18-04-19 Finance & General Purposes Committee Minutes

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CHEPPING WYCOMBE PARISH COUNCIL
Finance and General Purposes Committee

Report of the meeting held on Thursday, 18 April 2019 commencing at 7.30pm
in the Council Chamber, Cock Lane, Tylers Green, High Wycombe, Bucks HP10 8DS

The meeting is open to members of the public and press

Present: Cllr I Forbes – Chairman Cllr M Wilkes
Cllr J Herschel – Vice-chairman Cllr J Gurney
Cllr H Darch Cllr P Miller
Cllr C Dodds Cllr K Wood (ex-officio)
Cllr L Willis

Also present: Cllr C Jordan, Cllr R Wilks, Cllr S Digby and Cllr R Kin

Before the meeting started Cllr Forbes thanked Cllr Wood for chairing the last committee meeting in his absence.

FGP/18/072 Apologies for absence
There were no apologies.

FGP/18/073 Declarations of members’ interests in agenda items
There were none.

FGP/18/074 Staff Matters
1 Staff Absence Report
Members received a short report on the sickness absence of staff since the last committee meeting in February. There had been two members of staff off one for a two day period and the other for a three day period, all staff were back at work.

2 Staff Appraisals
Members were asked to note that the staff appraisals were underway; the clerk, warden and assistant clerk had been carried out and the two grounds man were due to have their appraisals following the Easter break. The Staff Panel would then be convened following the completion of the appraisal process.

FGP/18/075 Policies and Procedures
Members were asked to consider for recommendation at the next full council meeting the following policy documents; all can be found on the parish council website www.cwpc.org.uk. It was noted that hard copies of any of the documents were available from the office;

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;
All the above policies and procedures be recommended for adoption to full council on 2 May.

9 Risk Management Strategy/Risk Assessments
Members were asked to consider for recommendation at the next full council meeting the Risk Management Strategy.

It was RESOLVED that;
the Risk Management Strategy be recommended for adoption at full council on 2 May.
Members were asked to consider the following changes to the Risk Register

• inclusion of Election Costs with mitigating actions
• removal of the LED lighting project

It was RESOLVED that;
the changes to the Risk Register be approved

It was highlighted that item 5 on the register was probably not in the correct place on the heat map. It was noted that the Chairman, Vice chairman and Clerk would review the whole Register for inclusion on the next committee agenda for further discussion.

Members were asked to note that there was continual monitoring of risk assessments for outdoor work and this was undertaken by the Warden and Clerk with any updating or changes to working practice being made. Members were also asked to note that the CRC (Community Payback) officers had recently visited to update the risk assessments for all the works undertaken by the Payback teams – copies of the assessments are awaited.

10 Training
Members were asked to note that in the past it had been customary to hold 3 training events during the year. Members were asked to come to the meeting with training ideas so that a list could be compiled and sessions be booked in.

A suggestion about a training session on how the new unitary authority would impact on the parish council – change in governance.
Possibly offer the council chamber as a training area for BMKALC.

11 Insurance
Members were asked to note that the 3 year agreement with Hiscox was coming to an end in August this year. The Clerk has already started to obtain quotations from other insurance providers and these will be presented at the full Council meeting in June for consideration.

FGP/18/076 Health & Safety
Members were asked to note that there had been no incidents since the last committee meeting in February.

FGP/18/077 Legal
1 Tenancy Change request – Telecommunications Mast at Green Dragon Lane
Members were asked to consider a formal request from Arqiva Services Ltd to be the named tenant on the current agreement we have with EE for the above mast. Members were asked to note that there would be no further changes to the existing lease.

Members were asked to further consider a proposal to send the request to our solicitor for checking and signing off on our behalf.

It was RESOLVED that;
That the name change on the agreement be approved and that the documentation be sent to our solicitor for checking and signing off on our behalf.

FGP/18/078 Neighbourhood Action Group
Members were asked to note a summary of the minutes of the last NAG meeting held on 13 March 2019 and where advised that the next meeting is due to be held on Thursday 26 June 2019.

It was noted that a request for a contribution towards a Sentinel speed camera would be forthcoming from the NAG; the proposal to be presented at the council meeting in June.

FGP/18/079 Grants
Members were asked to consider an application from the Flackwell Heath Minors FC, with a view the making a recommendation to full council;

Cllr Wood arrived at 8.10pm
The clerk had checked all the documentation received and it was all in order, in fact the application was an excellent example.

The grant request was for £5,000 – £10,000. To cover part of the works as follows
• Replace the old container
• Re-surfacing of the car parking area
• Replace doors and windows to pavilion along with new security shutters, guttering fascia and painting
• Ventilation for the kitchen
• Changing rooms and toilets– improved showers/radiators/hand driers
• New hot water tank

An initial quotation for the above works had been received by the football club in the region of £33,000.

Members were reminded that the budget line for Grants for the new financial year was £2,500.

It was noted that the football club were extremely good tenants and should be supported, however, were subject to a full repairing lease which would include general maintenance of the building and grounds.

It was RESOLVED that;
A grant of £1,000 be recommended to full council for improvements with a condition that all outstanding maintenance be completed.

FGP/18/080 Website
Members were asked to receive a verbal update from the website team. Cllr Herschel
advised that progress so far had been disappointing, but he was hopeful that given the good
brief a skeletal site could be expected to be running by September with a view to the site being
finished and fully populated by the end of the year.

It was noted that the Clerk be asked to contact other parish councils to see how much they had been charged for their website.

FGP/18/081 Publicity
Members were asked to advise of Summer events that might require production of materials.
Members are asked to NOTE that the newsletter will be underway shortly.

It was noted that the usual events would still be supported – Fair at Loudwater School and the Big Picnic in Flackwell Heath. Cllr Forbes advised that he would check if the parish council could get involved in any events being held in Tylers Green.

FGP/18/082 Internal Audit
Members were asked to note that the internal audit was completed by Mr Newhouse on Wednesday 10 April 2019 – all boxes ticked positively. He was pleased to see that we had taken his recommendations relating to further internal controls. Cllr Forbes had signed off the salary run every month and had undertaken a quarterly bank reconciliation. The internal report was awaited.

Thanks to the Clerk was noted in particular for the early completion of the return.

FGP/18/083 Annual Return & Governance Statement
Members were asked to consider the Annual Return and Governance Statement for recommendation for approval and signature at the next full council meeting on 2 May 2019.

It was RESOLVED that;
the Annual Return & Governance Statement be recommended for approval and signature.

FGP/18/084 Budget
1 Outturn Review 2018/19
Members were asked to note the outturn review and receive a short report from Cllr Forbes.
Cllr Forbes talked to the power-point provided advising that there had been no precept increase, the parish council would be working to a planned deficit budget in 2019/20, rising costs of power, rates and salaries and increased expenditure for projects – all these would bring the figures into a more reasonable position.

It was noted that there would be a more proactive approach to awarding grants and that the £2,500 on the grants line was not the limit if a project was deemed to be worthy.

2 Budget 2019/20
Members were asked to consider for recommendation to full council an increase in the project lines for each committee. The proposed amounts were;

Open Spaces a further £10,000
Works & Services a further £10,000
Finance & General Purposes a sum of £5,000

It was RESOLVED that;
The above committee project line increases be recommended for approval at the next full council meeting.

3 Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL)
Members were asked to note that the current CIL total stands at £26,159.02; £8,702.66 needing to be spent by 2020/21 leaving the remaining £17,382.14 requiring to be spent by 2021/22.

FGP/18/085 NALC Annual Conference & Exhibition
Members were asked to note that NALC are holding their annual event at the Double Tree Hotel in Milton Keynes on 28 -29 October. Please contact the clerk if you are interested in any further information or would like to attend.

FGP/18/086 Questions from council members and the public
• Cllr Kin advised that the Loudwater MVAS was currently being used for a vehicle count on the London Road.
• Cllr Miller asked if the parish council had a policy and/or would consider contributing towards a CCTV camera under health and safety of the community – there had been an armed robbery at the village shop.
Would this set a precedent, it was felt to be an unusual request – we would not normally undertake security on third party property.
• Cllr Jordan advised that the WDALC meeting attendance was getting smaller – would a training programme to join in with/include WDALC be possible.

FGP/18/087 Accounts for Payment
Accounts for payment were circulated at the meeting for consideration by councillors.

Cllr Herschel asked for clarification on cheque 9835 – querying what CAT and Genny training was – this was for cable avoidance.
Cllr Gurney asked about the dropped kerb funding cheque 9829 – this had been a matched funded project through the LAF to allow wheelchairs and pushchairs access from one end of Flackwell Heath to the other.

It was RESOLVED that;
the accounts for payment be approved and cheques numbered 9826 to 9836 and direct debits to Barlays, BT, Castle Water, EE, E-ON, Grenke, Shell (Fuel Card Services), Unicom, Wycombe District Council and SSE be approved and signed.

The chairman thanked members for their attendance and closed the meeting at 9.05pm

Date and time of next meeting: Thursday 26 September 2019 @ 7.30pm

Signed: Dated: 2 May 2019