Agenda item

Report No: COU/WS/20/002

 

(A)    Referrals from Cabinet: 14 January 2020

 

1.       Delivering a Sustainable Medium-Term Budget 2020-2021

 

Portfolio Holder: Cllr Sarah Broughton

 

(This item has been amalgamated with (B) (3) below)

 

2.       Treasury Management Report – September 2019

 

Portfolio Holder: Cllr Sarah Broughton

 

3.       Draft West Suffolk Strategic Framework 2020-2024

 

Portfolio Holder: Cllr John Griffiths

 

(B)    Referrals from Cabinet: 11 February 2020

 

1.       Treasury Management and Strategy Statement 2020-2021 and Treasury Management Code of Practice

 

Portfolio Holder: Cllr Sarah Broughton

 

2.       Treasury Management Report – December 2019

 

Portfolio Holder: Cllr Sarah Broughton

 

3.       Delivering a Sustainable Medium-Term Budget 2020-2021

 

Portfolio Holder: Cllr Sarah Broughton

 

4.       Budget and Council Tax Setting 2020/2021 and Medium Term Financial Strategy

 

Portfolio Holder: Cllr Sarah Broughton

 

This item will be considered separately under Agenda Item 10 below.

 

 

Council considered the Referrals Report of Recommendations from Cabinet, as contained within Report No: COU/WS/20/002.

 

(A)    Referrals from Cabinet: 14 January 2020

 

1.       Delivering a Sustainable Medium-Term Budget 2020-2021

 

This recommendation asked for specific proposals to be included in the budget.  This had been undertaken, and the budget would be separately considered by Members later on the agenda. No decision was therefore required to be taken at this stage.

 

 

2.       Treasury Management Report – September 2019

 

Councillor Sarah Broughton, Portfolio Holder for Resources and Performance, drew relevant issues to the attention of Council.

 

On the motion of Councillor Broughton, seconded by Councillor Clive Springett, it was put to the vote and with the vote being unanimous, it was

 

RESOLVED:

 

That the Treasury Management Report (September 2019), being Report No: FRS/WS/19/004, be approved.

 

 

3.       Draft West Suffolk Strategic Framework 2020-2024

 

The preparation of the new West Suffolk Strategic Framework had been taking place as part of a wider piece of work aimed at ‘Planning for the Future’, in which a joined-up approach is being taken to the Strategic Framework, West Suffolk Local Plan and Medium Term Financial Strategy.

 

The advent of the new council and the aligned timetables of the three documents gave a good opportunity for West Suffolk Council to develop a single, coherent narrative and approach to what councillors wished to see achieved in West Suffolk in coming years.

 

Councillor Sara Mildmay-White, Deputy Leader of the Council, drew relevant issues to the attention of Council on behalf of the Leader in his absence. Such issues included that section 1 of the report detailed the process that had been undertaken to produce the draft Strategic Framework, which included holding Member workshops. The first workshop sought exploration of specific questions, the feedback from which had been used to inform both the Strategic Framework and the initial scoping of the new West Suffolk Local Plan and Medium Term Financial Strategy.  The second workshop considered in more detail what might be the best approach to achieving growth in West Suffolk in future years. 

 

The input from Members was then combined with the existing commitments and priorities, plus those of partner organisations, to produce a draft Strategic Framework document.

 

Members noted that in developing the Framework, the key points to acknowledge and as set out in further detail in the report, were:

 

a.       The document was not comprehensive;

b.       It was proposed that the Council’s strategic priorities remained the same.

c.       West Suffolk’s contribution was only part of the picture.

d.       The document included a new emphasis on the Environment and Rural issues.

 

On 14 November 2019, the Overview and Scrutiny Committee had considered the draft document and had made a number of comments which were set out in section 3 of the report.

 

Having considered the document (Appendix B), the Leader’s Foreword (Appendix A) and the comments of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, the Cabinet was supportive of recommending its adoption by Council. For completeness and ease of reference, the final draft was attached to Report No: COU/WS/20/002 as Appendix 1.

 

On the motion of Councillor Mildmay-White, seconded by Councillor Joe Mason, it was put to the vote and with the vote being unanimous, it was

 

RESOLVED:

 

That subject to the incorporation of Appendix A (Leader’s Foreword), the draft West Suffolk Strategic Framework 2020-2024, as contained in Appendix B to Report No: CAB/WS/20/010 be adopted, taking account of the comments made by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

 

 

(B)    Referrals from Cabinet: 11 February 2020

 

1.       Treasury Management and Strategy Statement 2020-2021 and Treasury Management Code of Practice

 

The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy’s (CIPFA) Treasury Management Code of Practice required that, prior to the start of each financial year, the Council should formally approve a Treasury Management Policy Statement and Investment Strategy which set out its treasury management policy and strategy for the forthcoming year.

 

In addition, CIPFA recommended that all councils adopted a Treasury Management Code of Practice based on the treasury management practices published by CIPFA and guidance issued in their Code of Practice.  Adherence to the principles of the CIPFA Code should ensure that Treasury Management activities within the Council were effectively managed and adequately controlled.

 

Councillor Sarah Broughton, Portfolio Holder for Resources and Performance drew relevant issues to the attention of Council, including that following a procurement exercise, Arlingclose Limited, had been appointed as treasury advisors to West Suffolk Council.  The Treasury Management Strategy Statement and Code of Practice had been compiled in line with advice from Arlingclose and comprehensive details of how this was achieved were contained in Performance and Audit Scrutiny Report No: PAS/WS/20/004.

 

On the motion of Councillor Broughton, seconded by Councillor Patrick Chung, it was put to the vote and with the vote being unanimous, it was

 

RESOLVED:

 

That:

 

1.           The Treasury Management Strategy Statement 2020-2021, as set out in Appendix 1 to Report No: PAS/WS/20/004 be approved.

 

2.           The Treasury Management Code of Practice, as set out in Appendix 2 to Report No: PAS/WS/20/004, be approved.

 

 

3.       Treasury Management Report – December 2019

 

Councillor Sarah Broughton, Portfolio Holder for Resources and Performance, drew relevant issues to the attention of Council.

 

In response to a question regarding the calculation of the 16.5% figure quoted within the final column ‘% proportion of total gross revenue income budget’ of paragraph 2.6 of the Council report which related to the proportionality between borrowing and income, Members were informed that the Council received around £8 million income (gross) from its previous asset investments which represented 16.5% of the total gross revenue income budget.  

 

In response to an additional question regarding the reason for quoting two different figures expressed for the value of the solar farm asset within tables that referred to the proportionality of Borrowing and Income, and Borrowing and Income Yields, Council was informed that a written response would be provided and circulated to all Members in due course.

 

On the motion of Councillor Broughton, seconded by Councillor Elaine McManus, it was put to the vote and with the vote being unanimous, it was

 

RESOLVED:

 

That the Treasury Management Report (December 2019), being Report No: PAS/WS/20/003, be approved.

 

 

3.       Delivering a Sustainable Medium-Term Budget 2020-2021

 

and

 

4.       Budget and Council Tax Setting 2020/2021 and Medium Term Financial Strategy 2020-2024

 

Similarly with the recommendation from 14 January 2020 (Referral 7(A)(1) above refers), the recommendations arising from the above two referrals had been fed into the budget setting process. Th final budget report would be separately considered by Members later on the agenda at Item 10. No decision was therefore required to be taken at this stage.