Minutes of the Meeting of the Finance and Personnel Committee of Drayton Parish Council
held on Tuesday 23rd April 2019 in the Village Hall, Drayton, at 7.00pm.
Present:
- Pat Athawes (Chairman)
- Richard Williams
- Matthew Lowy
In attendance:
- Lorraine Watling (Clerk)
Public
None
41) Apologies for absence
Cllr Graham Webb
42a) Declarations of Interest:
None
42b) Dispensations received by the Clerk:
None
43) The Minutes of the Meetings of 21st January 2019:
were approved as a true record.
- Proposed: Matthew Lowy
- Seconded: Richard Williams
- Resolved: Unanimously
44) Budget:
The Committee noted that formal approval of the 2019/20 budget as amended by the PC in December 2018 (precept approved reduced from £90,000 to £89,530 and expenditure on NP Projects reduced by £470 as a result) attached at Appendix A was not formally minuted by Council in January 2019 as the Clerk/RFO had been ill and therefore absent from the January PC meeting.
ACTION REQUIRED BY COUNCIL To RESOLVE AND MINUTE that the 2019/20 budget amended and agreed by the council in December 2018 be formally minuted as being approved at the meeting of the full Council in May 2019.
45) Year End Out Turn:
The Committee received and noted the various reports produced by the Alpha Accts package for Year End. These will be used when completing the Financial Return for the External Auditor.
ACTIONS TAKEN AT THE MEETING
- The Chairman countersigned the statutory receipts and payments report.
- The Chairman of the Parish Council and the Chair of the Finance Committee approved and signed the Statement of Internal Control.
46) Risk Assessment 2018-19:
The Chairman of the Finance Committee and the Chairman of the Council signed and confirmed that the Parish Council Risk Assessment 2018-19 as being up to date.
47) Terms of Reference for the Finance and Personnel Committee:
The Committee RECOMMENDS TO FULL COUNCIL the following amendments to the Finance and Personnel Committee Terms of Reference in May 2019:
- The inclusion of delegated financial powers for routine budgeted expenditure up to £4999 in the Terms of Reference for the Finance and Personnel Committee when the Terms of Reference for all of the Committees is reviewed by Full Council at the May 2019 Annual Parish Council meeting. This delegation would comply with section 4.1 of the Council’s Financial Regulations.
- That the Committee is authorised to approve miscellaneous grants which may arise during the year up to a maximum of £2.5k after circulating them to Full Council first for comment.
48) Other Documents:
It was noted that the Standing Orders currently being used are not based upon the latest NALC model.
ACTION REQUIRED The Clerk will update the Standing Orders for formal adoption by Council at the May 2019 meeting.
49) Grant Application Process:
As requested by Full Council, the Committee reviewed whether grants should be applied for and agreed at a set time each year for budgeting purposes. The Committee recognised the need to be able to budget for grants but that was concerned about the risk of the unforeseen exclusion of a key community group that might be late applying for agrant. It therefore RECOMMENDS:
- That the receipt of grant applications from DAMASCAS, the Millennium Trust, Drayton Football Club, CAB, the Village Hall and the Abingdon Bridge are confirmed during August/September so that they can be routinely included in the budget process based upon previous grant requests.
- That the Council authorises the Finance and Personnel Committee to approve non-routine grants that come up during the year up to a value of £2.5k after prior circulation to Full Council for comment.
50) Payments List for April:
ACTIONS AGREED:
- It was noted that the OCC invoice for the Hilliat Tree planting has arrived. If the S106 payment has not been received from VWHDC before the meeting the Full Council will confirm which budget should be used and then reimbursed in due course when the s106 payment arrives. (NB, After discussion with the Internal Auditor, the Clerk has amended the nominal code entitled Project 1 and renamed it ‘Tree Project’ so that it can be used for this purpose).
- The Committee received and approved the list of payments to be on 1st May 2019 including the Football Club Grass Cutting grant approved by Council in March 2019. The two Councillors who will authorise the payments with the bank were Cllrs Pat Athawes and Richard Williams.
51) Request from the Millennium Green Trust for Financial Support Towards Grass Cutting:
The Committee referred the £1,000.00 grant application from the Millennium Green Trust to Full Council for consideration.
52) Bank Cash Card and Signatories:
(i) Unity Trust Bank
ACTIONS TO BE TAKEN
- Bank Mandates – the bank mandates will need updating as a matter of urgency in May 2019. The Clerk will download and print the forms that are required to update the bank mandate and bring these to the May meeting. The signatories should include the Chairman of the Council.
- Cash Card – the Parish Clerk will circulate the forms that required to be completed for setting up the cash card to the new Cllrs on the Finance Committee so that this can be considered further at the May Finance and Personnel Committee Meeting.
(a) National Savings Bank – the last statement was sent to the current Chairman who has not stood for re-election. The bank would not accept an instruction from the Clerk asking that in future the statements be sent to her. The bank mandate of authorised signatories will also need to be updated. The outgoing Chairman will write to the National Savings Bank asking that all future correspondence be addressed to the Parish Clerk/RFO.
53) Personnel Matters – Recruitment of a Projects Manager to help deliver the s106 and other Neighbourhood Plan Projects:
The Committee reviewed the previous advert and job description for the post of Projects Manager written by the Chairman/previous Clerk when this post was offered to a candidate in June 2018. It was noted that OALC is currently advertising a similar position for a neighbouring Council.
ACTIONS REQUIRED AT FULL Council:
- Cllr Williams will liaise with Cllr Webb to progress the job description.
- Full Council to approve the job description and delegate permission to the Finance and Personnel Committee to progress the recruitment, noting that it is recommended that the interview panel should comprise the Chairman of the Projects Committee or the Finance and Personnel Committee plus Richard Williams and Graham Webb.
- The Clerk will investigate the costs of advertising the position through OALC and the local press.
- The Clerk will speak to the Clerk of Radley PC to discuss their recent recruitment process and confirm where they had advertised, the number and calibre of applications received, whether they have found a suitable candidate and whether there were other competent candidates.
54) Any Other Business:
None
55) The date of the next meeting.
The next Finance and Personnel Committee meeting will take place on Tuesday 28th May 2019 at 7.00pm, in the Village Hall.
The Chairman declared the meeting closed at 7:37pm.
Signed: Pat Athawes (Chairperson, Finance and Personnel Committee)
Date: 28th May 2019