Issue - meetings

The purpose of the Capital, Investment and Treasury Management Strategy was to provide a high-level overview of how capital expenditure, capital financing and treasury management activity contributed towards the delivery of the Council’s priorities, along with an explanation of how risk, security and liquidity were managed. It comprised:

·      capital and investment overviews

·      a treasury management strategy statement for 2025/26

·      an investment property strategy for 2025/26

·      a Minimum Revenue Provision (MRP) policy statement for 2025/26, at appendix A to the report

·      a statement of principles of corporate governance for the capital programme.

The Director Resources confirmed figures in tables 11 and 12 had been updated since the agenda had been published. The strategy was fundamentally the same as for 2024/25. Changes included a peak in the MRP to £1.6m in 2027/28 (compared to a peak to £1.5m in 2026/27), to ensure the Council had adequately planned for repayment of debt, and other minor amendments as outlined in paragraph 8 of the covering report.

In response to Member questions, it was confirmed:

·         the strategy is amended annually and approved by Full Council. Once the Sub-Committee had approved it, a recommendation to the Strategy & Resources Committee and Full Council for approval would follow. The Strategy & Resources Committee was responsible for approving the level of borrowing for capital programmes.

·         Officers would provide details of which schemes were funded from borrowing in the report to the Strategy & Resources Committee on 30 January 2025. This information is attached as annex E to these minutes.

·         it was important the Council ensured it could service its debt, and the level of borrowing was appropriate. Borrowing only took place when funding was needed, and slippage on capital spending was reported through the policy committees. The Council was marginally over-borrowed due to past borrowing levels but would need to borrow again in future years as the gap between external debt and the liability benchmark grew.

·         Officers would amend the strategy by removing “The portfolio is at an early stage of development.” from paragraph 33 of the Investment Property Strategy. In the future, proposed changes to the Strategy (and similar documents being considered by the Sub-Committee) would be clearly marked in the draft revised version presented to the Sub-Committee.

·         Officers would seek Member input on contents of non-technical training to establish key areas of focus. This would be done in time to ensure the training would be delivered before the next scheduled meeting in June.

·         Members would be asked to consider the implications of local government reorganisation on the Council’s investments at a future meeting of the Sub-Committee.

COUNCIL DECISION

(subject to ratification by Council)

            R E C O M M E N D E D – that that the Capital Investment and Treasury Management Strategy 2025-26, as at Appendix 1 to the report, with amendments to tables 11 and 12 and paragraph 33 of the Investment Property Strategy, be approved, subject to ratification by Full Council.