Agenda item

To consider the Treasury Management Half-Yearly Progress Report for the year ended 30 September 2015 and its Annexes 1 to 7.

The Committee was presented with the Treasury Management Half-Yearly Progress Report as at 30 September 2015.  Mr Thompson summarised that the report provided an update on treasury management activities.

Mr Thompson presented a summary of the Council’s borrowing activities for the first half of the financial year and advised that the Bank of England Official Bank Rate had remained low throughout the financial year. He explained that the result had been that the cost of short term borrowing had continued to be at historically low levels. He also advised that the low base rate had helped to ease the pressures of pay and pension liabilities for local authorities.

The Committee was also advised that temporary borrowing had been a major factor in the treasury management strategy during the year, with it being used to deal with the normal peaks and troughs of cash flow, as well as financing any shortfalls in cash flow caused by capital expenditure.

The Committee noted the service provided advice to the Council companies and questioned whether those companies could gain access to the Public Works Loans Board through the Council. Mr Thompson advised that those companies would be able to access borrowing in that way, but that the main focus of treasury management work with the Council owned companies would be in relation to shared policies about holding excess cash and the related security of that cash.

Background papers: None