Councillor Andrew Jarvis, Deputy Leader and Finance and Assets Portfolio Holder, presented the 2020/21 Annual Treasury Management Report. The report reviewed the treasury activities and the actual prudential and treasury indicators for the 2020/21 financial year, meeting the requirements of the Local Government Act 2003, the CIPFA Code of Practice on Treasury Management and the CIPFA Code for Capital Finance in Local Authorities.
Councillor Jarvis highlighted a number of key features within the report. At the end of the financial year the level of external debt had remained at £12.8m, showing that the Council had not funded revenue activity through borrowing, a key prudential indicator. At the end of the year, the Council had financial investments of nearly £29m, as outlined in Table 7 of the Appendix to the report. The Council’s non-treasury investments had a fair market value of £3.847m and had generated £214,000 income last year and Councillor Jarvis pointed out that this was below the previous year’s figure due to the pandemic.
Councillor Jarvis thanked officers for their work in this area, pointing out that their careful management of borrowing and cash balances was critical to minimise the risk that the Council faced, whilst achieving the best possible returns to support the broader work of the Authority.
The Chairman pointed out that the report had been through both Cabinet on 23 June 2021 and the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 9 July 2021 and had been recommended to Council for approval.
Councillor Jarvis moved the recommendation contained within the report and was seconded by Councillor Doug Rathbone.
It was unanimously
RESOLVED – That the 2020/21 Annual Treasury Management Report be approved.