Issue - meetings

Consideration was given to the report of the Chief Officer Resources which was presented to give Members the opportunity to scrutinise the Treasury Management activities carried out by the Authority during the first half of the 2020/21 financial year.

The Chief Officer Resources spoke to the report which provided Members with the opportunity to scrutinise the Treasury Management activities carried out by the Authority under delegated powers of the Chief Officer Resources during the period 1^st April to 30^th September, 2020 in accordance with the CIPFA Treasury Management Code of Practice. The Chief Officer noted that despite the financial climate in relation to the pandemic, the Authority had performed well in terms of its Treasury Management activities during the first half of the year and outlined the work undertaken as detailed in the report.

The Chief Officer Resources advised that the interest payments made had been minimised as far as possible with the average rate of interest of 0.67% being below the benchmarked rate which showed good performance. The Council had also not been exposed to any financial losses as a result of the current difficult economic climate.

At this juncture, the Chair invited questions/observations from Members.

A Member asked if the Authority still invested in fossil fuel and the Chief Officer Resources confirmed that there were no direct investments with fossil fuel companies. The Chief Officer noted previous discussions and informed that the pension fund had changed the strategy to move away from investments in fossil fuels and the Council’s own Investment Strategy was being reviewed.

The Committee AGREED to recommend that the report be accepted and endorse Option 2, Members scrutinised the treasury management activity undertaken during the 2020/2021 financial year and no comment was provided prior to its submission to full Council.