Issue - meetings

[Claire Nye, Director of Finance, will present the report]

Alison Shannon, Chief Accountant, presented the Treasury Management Strategy and Activity Monitoring Q3 2018-19 for information and comment.   The Chief Accountant advised the panel that there has been no change in the risk appetite approach adopted by the Council.

The Chief Accountant outlined the key parts of the report and commented that there are no immediate concerns about the Council’s investment but that there is a general apprehension about future investment trends due increased level of economic uncertainty due to Brexit.

The panel queried the Annual Minimum Revenue Provision statement (Appendix 4) and the implications of the change in method of calculation detailed in national guidance which states that the new maximum period of useful economic life should be reduced from 99 years to 50 years. The Director of Finance advised the panel of the implications for the Council.

The panel discussed the training needs for Councillors on the topic of treasury management and whether it should be offered to all Councillors. 

The panel noted that specific training was being arranged by Member Development to recognise the responsibility on the panel to scrutinise the treasury management strategy document. The panel were advised that general finance training is included as part of the induction training being developed for Councillors.

The panel suggested that consideration should be given to offering ongoing specific training on treasury management to members of the panel to help meet their responsibilities. The panel receive quarterly treasury monitoring reports and have a responsibility to reassure itself that information presented has been properly scrutinised.

The Chair circulated a questionnaire prepared by Cipfa which provides a baseline measure to assess knowledge levels and to identify training and information needs. Claire Nye, Director of Finance, added that feedback from the panel on the budget information and finance training would be helpful in planning the content of future sessions. The panel were invited to share any specific information or concerns that that they have which could be helpful in developing the content. The panel discussed if finance training should be mandatory for all Councillors.

The panel discussed the consideration given to the possible outcome of the Brexit negotiations. The panel discussed the volatility in the financial markets and requested that this issue is referred to a future meeting for further consideration. In particular, the impact of different Brexit scenarios on future interest rates changes.

The Director of Finance confirmed that there are ongoing discussions with the Council’s financial advisers.

Resolved:

1.    The panel agreed to note the report.

2.    The panel comments on specific financial training and support to be considered and reported back to a future meeting of the panel.