In February 2018, the former Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), (now Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC)) published updated ‘Guidance on Local Government Investments’. The previous edition covered only Treasury Management investments. In recent years local authorities have had an increasing focus on commercial activities including but not exclusive to property. Such activity has the potential to bring both increased returns and increased positive and negative risk. The revised Guidance on Local Authority Investments requires that a separate Investment Strategy focusing on non-treasury investments is produced and approved annually by Council.

This report fulfils the requirement of the DLUHC to produce an investment strategy that covers non-treasury activities.

This matter affects all Wards within the Borough.

The decisions in this report are key decisions.