Agenda item

The Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Health Integration introduced the Treasury Management Strategy Statement (TMSS) 2024/25 report which set out the Council’s borrowing, investment and funding plans for the year ahead.

The Cabinet Member highlighted the main points within the report, several of which had been considered as part of the Budget Framework 2024/25 discussions, and confirmed that the TMSS 2024/25 would be presented for approval, alongside the Budget Framework 2024/25 report, to the Assembly meeting on 28 February 2024.

Cabinet resolved to recommend the Assembly to:

(i)  Note the current treasury position for 2024/25 and prospects for interest rates, as referred to in sections 4 and 8 of the report;

(ii)  Approve the Annual Investment Strategy 2024/25 outlining the investments that the Council may use for the prudent management of its investment balances, as set out in Appendix 1 to the report;

(iii)  Approve the Council’s Borrowing Strategy 2024/25 to 2026/27, as set out in Appendix 2 to the report;

(iv)  Approve the Capital Prudential and Treasury Indicators 2024/25 to 2026/27, as set out in Appendix 3 to the report;

(v)  Approve the Operational Boundary Limit of £1.9bn and the Authorised Borrowing Limit of £2.0bn for 2024/25, representing the statutory limit determined by the Council pursuant to section 3(1) of the Local Government Act 2003, as referred to in Appendix 3 to the report;

(vi)  Approve the Capital Strategy, including the Capital Programme for 2024/25 to 2026/27, as set out in Appendix 4 to the report;

(vii)  Approve the revised Minimum Revenue Provision Policy Statement for 2024/25, the Council’s policy on repayment of debt, as set out in Appendix 5 to the report;

(viii)  Note that changes made to the Prudential Code and Treasury Management code, published in December 2021, have been fully implemented for the 2024/25 TMSS;

(ix)  Approve the Liability Benchmark data in section 11, including the impact of schemes agreed in 2022 but also the impact of pipeline schemes on the amount of borrowing required by the Council;

(x)  Delegate authority to the Strategic Director, Resources, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Finance, Growth and Core Services, to proportionally amend the counterparty lending limits agreed within the Treasury Management Strategy Statement to consider the increase in short-term cash held from borrowing;

(xi)  Note the economic, development and operational risks for the IAS schemes as outlined in section 8 and within the IAS and Borrowing reports;

(xii)  Note the Council’s total borrowing is £1.260bn, split into £296m for the HRA, £689m of long-term borrowing and £275m of short-term borrowing;

(xiii)  Approve the CFR projections of £2.022bn for 2024/25, £2.11bn for 2025/26 and £2.02bn for 2026/27; and

(xiv)  Note that the Investment and Acquisitions Strategy shall be updated and presented for approval in April 2024.