Issue - meetings

(a)       That the draft Treasury Management Strategy 2014/15 be recommended to Cabinet on 18 February 2014 with a request to look into investing with Credit Unions for the economic benefit of the people of Flintshire; and

(b)       That the Treasury Management 2013/14 quarterly update be noted.

The Finance Manager - Technical Accountancy introduced the draft Treasury Management Strategy 2014/15 for review prior to recommendation to Cabinet.  The report also provided an update on matters relating to the Council’s 2013/14 Treasury Management Strategy up to the end of December 2013.  She gave an overview of the minor changes which had been made to the Strategy for 2014/15 compared with 2013/14 Strategy, as indicated in the report, and referred to the detailed information on loans in Appendix 3 which had been previously requested.

The Chair expressed her appreciation to those who had attended the Treasury Management training session earlier in the week and the excellent presentation which had been received from the Council’s Treasury Management advisors, Arlingclose.  She went on to thank the Head of Finance and Finance Manager for the report on this complex subject and drew attention to the responsibility of the Committee to scrutinise the Council’s borrowing and investment activity.

On the long-term borrowing analysis, Mr. Paul Williams referred to concerns previously raised on the high interest rates of loans and penalty clauses, and said that discussion on this subject at the training session had given assurance that the Council was looking at borrowing from a commercial viewpoint and had built robust processes to review debt into the Strategy, supported by professional advice from Arlingclose.

In response to queries raised by Councillor Haydn Bateman on the Investment Strategy, the Finance Manager explained that the option to invest with providers of social housing was available if an appropriate opportunity should arise during the year.  The Strategy also included the option to use an external fund manager, although there were currently no plans to do this.

Councillor Tim Newhouse suggested that the long-term borrowing analysis could identify with an asterisk any loans which were as a result of rescheduling to clarify that these were not new loans.  The Finance Manager confirmed that the additional information would be incorporated in the table and that previously requested details on LOBOS (market fixed rate loans) would be included in the update report to the next meeting.  A further suggestion was made by Councillor Newhouse that with professional advice, the Council could explore investment in a particular bank, with the request for branch presence in a local area.  The Head of Finance explained that treasury management decisions were in relation to risk and return and that banking arrangements were a separate matter.  The Chair said that this suggestion would be noted by officers.

The Chief Executive spoke of the need for a balance to be creative with investments with consideration of security and rates of return for the Council's surplus funds.  In response to comments on the potential for Local Government reorganisation, he pointed out that in the event of any agreement, individual Councils would need to reconsider their policies on liability and structure, however this was not currently an issue.

Councillor Newhouse stated that the treasury management training had confirmed that charges incurred in the early repayment of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 69