Agenda item

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Finance that presented the Council’s Treasury Management Statement for 2023/24.

The Committee was advised that the Council was required, through regulations supporting the Local Government Act 2003, to ‘have regard to’ the Prudential Code and to set Prudential Indicators for the next three years to ensure that the Council’s capital investment plans are affordable, prudent and sustainable. The Council was also required to produce an annual Treasury Strategy for borrowing and to prepare an Annual Investment Strategy setting out the Council’s policies for managing its investments and for giving priority to security and liquidity of those investments.

The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) Code of Practice on Treasury Management 2021 (the Code) also required that the receipt by full Council of a Treasury Management Strategy Statement. The Strategy for 2023/24 covered two main areas, namely: firstly Capital Issues - the Capital expenditure plans and the associated Prudential Indicators and the Minimum Revenue Provision (MRP) Policy Statement; and secondly Treasury Management Issues - the Current Treasury Position, Treasury Indicators which limit the treasury risk and activities of the Council, Prospects for Interest Rates, The Borrowing Strategy, The Policy on Borrowing in Advance of Need, Debt Rescheduling, The Investment Strategy, The Creditworthiness Policy and The Policy regarding the use of external service providers.

The report thus outlined the implications and key factors in relation to each of the above Capital and Treasury Management issues and made recommendations accordingly regarding the Treasury Management Strategy for 2023/24. The report included the most recently available economic background commentary which reflected the position at 22^nd December 2022.

The proposed Treasury Management Strategy was presented to the Audit Committee to enable scrutiny and challenge of the report before it’s further consideration in the budget setting cycle. It was also due to be presented to the Policy Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 26^th January 2023. Any comments from the Audit Committee or by the Policy Overview and Scrutiny Committee would be incorporated into the report presented to Cabinet on 13^th February 2023 and to Council on 1^st March 2023.

Resolved:

That the Audit Committee commends to Cabinet and Council that the following be approved and adopted:

a.    The Capital Expenditure Estimates as per paragraph 2.1.2 of the submitted report.

b.    The MRP policy and method of calculation as per Appendix 1 of the submitted report.

c.    The Capital Financing Requirement (CFR) Projections as per paragraph 2.2.3 of the submitted report.

d.    The Projected treasury position as at 31^st March 2023, as per paragraph 2.4.3 of the submitted report.

e.    The Treasury Limit’s as per section 2.5 of the submitted report.

f.     The Borrowing Strategy for 2023/24 as per section 2.7 of the submitted report.

g.    The Annual Investment Strategy as per section 2.11 including risk management and the creditworthiness policy at section 2.12 of the submitted report.

h.    The Level of investment in specified and non-specified investments detailed at Appendix 5 of the submitted report.