Agenda item

The purpose of this report is to obtain the Council’s approval of the updated Treasury Management Policy Statement (attached) which includes the Annual Investment Strategy.

RECOMMENDED

1a that the treasury management indicators contained in Appendix D be approved;

1b that the attached Treasury Management Policy Statement including the Treasury Management Strategy, and Annual Investment Strategy for 2019/20 be approved;

1c that the following changes compared to the previous Annual Investment Strategy be noted:

(i) That a new category of non-specified investments be added to permit investment in pooled investment vehicles including equity funds, property funds, supply chain finance funds and multi asset funds with a limit of £50m per fund

(ii) That the maximum limit of an investment in a subsidiary company be increased from £20m to £30m

1d the Director of Finance and Information Technology (Section 151 Officer) and officers nominated by him have delegated authority to (paragraph 3.2 of Treasury Management Policy Statement):

(i) invest surplus funds in accordance with the approved Annual Investment Strategy;

(ii) borrow to finance short term cash deficits and capital payments from any reputable source within the authorised limit for external debt of £737m approved by the City Council on 12 February 2019;

(iii) reschedule debt in order to even the maturity profile or to achieve revenue savings;

(iv) to buy and sell foreign currency, and to purchase hedging instruments including forward purchases, forward options and foreign exchange rate swaps to mitigate the foreign exchange risks associated with some contracts that are either priced in foreign currencies or where the price is indexed against foreign currency exchange rates.

1e that the Chief Executive, the Leader of the City Council and the Chair of the Governance and Audit and Standards Committee be informed of any variances from the Treasury Management Policy when they become apparent, and that the Leader of the City Council be consulted on remedial action (paragraph 17.1 of Treasury Management Policy Statement)