Agenda item

To submit the report of the Head of Finance.

The Senior Finance Manager submitted the report, and noted that it was a new requirement by CIPFA (Chartered Institute of Public Finance) on Councils, that came into effect for the 2019/20 financial year onwards. It was explained that the report's intention was to give the long-term context to capital expenditure decisions and investments by Councils and considering the risks. The report brought the capital programme and the usual Treasury Management report together within one report. 

Details were given on the contents of the report and attention was drawn to the intention to spend £35 million of capital expenditure in 2019/20, and nearly £18.8 million for 2020/21 and £9.3 million in 2021/22. It was noted that the main capital projects for 2019/20 included expenditure of £8.7m on Twenty First Century Schools, £2.7m on highways repair and £2.7m on the Housing Strategy, with £11.7m for the Assets Management Plan to be allocated. It was highlighted that the Treasury Management section of the report included information about the borrowing strategy, investment, commitments, liquidity management, economic forecast and credit forecast with the supporting information and details included in Appendix C.  

It was explained that the Committee was required to adopt the information in the report and to consider any risks that would arise from the strategy prior to its submission to the Full Council on 7 March 2019.

A member noted appreciation of the training held on 16 January, 2019 for Committee members in treasury management with consultants from Arlingclose company, namely the Council's treasury management consultants, and that thanks should be conveyed to the consultants. 

In response to an enquiry from a member about finance for the Housing Strategy, the Chief Executive noted that the Adults, Health and Well-being Department were discussing specific plans with the Housing, Leisure and Culture Cabinet Member and the Housing Strategy would be submitted to the Cabinet soon.

In response to a further enquiry, the Chief Executive explained that the £2.7 million for highway repairs was a grant received from the Welsh Government and that the £2.7 million for the Housing Strategy was Council Tax Premium income. The Head of Finance elaborated and stated that the Housing Strategy was ambitious and looked at an extended period of 5 to 10 years and was currently being fine-tuned. The member noted that he was looking forward to hearing about the plans attached with the Housing Strategy.

In the context of past decisions, a member enquired about Council borrowing and were any changes anticipated in interest rates. In response, the Head of Finance Department explained that there were higher interest rates on loans dating back to the 1980s and most of them were coming to an end. He added that this would be a positive adjustment to the budget as the Council would not pay higher interest rates and it was not anticipated that interests would rise high. He explained that the Council did self-borrow keeping external borrowing to a minimum.  

RESOLVED to note and accept the report and the relevant risks.