Decision details

Before the Committee was a report by the Director for Digital, Sustainability and Resources, copies of which had been circulated to all Members and a copy of which is attached to the signed copy of these minutes as Item 7.

The purpose of this and the other treasury management reports that were submitted during the year was to ensure that proper scrutiny was undertaken of the treasury and capital expenditure activities of the Councils and that the activities were conducted in a prudent manner in order to safeguard the financial position of the Councils.

Councils were required by regulations issued under the Local Government Act 2003 to produce a mid-year treasury management review of activities; and a review of performance against the prudential and treasury indicators for the year.

The key message arising from the report was that both Adur and Worthing Councils had complied with the approved policies and the indicators agreed prior to the start of the financial year with the exception of one minor breach as detailed within the report.

The report asked Members to note the Treasury Management mid-year performance for Adur and Worthing Councils at the 30 September 2022, as required by regulations issued under the Local Government Act 2003.

A Member sought clarification regarding the position with short term borrowing from local authorities at competitive interest rates. Officers advised that in terms of short term interest, local authorities were always active in the money markets, lending money to one another. It often represented better value than alternative sources of borrowing such as the PWLB. The Councils kept a percentage of their portfolio in short term borrowing because through asset disposal, there hopefully wouldn’t be a need for that borrowing in the longer term. The Council’s Treasury Advisers had also indicated that the latest economic forecast indicated that whilst there was a peak in interest rates around 2 months ago, those interest rates were expected to gradually decline over the next 2 to 3 years back down to a more affordable level. Therefore, part of the Council’s strategy was to keep a proportion of the debt portfolio invested short term, in order to take advantage, when rates fall, of longer term borrowing at lower rates, rather than fixing the position at the higher rates currently available.           

Decision 

The Joint Strategic Committee noted the contents of the report.

Call In:

The call-in deadline for the decision will be 5.00pm on the 16th December 2022.