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The Cabinet Member for Finance,
Growth and Core Services introduced the Treasury Management
Strategy Statement (TMSS) 2024/25 report which set out the
Council’s borrowing, investment
and funding plans for the year ahead.
 
The Cabinet Member highlighted
the main points within the report, several of which had been
considered as part of the Budget Framework 2024/25 discussion and
had been recommended by the Cabinet it its meeting on 19 February
2024.
 
The Assembly resolved to
approve the Treasury Management Strategy
Statement for 2024/25 and, in doing so, to:
 
(i) 
Note the current treasury position for 2024/25 and
prospects for interest rates, as referred to in sections 4 and 8 of
the report;
 
(ii) 
Approve the Annual Investment Strategy 2024/25
outlining the investments that the Council may use for the prudent
management of its investment balances, as set out in Appendix 1 to
the report;
 
(iii)  Approve the
Council’s Borrowing Strategy 2024/25 to 2026/27, as set out
in Appendix 2 to the report;
 
(iv)  Approve the Capital
Prudential and Treasury Indicators 2024/25 to 2026/27, as set out
in Appendix 3 to the report;
 
(v)  Approve the
Operational Boundary Limit of £1.9bn and the Authorised
Borrowing Limit of £2.0bn for 2024/25, representing the
statutory limit determined by the Council pursuant to section 3(1)
of the Local Government Act 2003, as referred to in Appendix 3 to
the report;
 
(vi) 
Approve the Capital Strategy, including the Capital
Programme for 2024/25 to 2026/27, as set out in Appendix 4 to the
report;
 
(vii) 
Approve the revised Minimum Revenue Provision Policy
Statement for 2024/25, the Council’s policy on repayment of
debt, as set out in Appendix 5 to the report;
 
(viii) 
Note that changes made to the Prudential Code and Treasury Management code,
published in December 2021, have been fully implemented for the
2024/25 TMSS;
 
(ix)  Approve the
Liability Benchmark data in section 11, including the impact of
schemes agreed in 2022 but also the impact of pipeline schemes on
the amount of borrowing required by the Council;
 
(x)  Delegate authority to the Strategic Director, Resources, in
consultation with the Cabinet Member for Finance, Growth and Core
Services, to proportionally amend the counterparty lending limits
agreed within the Treasury Management Strategy Statement to
consider the increase in short-term cash held from borrowing;
 
(xi)  Note the economic,
development and operational risks for the IAS schemes as outlined
in section 8 and within the IAS and Borrowing reports;
 
(xii) 
Note the Council’s total borrowing is
£1.260bn, split into £296m for the HRA, £689m of
long-term borrowing and £275m of short-term borrowing;
 
(xiii)  Approve the CFR projections of
£2.022bn for 2024/25, £2.11bn for 2025/26 and
£2.02bn for 2026/27; and
 
(xiv)  Note that the
Investment and Acquisitions Strategy shall be updated and presented
for approval in April 2024.