Agenda item

Consideration was given to a report of the Director of Finance which provided the Committee with the annual treasury management review of activities and the actual prudential and treasury indicators for 2021/22. The Committee noted the report met the requirements of both the CIPFA Code of Practice on Treasury Management (the Code) and the CIPFA Prudential Code for Capital Finance in Local Authorities (the Prudential Code).

During 2021/22 the minimum reporting requirements were that the full Council should receive the following reports:

·         An annual treasury strategy in advance of the year (approved by Council on 4 March 2021)

·         A mid-year (minimum) treasury update report (approved by Council on 15 December 2021)

·         An annual review following the end of the year describing the activity compared to the strategy (this report)

The regulatory environment placed responsibility on Members for the review and scrutiny of treasury management policy and activities. The report was therefore important in that respect, as it provided details of the outturn position for treasury activities and highlights compliance with the Council’s policies previously approved by members.

The Committee was charged with the scrutiny of treasury management activities in Oldham and was requested to review the content of the annual report prior to its consideration by Cabinet and Council (to ensure full compliance with the Code for 2021/22).

The key actual prudential and treasury indicators detailing the impact of capital expenditure activities during the year, with comparators, were set out in the report.

The Committee noted that actual capital expenditure was greater than the revised budget estimate for 2021/22 presented within the 2022/23 Treasury Management Strategy report considered at the Council meeting of 2 March 2022. The outturn position was significantly less than the £86.002m original capital budget for 2021/22 as approved at Budget Council on 4 March 2021.

Oldham, along with the rest of the country, was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic during 2021/22 but as the year progressed, began to get back to some form of normality. This was reflected in the progress in taking forward the Council’s capital programme and hence the expenditure incurred, most of which was over the later part of the financial year. As the pandemic was still on-going, there would be further challenges during 2022/23 but these were expected to be on a much lesser scale. The capital programme would therefore be subject to change, but this would be subject to close financial monitoring during the financial year.

Other prudential and treasury indicators were set out in the main body of this report.

The Director of Finance confirmed that the statutory borrowing limit (the authorised limit) was not breached during 2021/22.

The Committee noted that the financial year 2021/22 continued the challenging investment environment of previous years, namely low investment returns, although there was an upward movement towards the year-end reflecting inflationary price rises and increases in interest rates.

RESOLVED that:

1.    The actual 2021/22 prudential and treasury indicators presented in the report be approved.

2.    The annual treasury management report for 2021/22 by approved.

3.    The report to commended Cabinet.