The Assembly received the Treasury Management Annual Report 2013/14 introduced by the Cabinet Member for Finance. The report is required to be presented to the Council in accordance with the Revised CIPFA Code of Practice for Treasury Management in the Public Services.
Following debate and questions from a number of Members, the Chief Finance Officer provided clarification in that:
Ø Cabinet had agreed in August 2014 for the regeneration of the Gascoigne Estate and Abbey Road and a change to the Council's borrowing level to reflect that the scheme is to be funded by borrowing from the European Investment Bank (EIB), which would result in there being periods when high cash balances would be held. Finalising these changes to the borrowing limits for the EIB borrowing are recommended to be delegated to the Chief Finance Officer;
Ø the report asks Assembly to ratify the borrowing of £89m from EIB, to be drawn down in a series of up to five tranches for the investment on the Gascoigne Estate and Abbey Road based on the Cabinet decision, and the Council would be required to draw down the monies within three years of the proposed agreement with EIB;
Ø terms with EIB had not yet been finalised but it was expected that the funds would be drawn down within two and a half years of agreement;
Ø Investec Asset Management fee was £40,692;
Ø a report would be brought back to the Assembly in relation to the lending limit for cash funds.
The Assembly agreed to:
(i) Note the Treasury Management Annual Report for 2013/14;
(ii) Note that the Council complied with all 2013/14 treasury management indicators;
(iii) Note that the Council did not borrow in 2013/14 to finance its capital programme but utilised internal cash in line with its strategy;
(iv) An increase in the period the Council can invest with the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) from one year to a maximum of two years, as outlined in section 4.5 of the report.;
(v) Approve the actual Prudential and Treasury Indicators for 2013/14; and
(vi) Delegate authority to the Chief Finance Officer, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Finance, to approve appropriate amendments to the authorised and operational borrowing limits and proportionally amend the counterparty lending limits within the Treasury Management Strategy Statement, to reflect the decisions made by the Cabinet in respect of the “Gascoigne Estate (East) Phase 1 and Abbey Road Phase 2 Funding Proposals” as detailed in paragraph 3.3.4 of the report.
Cabinet resolved to recommend the Assembly:
(i) To note the Treasury Management Annual Report for 2013/14;
(ii) To note that the Council complied with all 2013/14 treasury management indicators;
(iii) To note that the Council did not borrow in 2013/14 to finance its capital programme but utilised internal cash in line with its strategy;
(iv) To agree an increase in the period the Council can invest with the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) from one year to a maximum of two years, as outlined in section 4.5 of the report.;
(v) To approve the actual Prudential and Treasury Indicators for 2013/14; and
(vi) To delegate authority to the Chief Finance Officer, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Finance, to approve appropriate amendments to the authorised and operational borrowing limits and proportionally amend the counterparty lending limits within the Treasury Management Strategy Statement, to reflect the decisions made in respect of the “Gascoigne Estate (East) Phase 1 and Abbey Road Phase 2 Funding Proposals” (item 18 on the agenda).