Parish Council Office,
Winscombe Community Centre,
11 Sandford Road, Winscombe,
North Somerset BS25 1JA
Tel: 01934 844257 Fax: 01934 844292
__________________________________________________________________________________
A meeting of the Finance Committee was held on
Monday 8th January 2007, at 7.30 pm.
The Mawson Room, Winscombe Community Centre
Present: Mrs. A Brading, Mrs P Cram, Mr M Hagen, Mr G Lloyd, Mr G Luckett, Ms D Powell,
Mr. C Sampson (chairman), Mr. J Westlake.
.
Clerk: Mrs L Rampton
Members of the public: none
Apologies for absence: no apologies received
32. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST – Mr Luckett declared a personal interest in Agenda item 7 as a member of the PCC who had submitted an application for grant aid.
33. MATTERS ARISING FROM THE PREVIOUS MINUTES
Min 26 i) the terms of reference for the finance committee to be included within Parish Council standing orders had been deferred to the next meeting of this committee.
34. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION – no public present
35. INTERNAL AUDIT INSPECTION TO 31ST DECEMBER 2006
An inspection for the first ¾ of this financial year has now been completed by Mr P Reynolds of FairAccount with the following verbal observations being made:
i) Clerks Salary in Accordance with NALC/SLCC Guidance – the salary range set is not in accordance with the national agreement for Local Council Clerks. Finance Committee minutes show that the Parish Clerk role for this Parish was assessed as meeting the criteria of benchmark profile 2, but with some functions falling into the profile 3 category. The minutes record that a salary point 33 was determined as applicable which would suggest that the Clerk’s role falls wholly within benchmark profile 2, and therefore conflicts with NALC and SLCC guidance.
In outline budgets considered for 2007/08 financial year at the Finance Committee and Parish Council meetings in November 2006, no annual incremental rise was applied.
It was noted that an increase in the number of hours worked was agreed with effect December 2006 to reflect hours actually worked.
ii) Fidelity Insurance Cover – whilst no figure is actually given for the amount of cover required, it is advisable to add half the annual precept to the balance at the end of the last financial year to ascertain an acceptable level of cover. Current cover of £70,000 should be reviewed by the Council.
Resolved: The Clerk was requested to obtain quotations to increase the fidelity insurance cover to £85,000 and £100,000 for further consideration by the Council.
iii) Financial Regulations - should be reviewed with the next 12 month period to ensure that correct dates and paras are quoted.
iv) Security of Assets – consideration should be given to security systems at the Parish Office.
Financial records for the nine month period have been examined and verified against bank statements. The next visit by the Internal Auditor is to be scheduled for March 2007 prior to the end of this financial year.
36. 2006/2007 BUDGET SUMMARY TO 31ST DECEMBER 2006 – Annex 1
The Budget Sheets and Bank Reconciliation Control Sheet were explained by the Clerk & considered by the Committee. Details of orders paid were provided to Committee Chairmen upon request. Expenditure was within agreed limits with the exception of the WMRG Committee. It is likely that the budget for this committee may be exceeded due to a water leak by the changing rooms that has now been repaired and provision should be made for this within the current financial year. The recharge of utility bills to the sports clubs at the end of this financial year should be further considered with input from this committee as well as the WMRG Treasurer. Further discussion took place regarding the papers, but no matters were left unresolved.
37. BUDGET PLANNING AND TO SET PRECEPT 2007/08- Annex 2
The prepared outline budget for the next financial year was discussed at length by the Committee.
The projected forecast of outgoings for the period 1st Jan – 31st March 2007 and proposed budget for 2007/2008 were reviewed and are attached with the following notes:
o As instructed by the Parish Council (min 116 Nov 06), a loan application should be submitted for the shortfall in funds required to install a new children’s play area at the WMRG. To ensure that the precept figure for 2007/08 remained as low as possible, other expenditure should be kept to a minimum.
o The provision for street light replacement/upgrades within the budget should be removed and funds taken from the contingency if necessary.
o The allowance of £1,000 for solicitor fees should be reduced to £500 for the voluntary registration of unregistered Parish Council land. The training budget for Councillors and employees was also reduced.
o A provision should be made for the purchase of presentation equipment and a small allowance made within the budget for the purchase of other new IT hard & software. Any other unforeseen emergencies in this area should be taken from the contingency fund if the need arose.
o With the agreement of the Environment Committee Chairman, sub-budget headings for this committee were removed and a combined budget set. Should the need for funds to assist with the improvement of footway projects within the Parish arise, these should be considered from the contingency fund. Provision for any road safety project should be deducted from the Environment Committee budget.
o Maintenance budgets for the play areas and skate park were reduced in light of little maintenance being required to one new play area. The budget for the Cemetery & Allotment Committee was also reduced.
o No monies would be allocated for a CSLAT project during the coming financial year as the group has been placed in abeyance due to the lack of volunteers coming forward from the Parish to join this committee.
o Should the need arise for legal costs in relation to a BOATS Application/Representation. monies would be taken from the contingency fund.
o The Health & Safety budget was removed but emergencies would still continue to be met.
o The running costs requested for the WMRG Committee were agreed but the request for additional ground maintenance between the football and cricket season should be considered between the two clubs concerned.
o Three applications have been received for community projects, one being from the community centre on 8th Jan 07 which includes an alarm system for the Parish Office. All projects were considered to be very worthy and a contribution is recommended towards each
The Finance Committee recommend that the Parish Council apply through ALCA to the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) for borrowing approval of £40,000 to enable a new play area to be supplied and installed on the current site at the WMRG.
Proposed: Mrs A Brading Seconded: Mr J Westlake
All in favour.
The Finance Committee recommend that should the decision of the Play Area Committee for the preferred contractor be accepted, that the Parish Council borrow funds not exceeding £40,000 over a ten year term with fixed half yearly payments.
Proposed: Mrs P Cram Seconded: Mr G Luckett
All in favour
The Finance Committee recommend that the Precept figure for the 2007/2008 financial year be increased by £5,000 (5.50%) to £96,000. This would mean a Local Council Element of Headline Council Tax per D Band property increase from £48.35 to £51.44.
Proposed: Mr G Lloyd Seconded: Mrs A Brading
All in favour.
38. ANY OTHER BUSINESS - none
With no further business the meeting closed at 10.20 pm
Signed _____________________________________ Chairman
Date