Agenda item

That the Treasury Management Strategy for 2016/17 be approved.

The Cabinet considered a report on the Treasury Management Strategy for 2016/17 that set out how the Council intended to manage its treasury risk, in line with the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) codes of practice.  The current policy was considered to be performing well and the Council was the 8th best performing out of 127 organisations in its benchmarking club.  No major changes were therefore proposed in the strategy for next year.

There was no short term requirement to take on additional borrowing and it was unlikely that new borrowing would be required until the end of the Medium Term Financial Strategy period in 2020, depending on Members decisions on future schemes and projects.  Speaking under Rule 30, Councillor Nazir asked for further information about the Council’s borrowing arrangements to ensure it was taking advantage of the current low interest rate environment.  It was confirmed that the Council was looking to reduce his borrowing and would be paying off £4m next year.  However, the premiums on paying off some borrowings early was prohibitive.  Commissioners also discussed borrowing to invest, particularly to support the Council’s housing objectives, and it was noted that activities through Slough Urban Renewal and the Local Authority Partnership Purchase scheme could potential benefit from market trends, however the Council also needed to carefully consider the financial risks and exposure in making further investments.

A Commissioner asked about the level of assurance regarding compliance with the Council’s Ethical Investment Policy and it was responded that there was a high level of confidence that the policy was being applied to direct investments, although it was not possible to verify all transactions with every institution to ensure compliance.

At the conclusion of the discussion, the Cabinet agreed to recommend the Treasury Management Strategy 2016/17 to full Council on 25^th February 2016.

Recommended –  That the Treasury Management Strategy for 2016/17 be approved.