Prudential Code were a change in emphasis on borrowing in advance of need purely to profit from the investment so it was now prohibited rather than advised against; inclusion of proportionality as an objective (assessing risk to levels of resources); clear definition and clarification of commercial activity and investment; and official introduction of the liability benchmark into the indicators (this had previously been included by the Council anyway).

71.3          The Finance Manager introduced the appendices to the report which included: the Capital Strategy – this gave a high-level view of how capital expenditure, capital financing and treasury management activity contributed to the provision of local public services along with an overview of how associated risk was managed and the implications for future financial sustainability. The liability benchmark had also been introduced which demonstrated the lowest level of risk borrowing; Investment Strategy – this followed statutory guidance and was not the Council’s strategy for actual investment in either commercial or service property. It also did not commit the Council to any future direction or expenditure; Minimum Revenue Provision Statement 2022/23 – this set the policy for prudent minimum revenue provision which was the money the Council set aside to pay for the principal element of capital expenditure; and Treasury Management Strategy – set the framework in which day-to-day treasury management activities were operated. Members were provided with an updated Treasury Management Strategy document which included the liability benchmark chart, this set out the amount allowed to borrow and the cost of borrowing and was used by the Council for strategic direction and cashflow as it showed how the Council could borrow ensuring priority was given to security and liquidity over return.

71.4          Upon being proposed and seconded, it was