Agenda and draft minutes

An apology for absence was received from Councillor Sacha Gosine, and on behalf of the Managing Director Graham Harris.

To receive declarations of interest from Members including the terms of any the Grants of Dispensation by the Audit Board or Managing Director.

There were no declarations of interest.

                        RESOLVED;

1.    That the unclassified Minutes of the Panel meeting held on 5 July 2019 be confirmed as accurate.

It was confirmed that no members of the press or public were present.

                        RESOLVED:

1.    That the EXEMPT Minutes of the Panel meeting held on 5 July 2019 be confirmed as accurate.

Report

Members noted the content of the treasury mid-year report which was presented to Cabinet on 31^st October 2019. 

The Principal Finance & Procurement Officer gave a brief overview of the report and investment position as at 31^st October 2019.

Economic Update

The Council’s advisers Arlingclose reported on the performance of the externally managed funds and gave an update on the economy. 

The PWLB suddenly raised their interest rate on borrowing by 1%.  The rate was 0.8% above gilt yields but is now 1.8% above gilt yields.  Their reasoning was to return the rate to where it was one year ago as gilt yields have seen a steady decline since then.  They have also experienced a huge amount of borrowing in the year from local authorities looking to borrow to invest in commercial property investments.  HM Treasury has also chosen to increase the cap on the amount that can be borrowed from the PWLB from £85bn to £95bn.  There is no impact on the Council at this time as all current borrowing is at a fixed rate. The only impact will be if the Council chooses to borrow in the future, the rates are likely to be higher than they were in the past.  The PWLB will keep the rate increase under review.

The Chairman asked that the Panel’s best wishes be conveyed to the Council’s Managing Director, Graham Harris, for a speedy recovery.