Agenda item

To receive the report from the Head of Finance (report to follow).

The report will present the council’s Treasury Management Strategy for 2024/25. It sets out how the council’s treasury service will support financing of capital investment decisions, and how treasury management operates day to day. It sets out the limitations on treasury management activity informed by the prudential indicators, within which the council’s treasury function must operate.

The report will recommend that the committee approve the key elements of the report and recommend that the cabinet approve the treasury management strategy, the prudential indicators and limits, and the annual investment strategy.

The committee considered the treasury management strategy 2024/25 report which was presented by the head of finance. All councils needed to approve an annual treasury management strategy.

The strategy set out how the councils’ treasury service would support financing of capital investment decisions, and how treasury management activity operated day to day. It set out the limitations of treasury management activity informed by the prudential indicators, within which the council’s treasury function must operate. It also looked to review the current and longer-term holdings based on cashflow, and also introduced an Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) statement.

Members asked that greater detail and clarity around some of the longer-term figures and turn over for regular items such as S106 payments, could be provided in future reports.

The committee welcomed the inclusion of the ESG policy but recognised its limitations and the requirements of the councils that remained prioritising security, liquidity, then yields. The head of finance emphasised that that long term security was more impacted by ESG factors than shorter term investments, which would be much more difficult to assess via the ESG scoring. He also added that he would like ESG scoring to aid decision making when deciding between two identical investment options but agreed that it was an overlay to security, liquidity, yield. Overall, the committee agreed that the utilisation of ESG was an ambition that needed to be married to other treasury management factors, but that the policy would provide a foundation for its future use.

Finally, members asked about the gap between medium term investments (one to two years) and long-term investment (five plus years). Members suggested that more thought should go into bridging the gap between these two, which could bring the council security but also higher yields.

Overall, the committee was satisfied with the strategy laid out in report and agreed it should be approved.

South Oxfordshire District Council RESOLVED: to approve each of the following key elements of the treasury management and investment strategy 2024/25, and recommend these to Cabinet:

1. To approve the treasury management strategy 2024/25 set out in Appendix A to the report.

2. To approve the prudential indicators and limits for 2024/25 to 2026/27 as set out in Appendix A.

3. To approve the annual investment strategy 2024/25 set out in Appendix A, and the lending criteria detailed in table 6.

4. To approve the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) policy in Appendix E.

Vale of White Horse District Council RESOLVED: to approve each of the following key elements of the treasury management and investment strategy 2024/25, and recommend these to Cabinet:

1. To approve the treasury management strategy 2024/25 set out in Appendix A to this report.

2. To approve the prudential indicators and limits for 2024/25 to 2026/27 as set out in Appendix A.

3. To approve the annual investment strategy 2024/25 set out in Appendix A, and the lending criteria detailed in table 6.

4. To approve the Environmental, Social and Governance policy in Appendix E