Issue - meetings

The Investment Strategy agreed by Cabinet in July 2013 was developed in response to the requirement for the Council to enhance its financial resilience in the longer term.  In facilitation of this strategy, Cabinet approved the business case for the creation of a property company and associated subsidiaries in May 2014 in order to achieve a balanced property portfolio (across sectors and geographies) to generate an income for the Council.  The property company, Halsey Garton Property Ltd, and its subsidiaries are referred to in this report as “the Halsey Garton Property Group” (HGP).

he Investment Board was created in March 2017 to approve property investment acquisitions, property investment management expenditure, property investment disposals and the provision of finance to HGP for the purposes of the strategy.  Prior to this an Investment Advisory Board was in place to make recommendations for Cabinet decision.  This annual report providing details of the investment property portfolio forms part of the agreed governance arrangements.

N.B. There is a Part 2 annex to this report – item 14.

[The decisions on this item can be called in by the Corporate Overview Select Committee]

RESOLVED:

That the Annual Report of the Investment Board be endorsed.

Reason for Decision:

To inform the Cabinet about the activities of the Investment Board.  The Investment Board were responsible for the delivery of the agreed Investment Strategy.  The Investment Strategy was created by the Council to deliver an ongoing and resilient source of income to provide financial support to the Council’s front line services. 

[The decisions on this item can be called in by the Corporate Overview Select Committee]

The Cabinet Lead for People introduced this report that provided details of the investment property portfolio that formed part of the agreed governance arrangements. He explained that it was an important part of the Council’s strategy to become financially independent.  Whilst the percentage returns did not look too high this was in part due to the borrowing needed to fund the investments.  However, capital gains would be realised in the future.

In response to a Member question regarding the level of expertise of the Investment Board and assessment of risk both the Leader and the Cabinet Lead for People described the level of experience of some of the members of the Board and that the level of challenge was high.  An external advisor, CBRE, set criteria on which each were assessed, scored and challenged.

RESOLVED:

That the Annual Report of the Investment Board be endorsed.

Reason for Decision:

To inform the Cabinet about the activities of the Investment Board.  The Investment Board were responsible for the delivery of the agreed Investment Strategy.  The Investment Strategy was created by the Council to deliver an ongoing and resilient source of income to provide financial support to the Council’s front line services. 

At this point in the meeting it was agreed to rearrange agenda items so that the Monthly Budget Monitoring Report was taken as the last of the Part 1 items.