27/05/2026
West Lothian Council’s £34 million short term investments. The full story here courtesy of West Lothian Council meeting. :
WEST LOTHIAN COUNCIL
19 MAY 2026
AGENDA ITEM 07
CASH SURPLUS
I would like to thank Cllr Pauline Orr for her question.
Question
Are short term cashflow surpluses in West Lothian Council invested in a
mixture of fixed term deposits, instant access accounts and money market
funds?
Short term cashflow surpluses in West Lothian Council are invested in fixed term
deposits, instant access accounts and money market funds. They are permitted
investments in line with the Treasury Management Plan approved by Council in
February 2026.
The council only invests with institutions that meet strict credit criteria to ensure
security of capital and liquidity of investments. These assessments reflect a broad-range of factors, and include environmental, social and governance
considerations.
Our approach is fully aligned with CIPFA guidance and statutory
treasury management requirements, and is supported by our professional
treasury advisers.
As regards Treasury Investment Supplementary Information
• The cash position is assessed every working day and varies depending on
inflows and outflows.
• The council’s investment priorities are the security of capital and the liquidity
of its investments.
• The Treasury Management Plan reported to Council on 24 February 2026
showed the investment position at 31 January 2026. On that date the surplus
cash was invested as follows:
*!Instant Access – Council Bankers – Bank of Scotland £ 10,000
• Fixed Term Deposit – National Bank of Kuwait £10,000,000
• Money Market Funds – Federated Hermes £15,000,000
• Money Market Funds – Deutsche £9,565,000
• Total £34,575,000
Agenda Item 7a
• The fixed term deposit with National Bank of Kuwait was for a 2-month
period. The deposit matured on 16 February 2026 with the principal and
interest paid to us in full on that date.
• Money Market Investments are only placed in funds that ensure security of
the principal invested.
• The year end position will be reported in the annual accounts. At 31 March
2026 our investment position was as follows:
• Instant Access – Council Bankers – Bank of Scotland £10,000
• Money Market Funds – Federated Hermes £15,000,000
• Money Market Funds – Deutsche £ 6,593,000
• Total £21,603,000
• At present we have one fixed term deposit of £10,000,000 with a 3-month
duration placed with SMBC Bank (Japanese bank) with balances also in our
instant access account and money market funds.
Councillor Lawrence Fitzpatrick
Leader of The Council
