Issue - meetings

The Deputy Chief Executive presented the Treasury Management Outturn Report 2024/25.

The Committee was informed that a Treasury Management Outturn report had to be submitted each year in accordance with Government and CIPFA accountancy rules.  The Council did have long-term debts in the Housing Revenue Account (HRA), which was funded through internal borrowing.  The authority had not breached any prudential indicators during the year.

It was important to ensure that the Council remained debt free moving forward.  This was necessary to make sure that debts were not passed on to the new Unitary Authority/ies.  In other parts of the country that were going through Local Government Reorganisation, the level of debts that would be passed on by existing Councils to the new unitary authorities could potentially leave those new Councils in a position where they would need to be declaring debt burdens from the first date of their existence.

When the Council did undertake borrowing, this involved borrowing from the Public Works Loan Board (PWLB).  Where the Council borrowed from the general fund to support the HRA, the authority could not borrow to invest.

Following the presentation of the report, Members noted that the Council’s financial position was influenced by the macro-economic context in which the authority operated.  A reduction in interest rates had had a positive impact on the Council’s finances.  However, there were no plans to change the Council’s approach to investments, which remained cautious and was concentrated on investing in AAA rated assets.

RECOMMENDED that

1)          the Council’s Treasury performance for the financial year 2024/25 be noted; and

2)          the position in relation to the Council’s Prudential indicators be noted.