Greenwich Council has approved its Treasury Management and Capital Mid-Year Reports for 2026/27, alongside a flexible use of capital receipts, during a full council meeting on Wednesday, September 23, 2026.
The council agreed to the Treasury Management Mid-Year Report, noting comments from the Cabinet and the Audit and Risk Management Panel. They also agreed the Capital Mid-Year Report for the same period.
Councillor Rachel Taggart-Ryan, Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources, presented the reports, highlighting the council's prudent financial management and commitment to investing in council-owned properties and digital transformation. She stated that the council had managed its accounts in a prudent and sustainable way, remaining secure in its liquidity, managing borrowing and repayment costs, and continuing to protect its long-term financial investments. To modernise and transform services for residents with lower running costs, investment in areas such as digital technology is necessary to reduce future council spending.
Specifically, the allocated funds from capital receipts are predominantly being used within the digital team. The aim is to create digital infrastructure that will reduce Council spending in the future. Councillor Taggart-Ryan stated, You will also note the proposal to use income from capital receipts to drive forward transformation and saving plans. This is predominantly within the digital team, with the aim of creating digital infrastructure that will reduce Council spending in the future
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The council has approved the use of capital receipts for two bids with a combined cost of £1.4115m. Councillor Taggart-Ryan mentioned, Full Council is asked to approve the two bids, outlined in Appendix 3 with a combined cost of £1.4115m, with savings forecast to exceed the cost of capital (CFR impact).
However, Councillor Tamasin Rhymes, Leader of the Green Group, expressed concern about the lack of discussion on Appendix 3, which detailed proposals for spending money from the sale of council assets. She stated, We were, on reviewing comments from the Audit and Risk meeting yesterday, we were a little concerned about the proposals in Appendix 3, which don't seem to have had much chance for discussion, particularly as this is proposals for spending of money coming from the sale of Council assets, and obviously that is then an area that residents are going to have particular engagement with and concerned to know how that is being spent.
In terms of financial management, the council defines 'prudent financial management' by maintaining an appropriate balance between securing liquidity, managing borrowing costs, and protecting invested funds. Councillor Taggart-Ryan stated, Overall, we have managed our accounts in a prudent and sustainable way. In the first four months of 26/27, we remain secure in our liquidity, managed our borrowing and repayment costs, and continue to protect our long-term financial investments.
For the first four months of 2026/27, Greenwich Council managed its borrowing and repayment costs prudently. They made £51 million in scheduled loan repayments to the Public Works Loan Board, which increased their underborrowed position. Councillor Taggart-Ryan stated, In the first four months of 26/27, we remain secure in our liquidity, managed our borrowing and repayment costs, and continue to protect our long-term financial investments. We made £51 million in scheduled loan repayments to the Public Works Loan Board, which has further increased our underborrowed position regarding our capital financing requirement.
Projections for the next fiscal year indicate that additional external borrowing will be required over the medium term as capital expenditure progresses and internal resources reduce, with a projected new borrowing requirement of £233m in 27/28, and £181m and £108m for the two years after. (Table 4 in the Treasury Management Mid-Year Report).
Further details on the council's financial reports can be found in the Public reports pack 23rd-Sep-2026 19.00 Council.