Issue - meetings

Members heard from the Financial Services Manager (Deputy 151 Officer) that the Council had complied with legislative and regulatory requirements for treasury management, and there were no breaches of the prudential indicators to report. The Annual Treasury Management Report 2023/24 outlined the statutory requirements and provided an update for Members on the progress made against the Council’s original Treasury Strategy approved by Council in March 2023. The report had been written against the economic backdrop of high inflation at the beginning of the year which was now decreasing and high interest rates. It was a challenging year for investing, with short-term investments being used over long-term investments given the financial uncertainty with interest rates.

The Financial Services Manager (Deputy 151 Officer) highlighted section 4 of the report regarding debt maturity and the need for reborrowing to take place over the short-term. The team had closely monitored cashflow and borrowing over the annual period. The Council’s capital financing requirement had reduced in 2023/24 as MRP had been applied. West Lindsey had overachieved on its investments over the period, with a total of £1.144m achieved and a budget of £577k.

Members praised Officers for the great report and asked if it was good practice to pay back a certain amount of debt. The Financial Services Manager (Deputy 151 Officer) explained minimum revenue provision (MRP) was based on the level of debt and the Council was required to make calculations and set aside provision for this in line with statutory requirement.

RESOLVED that the contents of the report were reviewed, commented on and scrutinised by the Committee.