Issue - meetings

To receive the 2019/20 Mid-Year update for Treasury Management.

The committee received and considered a report which summarised the treasury management performance and position information for Dorset Council for the financial year to 30 September 2019.  A training session was to be run for all councillors, provided by officers and advisers, to further explain the responsibilities that councillors had in relation to treasury management.

Councillors considered the contents of the report and during discussion, the following points were raised:

·                Reference was made to a loan from BAE Systems, set out in appendix 2 of the report and points noted with regard to potential public concern with ethical borrowing issues and the ability to repay the loan early if required.  In response, the Service Manager for Treasury and Investments provided background to the specific loan and noted that the loan had consolidated a number of previous loans.  There would be a premium in order to repay early.  It was noted that a number of the loans listed were loans taken out by the former Dorset County Council and that they would have been taken out in accordance with the strategy of the former council

·                In response to a question, it was noted that there was an active market in inter-authority lending for short term borrowing

·                A lot of borrowing was based on the strategy of the former Dorset County Council

·                The council would aim to have variances in the maturity dates for loans in order to mitigate in case of a sudden increase in interest rates.