Issue - meetings

To note the Treasury Management annual report.

The Committee received the Treasury Management Annual Report on treasury performance for 2015/16, covering the council’s activities in the borrowing and investment market and the associated monitoring and control of risk.

The Committee discussed some concerns about all the financial reports being received at this meeting, with the Cabinet member for Finance, Councillor Howard Williams and the Principal Accountant.

Members asked whether the information provided could be made clearer for the ordinary reader as they were concerned that the wording and content of all the financial reports was too complex to understand in its current form.

Members also asked the purpose of reports before them and whether it was necessary to receive all the reports on the same agenda.

The Principal Accountant explained that the Council's budget was complex as it covered many services, and in consequence the reports were quite broad ranging and detailed.   

The purpose of the reports was to provide feedback to councillors on how the Council’s income and expenditure did in the last complete financial year compared to what we predicted in the budgets. He said that it was important that feedback was provided on both revenue (i.e. day to day spending on services covering employees, supplies and services, fees and charges etc.) and capital (i.e. expenditure on items which will provide benefits to the Council beyond one year). Treasury Management was reported separately because of its key contribution in supporting the revenue budget.

The reports provided at subsequent meetings in the year would focus on how income and expenditure at each quarter was doing against the budget. The frequency of the monitoring reports had reduced in recent years (although the Council was required by accounting standards to provide at least a half yearly monitoring report and an outturn report on Treasury Management).

The Principal Accountant advised that Accountancy was always looking to improve the simplicity and usefulness of its reports to councillors and was open to make further improvements so that the reports were easier to read. Councillor Williams offered to run a short training session for all councillors to help them understand these reports.

Resolved to:

1.         note the Treasury Management annual report for 2015/16; and

2.         invite Councillor Williams and the Council’s finance team to run a short    training session on finance terminology and reading accounts for all   members and strongly recommend that all members attend.

Councillor Williams

Cabinet considered a report on the Treasury Management for 2015-16.

RESOLVED that Cabinet notes the report.