Issue - meetings

The Cabinet Member for Finance, Growth and Core Services introduced the Treasury Management Annual Report for 2023/24 which set out the key areas of performance, borrowing levels and other treasury management issues.

Key highlights within the report relating to the 2023/24 activities and performance included:

·  Total treasury investments held at 31 March 2024 was £0.0m (2022/23: £54.0m);

·  Total cash held at 31 March 2024 was -£10.1m (2022/23: -£18.4m);

·  Total loans lent at 31 March 2024 was £287.4m (2022/23: £192.2m);

·  Net General Fund Treasury Outturn for 2023/24 was £10.307m compared to a net expenditure budget of £10.875m, an outperformance of £0.568m;

·  Investment from the Council’s Investment and Acquisition Strategy (IAS) Residential, Commercial and other IAS portfolio totalled £4.591m for the year compared to a budget of £2.869m, an outperformance of £1.722m;

·  The combined General Fund Treasury and IAS return was £5.716m against a budget of £8.006m, an outperformance of £2.29m;

·  The Council’s average treasury interest return was 4.55%;

·  The Council’s average return on its property and commercial loans was 2.62% and 8.42% respectively;

·  A total of £8.99m was transferred from the IAS Reserve in 2023/24, reducing it from £31.95m to £22.96m;

·  Interest payable for 2023/24 totalled £49.6m (2022/23: £40.9m), consisting of £13.7m for Private Finance Initiative (PFI) / finance leases, £10.2m for HRA and £25.7m for General Fund;

·  Capitalised interest totalled £12.2m;

·  The total long-term borrowing (General Fund and IAS) was £681.8m, comprising of market loans, Public Works Loan Board (PWLB), Local Authority, European Investment Bank and other loans;

·  The value of short-term borrowing totalled £343.9m;

·  HRA borrowing totalled £295.9m of long-term debt and £10.7m of internal borrowing;

·  PFI / finance lease borrowing totalling £271.1m and total Council borrowing at 31 March 2024 (excluding internal HRA borrowing) was £1,592.7m;

·  The Council did not breach its 2023/24 Operational Boundary limit of £1.850bn or its Authorised Borrowing Limit of £1.950bn;

·  The Council complied with all other set treasury and prudential limits; and

·  A loan impairment was made against loans to Barking and Dagenham Trading Partnership (BDTP) of £3.431m in 2023/24, bringing the total provision against BDTP to £15.554m.

The Cabinet Member also referred to issues relating to Barking and Dagenham Reside Limited, the impact of letting delays on the IAS Residential return and the latest position regarding several of the Council’s investments.

Cabinet resolved to recommend the Assembly to:

(i)  Note the Treasury Management Annual Report for 2023/24;

(ii)  Note that the Council complied with all 2023/24 treasury management indicators;

(iii)  Approve the actual Prudential and Treasury Indicators for 2023/24, as set out in Appendix 1 to the report; and

(iv)  Note that the Council’s total provision against Barking and Dagenham Trading Partnership was £15.6m as at 31 March 2024.