Finance and General Purposes 23 Sept 21

CHEPPING WYCOMBE PARISH COUNCIL
Finance and General Purposes Committee
Members of the council are summoned to attend the meeting to be held on Thursday 23 September 2021 at 7.30pm the Council Office, Cock Lane, Tylers Green, High Wycombe Bucks HP10 8DS

The meeting was open to members of the public and press

Present: Cllr I Forbes – Chairman Cllr J Herschel
Cllr A Barron – Vice-chairman Cllr R Wilks
Cllr B Kin Cllr H Darch
Cllr C Dodds Cllr K Wood (ex-officio)

FGP/21/001 Apologies for absence
Apologies were received and accepted from Cllr D Johncock (Community Board meeting), Cllr L Willis (Unwell) and it was noted that Cllr Barrett could be attending another meeting.

FGP/21/002 Declarations of members’ interests in agenda items
There were none

FGP/21/003 Staff Matters
1. Staff Absence Report
Members were asked to receive a report on the sickness absence of staff since the last committee meeting in April. The Clerk advised that one member of the grounds team had been off for a period of 2 days since the last meeting with a cold.

FGP/21/004 Policies and Procedures
1 Code of Conduct
Members were asked to consider for recommendation to full Council the Code of Conduct at that had been ratified by Buckinghamshire Council. Advice received from BMKALC was that we should adapt and/or adopt the Code so that if any complaints are passed to the Monitoring Officer, it would be easier to investigate any breaches of the Code.

It was RESOLVED that;
The Code of Conduct be adapted to suit the parish council by the Clerk and taken as a recommendation for adoption to the next full council meeting in October.

2 Risk Register
Members were asked to revisit the Risk Register with a view to refreshing it at the next committee meeting in November. Suggestions for improved practicality were welcomed and further comments were asked to be sent to the Clerk for inclusion.

It was noted that version control/date and page were required to the bottom of each sheet.

FGP/21/005 Health & Safety
1 Report of any incidents
Members were asked to note that there had been one incident since the last committee meeting in April. One of our grounds team cut his finger on a jagged piece of metal when lifting a mower onto the transit. Gloves were worn at the time and the cut was sustained through the glove.

The team are now using a ramp to put the mower onto the vehicles.

FGP/21/006 Legal
1 Flackwell Heath Minors Football Club Lease (draft)
Members were asked to consider the draft lease and approve the general terms. The lease will be taken to the next Open Spaces committee for them to agree the play equipment requirements for the site.

It was RESOLVED that;
The general terms be approved but the rent would need to be raised by CPIH rather than RPI as stated in the current draft and a revised baseline rent.

FGP/21/007 Neighbourhood Action Group
Members had been asked to receive a short update from Cllr D Johncock, however he was absent from the meeting. The minutes of the last NAG meeting were agreed to be an accurate account and were noted.

FGP/21/008 Community Assets
Members were asked to consider the list of the previously registered properties of community value; all listings had now expired. Members were asked to nominate properties for resubmission to the register.

It was RESOLVED that;
The Clerk should check the criteria for placing properties on the register. The Old Queens Head TG, The Horse and Jockey TG, Village Hall TG, Penn Surgery and Land off Hammersley Lane were all suggested as potential candidates for the register.

FGP/21/009 Grants
Members were asked to consider an application from Flackwell Heath Age Concern for £3,000 towards a new minibus.

Members were reminded that in June 2018 a request for £2,000 was brought to the committee and a grant of £1,000 was awarded as a contribution to the new minibus. This grant was not paid at the time as it is customary for the council to ask for proof of purchase/order for the item.

Members were reminded that £5,000 was available from this year’s budget.

It was RESOLVED that;
An award of £5,000 be recommended to the next full council meeting as a contribution towards the new Age Concern minibus.

FGP/21/010 Website
Members were asked to note that the website was still in the hands of the web designer, however a training session for the Clerk has been arranged for Monday 27 September.

FGP/21/011 Publicity
Members were asked to note that the publicity team met on Tuesday 31 August to discuss the forthcoming newsletter – members were asked to note the report from the meeting. It is anticipated that the newsletter should be ready for delivery by the middle of October.

It was noted that boards were being created for the Tylers Green Expo in November which would consist of maps of land owned by the parish council, committee information along with some boards specific to Tylers Green including Ash Die Back in King’s Wood.

FGP/21/012 Annual Return and Governance Statement
Members were asked to note that the external audit had been returned from PKF Littlejohn with a clean bill of health. The chairman of the committee thanked the Clerk for her excellent work on the return.

FGP/21/013 Community Board
Members were asked to note the report from Cllr Barron.

Members were asked to approve the use of the earmarked £5k towards the current Highways projects and mentioned in the above report.

It was RESOLVED that;
The Community Board earmarked reserve of £5,000 be approved for the current Highways projects.

It was noted that Cllr Wood advised that she was the chairman of the Supporting Economic Recovery Action sub committee who look at assisting small businesses and help fund training.

FGP/21/014 Budget
1 Committee Finances (Period 5) August
Members were asked to note the current position of the committee’s finances. Expenditure was at 40% which was about right for Month 5 of the financial year.

2 Council Finances (Period 5) August
Members were asked to note the summary of the Council’s financial position.

3 Precept timetable
Members were asked to note that the next cycle of committee meetings would be the start of the new financial year budget setting process. The committee budgets will be taken to the next Finance & General Purposes committee meeting in November before final approval by full Council on 16 December. Proposals for this committee need to be with the Clerk by 5 November. This allows time for any minor changes prior to the end of January when the precept request needs to be with Buckinghamshire Council.

4 Community Infrastructure Levy
Members were asked to note that the CIL balance currently stands at £33,575.00 and that the funds need to be spent as follows;
£14,158.92 by 2022/23
£19,416.08 by 2023/24

Due to the healthy balance members were asked to consider the use of £12,880.00 for the purchase of the play area fencing for Straight Bit. The monies held in the Earmarked Reserve for play equipment for this purpose will be vired with the approval of members to the following two areas: Salaries £10k and the balance to dog bins.

It was RESOLVED that;
The £12,880 in the earmarked reserve for play equipment be recommended to full council to be vired into salaries at £10,000 and the balance to the dog bin budget lines.

FGP/21/015 Questions from council members and the public
There were no questions

FGP/21/016 Accounts for Payment
The 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 10570 to 10584 and direct debits to Barclays, EE, E-On Next, Shell, Unicom and SSE be approved and signed.

Confidential items – exclusion of public and press
In view of the confidential nature of the business to be considered it was RECOMMENDED that the committee resolve to exclude the public and press from the remainder of the meeting as permitted under the Public Bodies (Admissions to Meetings) Act 1960.

FGP/21/017 Confidential Item – Staff Panel Report
Members were asked to receive a short presentation from the Chairman of the committee with a view to making recommendations for approval at full Council.

It was RESOLVED that;
A 2% uplift be recommended to full council for all staff with a further 1.5% uplift for the Clerk following a benchmarking test. Also bonuses in the sum of £4,400 to also be recommended to full council.

The chairman thanked members for their attendance and closed the meeting at 9.13pm
Date and time of next meeting: Thursday 25 November 2021 @ 7.30pm

Signed: Dated 12 October 202