Agenda item

The Chair introduced Sinead Butler as the newly appointed Finance Manager and Chief Financial Officer.  Sinead was currently working with the Interim Finance Manager, Ben Cookson during a handover period.

The report which asked Members to approve the  Annual Treasury Management Strategy Statement was introduced by Ben Cookson, the Interim Finance Manager.

It was noted that there was no climate change implications mentioned in the report, but where investment strategies are concerned  they may include fossil fuels and ther Authority needs to be aware of this.  The Interim Finance  Manager stated that he would check with North Yorkshire Council to see what their investments are and report back to Members.

Members queried whether the interest on borrowings was fixed or variable and the Interim Finance Manager confirmed that it was fixed. 

Members also asked whether a similar liability graph that the NYC had produced could be circulated to Members as it was very useful.  It was also noted that the recommendations in the report needed correcting as the section numbers  referenced were incorrect.

Members asked what happens after 2025 when the current SLA expires. The Interim Finance Manager responded that there was a 6 month notice period with NYC so  this would need to be considered, however, the Authority did not have the expertise in-house so would need an SLA with another Authority or Organisation.

The recommendations, subject to  amendments to the renumbering of the sections referenced were, moved, seconded, voted on and carried.

RESOLVED:

1.    That the Authority considers and approves the Treasury Management Strategy Statement in Appendix 1 of the report.

2.    That the Authority considers and approves the strategies contained within the Strategy Statement, namely the Annual Investment Strategy (section 5), Interest Rate Strategy (section 6) and Borrowing Strategy (section 7) of the report.

3.    That the Authority adopts the Annual Investment Strategy from the North Yorkshire Council (NYC) as the over-arching Investment Strategy for the Authority’s invested reserve funds.

4.    That the Authority reviews and approves the Prudential Indicators (section 8) of the report.

5.    That the Authority reviews and approves the Minimum Revenue Provision (MRP) policy (section 9) of the report.