Agenda and minutes

Following the receipt of apologies from Councillor J Burrell and Councillor Oakley-Dow that morning, the Chairman declared the meeting inquorate.

The Principal Accountant advised that, notwithstanding the absence of a quorum, Members present could still discuss items on the agenda but could not take any decisions or conduct formal business. A record of these discussions and any briefing provided to the Chairman by officers for information would be kept and published to ensure transparency.

The Chairman agreed that the meeting should proceed as an informal briefing on the above basis and a Briefing Note composed accordingly.

To receive declarations of interest from Members including the terms(s) of the Grant of Dispensation (if any) by the Audit Board or the Chief Officer and Director of Corporate Services.

There were no declarations of interest.

In the absence of a quorum the Minutes of the Panel meeting held on 12 November 2021 were not ratified.

In the absence of a quorum of Members, the Chairman Cllr. Hammock, Cllr. Andy Lloyd (Observer), attending Officers and Ms. Phiroza Katrak of Arlingclose Ltd. [External Treasury Advisor], discussed the Treasury Management Review report enclosed with the Agenda papers.

The content of the Treasury Management Strategy was noted and the investment activity up to 31^st January 2021. 

The Principal Accountant explained how investment balances have been high but would be reducing before the end of March 2022 due to repayment of the settlement of business rates of £34m and the very recent repayment of borrowing of the £5m maturity PWLB loan. Clarification was sought from Councillor Hammock on the reason for holding this £34m and it was explained that central government had provided grant funding to the Council to cover discounts to businesses because of Covid-19, whilst still having to pay out to the preceptors in full. This year that funding has been recouped from the preceptors and is now due to be repaid to the government. The Council will be in a similar position next year, having to repay around £9m due to cash flow funding given during 2021/22.

Those at the briefing were pleased to see the repayment of the maturity loan and continuing repayment of the other loans taken on to self-finance the HRA in 2012. Councillor Hammock remarked how quickly those 10 years had passed but they were pleased to see that the work done initially to plan which loans to take on and when to repay them was now becoming a reality and the benefit that will now have to the HRA.

The content of the Investment Strategy was noted. Discussion was had around the business property that is being considered for purchase and whilst not an investment property, it will be included in future investment strategy repots for monitoring, should the purchase come to fruition.

The Principal Accountant gave an update on ESG, reading out the requirements laid down in the recently published CIPFA Code. The guidance to support the code is still awaited but it makes clear that the Council will not need to include ESG scoring or other real-time criteria at an individual investment level. It instead states that ESG investment policies should be consistent with the organisation’s own relevant policies such as environmental and climate change policies. The Head of Finance met recently with the Director of Housing and Public Protection who is currently recruiting into a new climate change team. This team will be tasked with writing the Council’s policies and we will be looking to work alongside that team in the formulation of our investment ESG policy, which will align to the overarching organisation policy.

Phiroza gave an update on the economy.  Inflation is now high and the Bank of England has responded by starting to increase the Bank Rate. The MPC voted 5-4 in favour of a 0.50% rate but it should be noted that the 4 members against the 0.50% rate actually wanted a higher rate  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.