15-04-21 Finance & General Purposes Committee Minutes

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CHEPPING WYCOMBE PARISH COUNCIL
Report of the Finance & General Purposes committee meeting held on Thursday 15 April 2021 at 7pm via Microsoft Teams
Under the Local Authorities and Police and Crime Panels (Coronavirus)(Flexibility of Local Authority and Police and Crime Panel Meetings) (England and Wales) Regulations 2020 (4 April 2020) allowing Local Authorities flexibility to hold meetings at a time, day and frequency to suit their own needs, without the requirement for further notice

The meeting was open to members of the public and press

Present: Cllr I Forbes – Chairman Cllr M Wilkes
Cllr R Wilks Cllr L Willis
Cllr B Kin Cllr J Gurney
Cllr H Darch Cllr D Johncock
Cllr C Dodds Cllr K Wood (ex-officio)

Also present: Cllr A Barron, Cllr L Johncock and Cllr C Jordan

FGP/20/037 Apologies for absence
Apologies for absence were received and approved from Cllr Herschel (holiday)

Cllr Forbes asked Cllr Wood, in her capacity a chairman of the council, to say a few words of condolence, remembering Prince Phillip, The Duke of Edinburgh. Followed by a minute’s silence.

A letter of condolence has been prepared and will be sent to Her Majesty The Queen.

FGP/20/038 Declarations of members’ interests in agenda items
Cllr Wood declared a personal interest in agenda item 12 being in receipt of an expense’s payment.

FGP/20/039 Staff Matters
1 Staff Absence Report
Members received a verbal report from the clerk on the sickness absence of staff since the last committee meeting in February. The clerk advised that one member of the grounds team had been absent for a period of 4 weeks following a flare up of a pre-existing condition.

2 National Living Wage 2021/22
Members were asked to note that the national living wage rate for 2021/22 was £8.91 per hour. This figure only effects the position of office cleaner, an increase of 19p per hour and an expenditure increase of £39.52 per annum.

FGP/20/040 Policies and Procedures
Members were asked to consider for recommendation for re-adoption at the next full council meeting the following policy documents available on the parish council website www.cwpc.org.uk . Members were asked to note that no changes were proposed.

1 Information & Data Protection Policy
2 Retention & Disposal Policy
3 Management of Transferable Data Policy
4 Data Breach Policy
5 Standing Orders 2019
6 Financial Regulations
7 Publicity Policy
8 Complaints Procedure

It was RESOLVED that;
The above policies be recommended to full council for re-adoption.

9 Distribution of draft reports/minutes
Members were asked to consider the distribution of draft reports/minutes to all members of the council following approval from the chairman and vice chairman of the respective committees.

It was RESOLVED that;
Where practicable the draft reports/minutes would be circulated to committee members and attendees in the first instance and after a week, following any amendments, to then be sent out to all councillors. The reports/minutes would still be draft until being formally approved at the next full council meeting.

FGP/20/041 Health & Safety
1 Report of any incidents
Members were asked to note that there have been no incidents since the last committee meeting in February.

It was noted that it would be beneficial to note when the last incident had taken place.

2 Face to face meeting
With face to face meetings set to resume after 6 May, members were asked to consider a response to the Call for Evidence relating to the decision to not extend the emergency legislation allowing remote meetings of local councils to take place.

It was RESOLVED that;
All members be given a copy of the questionnaire for completion and return to the clerk by Friday 23 April for a joint response to be sent.

It was noted that the planning meeting would continue to be remote as this is not a standing committee.

FGP/20/042 Grants
Members were asked to note that there was £1,466 remaining in the budget line at year end.

FGP/20/043 Website
Members were asked to note that the website was still to be handed back to the parish council and until face-to-face training can be undertaken all uploading was being done by the web designer.

FGP/20/044 Calendar of Meetings
Members were asked to consider the schedule of meetings dates going forward from May 2021.

It was RESOLVED that;
The meeting schedule be recommended for approval at full council.

FGP/20/045 Annual Return and Governance Statement
Members were asked to consider the completed annual return with association documentation and governance statement with a view to recommendation for approval at full council.

It was RESOLVED that;
The annual return and governance statement be recommended for approval at full council.

Thanks was noted to the clerk for her work on the return and managing to get the internal auditor Mr Newhouse in to review it by the 9 April as it had been a particularly tight timetable bearing in mind the Easter dates in 2021.

It was also noted that Mr Newhouse had given us a clean bill of health despite new requirements being imposed.

FGP/20/046 Budget
1 Council Finances (Period 12) Outturn
Members were asked to note the summary of income and expenditure by committee. Cllr Forbes gave an overview of the outturn.

2 Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL)
Members were asked to note that the current CIL total stands at £32,374.66 after having £12,860 committed for fencing around the play area at Ashley Drive. The remaining funds need to be spent as follows;

£12,958.58 by 2022/23
£19,416.08 by 2023/24

FGP/20/047 Questions from council members and the public
 It was noted that there were three new candidates standing for election which was welcomed. Two wards were being contested (Flackwell Heath and Loudwater)
 Cllr Jordan advised that he was having difficulty with remote meetings due to an issue with Mircosoft 365.
Advice was given to find some tech support.

FGP/20/048 Accounts for Payment
Accounts for payment were circulated at the meeting for consideration by councillors.

It was RESOLVED that;
the accounts for payment be approved and cheques numbered 10460 to 10469 and direct debits to E-on, E-on Next, Shell and SSE be approved and signed.

It was noted that Cllr Wood abstained from the vote

• Cllr Dodds highlighted the cleaning of the bus shelter, there had been an instant improvement and they now look great.
• Cllr Gurney publicly thanked the warden and the grounds team for the installation of the memorial bench at Derehams.

The chairman of committee thanked members for their attendance and closed the meeting at 19.53

Date and time of next meeting: Thursday 23 September 2021 @ 7.30pm

Signed: Dated: 29 April 2021