The Committee is asked to note any apologies for absence and substitutions received from Members.

Apologies for absence were received from the Deputy Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holder for Economic Growth, Regeneration and Tourism (Councillor I Henderson). Apologies were also received from Councillor J Henderson with no substitution.

To confirm and sign as a correct record, the minutes of the last meeting of the Committee, held on 4 June 2025.

It was moved by Councillor Steady, seconded by Councillor Goldman and:-

RESOLVED that the minutes of the last meeting of the Committee held on 4 June 2025 be confirmed as a correct record and be signed by the Chairman.

Note: Councillor Honeywood asked a question on whether ‘Autumn’ had been given as a response for the CCTV completion, at the last meeting, as the statement had not been recorded in the minutes, those Members who had been present could not confirm either way, and therefore, no amendment was made to the minutes.

Councillors are invited to declare any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests, Other Registerable Interests of Non-Registerable Interests, and the nature of it, in relation to any item on the agenda.

There were no Declarations of Interest made by Members on this occasion.

Subject to providing two working days' notice, a Member of the Committee may ask the Chairman of the Committee a question on any matter in relation to which the Council has powers or duties which affect the Tendring District and which falls within the terms of reference of the Committee.

No Questions on Notice pursuant to Council Procedure Rule 38 had been submitted by Members for this meeting.

The Committee is asked to consider the adopted Capital and Treasury Strategy for 2025/26.

The Corporate Director (Finance & IT) introduced the report and explained to the Committee the importance of Treasury Management to Local Authorities, especially considering challenges faced by other Councils over previous years.

It was highlighted that due to the Council’s risk adverse approach, it had been largely unaffected by fallout with issues in Thurrock and other District Council’s. This had meant that the Council’s approach to Treasury and Capital Investment remained unchanged. The two main drivers for change were highlighted as being local change and changes to the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy’s (CIPFA) Prudential Code and the CIPFA Treasury Management Code of Practice. The Corporate Director (Finance & IT) reported the Council’s ‘quiet year’, which had meant the changes displayed in the strategy outlines, were limited.

At its meeting held on 11 April 2025 (Minute 161 refers), the Cabinet had considered a report of the Corporate Finance and Governance Portfolio Holder (A.3) which had sought Cabinet’s agreement of the Annual Capital and Treasury Strategy for 2025/26 (including Prudential and Treasury Indicators) for submission to Full Council.

Within the Cabinet report referred to above, it had been highlighted that in terms of the reporting process associated with the Strategy, this would have ordinarily been based on obtaining the agreement of the Portfolio Holder for Corporate Finance and Governance for consultation with the Resources and Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee, following which it would have been submitted to Cabinet and then onto Full Council. However, due to the timetable of meetings and the continuing work pressures, including those associated with clearing the backlog of outstanding Statement of Accounts that had been due to external audit delays, a revised timescale had been proposed.

This revised timescale had been based on seeking Cabinet’s agreement to the strategy along with a recommendation for it to be presented to Full Council for approval and adoption. In terms of consulting with the Resources and Overview and Scrutiny Committee, it had been proposed to undertake this as early as possible in 2025/26.

It had been felt that the above reflected a pragmatic approach to ensure that the strategy could be approved ahead of the financial year it related to or as soon as possible thereafter. However, it had also recognised that if the Resources and Overview and Scrutiny Committee had any comments, which could also require further exploration / investigation, then they could be considered and reported to Full Council later, where potential in-year revisions to the Strategy could be considered.

In terms of the Cabinet meeting on 11 April 2025, it had been “RESOLVED that the Annual Capital and Treasury Strategy for 2025/26 (including Prudential and Treasury Indicators) be recommended to Full Council for its approval, acknowledging that consultation with the Resources and Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee will be undertaken during 2025/26, subject to inclusion within that Committee’s Work Programme.”

Full Council had duly considered the Strategy at its meeting held on 20 May 2025 (Minute 33 refers) and had resolved: -

“That the annual  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

This report implements the commitment given at the 17 December 2024 meeting of the Committee by the Leader (Minute 64 refers) to “pull together a comprehensive list of all of TDC’s current projects” and to submit these at a meeting of the Committee. 

It was reported that this report of the Leader of the Council had implemented the commitment given at the 17 December 2024 meeting of the Committee by the Leader (Minute 64 referred) to “pull together a comprehensive list of all of TDC’s current projects” and to have submitted these at a meeting of the Committee. The list had originally been submitted to the 14 April 2025 meeting of the Committee. However, the Leader had submitted his apologies as he could not himself attend that meeting. Consequently, the Committee had deferred consideration of the report submitted. Following letters between this Committee’s Chairman and the Leader, it had been agreed that the Leader would attend this meeting of the Committee on 1 July 2025 to review progress with the projects. Appendix B to that report had been updated from that submitted to the 14 April 2025 meeting.

Members were reminded that the 14 April 2025 meeting of the Committee had also considered the outcome of the Chief Executive’s internal report, through Internal Audit, of the issues around unauthorised expenditure associated with the works at Spendells House (in Walton-on-the-Naze) to provide 32 rooms for temporary accommodation for homeless families. Although that report had been solely that of the Chief Executive, the Committee had considered that there were matters that it wanted to address to the Leader. Through that report, the opportunity had been provided for the Committee to ask those questions.