Minutes of the Extraordinary Meeting of the Finance and Personnel Committee of Drayton Parish Council
held on Monday 21st October 2019 in the Caudwell Day Centre, Drayton, at 7pm.
Present:
- Pat Athawes (Chairman)
- Matthew Lowy
- Tamsin Crane
- Graham Webb
- Claire Woollard
Also In attendance:
- Lorraine Watling (Clerk/RFO)
Public
None
85) Apologies for absence:
None.
Cllr McAleavey was not present at the meeting.
86a) Declarations of Interest:
None.
86b) Dispensations received by the Clerk:
None.
87) The Minutes of the Meeting of 16th September 2019:
were approved as a true record.
- Proposed: Matthew Lowy
- Seconded: Tamsin Crane
- Resolved: Unanimously
88) Budget Review:
The Committee received and considered the updated budget review and recommends that the budget review be approved by the Council.
ACTION The RFO/Clerk will circulate two versions of the budget review to Cllrs before the Council meeting – one will be a summary document, the other will be more detailed and contain notes.
89) Budget 2010-21:
The Committee received and considered the draft budget for 2020-21 that had been prepared by the RFO/Clerk. During the subsequent discussions a few minor re-allocations were agreed and the draft budget updated accordingly. The committee recommends that the draft budget be approved by the Council.
ACTION The RFO/Clerk will circulate the draft budget to Cllrs before the council meeting.
90) Report from the External Auditor:
The Committee has not yet received the annual return and completion of audit certificate as the auditors sent this to the previous Clerk in error. He notified the auditors that he would forward it to the current Clerk but it has not yet arrived. The auditors are aware of the situation and apologised for their error. They will confirm where the papers are at present. They have emailed the Clerk a copy of the page that confirms that the external auditors have signed off the audit. It should be noted by Council and formally minuted that that the external audit for 2018-19 is complete and that there were no matters that required any action.
ACTION: The Clerk will circulate a copy of the page that has been signed by the external auditors to all Cllrs and action the final audit requirements when the original annual return has been received.
91) Annual Review of the Asset Register:
Cllrs Crane and Woollard will walk around the parish and check the Council assets.
ACTION: The RFO/Clerk will email a copy of last years’ asset register to Cllrs Crane and Woollard for updating.
92) Appointment of the Internal Auditor for 2019-20:
The appointment of Arrow Accounting as the internal auditor 2019-20 was discussed and recommended by the Committee when it met in September 2019. A budget of £310 was allocated to this work. The Council is asked to formally resolve and minute the appointment of Arrow Accounting as the internal auditor for 2019-20 at a cost of £310.
93) Grants Forms:
The committee received and considered suggestions from the RFO/Clerk for revisions to the grants forms. These documents were received and considered by the committee. The committee recommends that the revised grants for and guidance notes are approved by the Council.
ACTION: The RFO/Clerk will circulate the proposed revised grant forms and guidance to Cllrs before the council meeting
94) Grass Cutting Contracts:
The grass cutting requirements for the next three-year contract are currently being reviewed by Cllrs Crane, Woollard and McAleavey and a specification will be produced. A
ACTION: This matter will be discussed further at the next Finance and Personnel Committee.
95) Update of the Parish Council Risk Analysis:
This matter is on-going and will be discussed further at the November committee meeting.
96) Financial Regulations:
It was noted that NALC has updated the draft model Financial Regulations.
ACTION: The RFO/Clerk will update the Councils Financial Regulations to reflect the latest updates.
97) Personnel Matters – Renewal of the Caretakers Contract:
The additional requirements of the new caretaking contract are still under discussion
ACTIONS AGREED
- The committee members will confirm the future requirements of thecaretaker’s contract and Cllr Crane will update the current job description/specification.
- The Clerk/RFO will produce a form to facilitate the caretaker undertaking weekly checks of the play area. These forms will be sent to the Clerk once a month for retention for insurance purposes.
98) Financial Reporting – overtime requirements:
The committee recognised the need for the RFO/Clerk to work additional hours when undertaking the budget review, preparing next years’ budget, preparing documents for and working with the internal and external auditors, closing the accounts at end of year, updating financial and risk documents etc. The committee recommends that the council approve the routine inclusion of 50 additional hours for this work annually in future budgets.
99) Any Other Business:
None
100) The date of the next meeting.
The next Finance and Personnel Committee meeting is scheduled to be held at 7pm on Monday 18th November 2019. The committee asked the Clerk to try and move this meeting back by a week to 25th November if the Caudwell Day Centre is available.
ACTION The Clerk will liaise with the Caudwell Day Centre booking secretary to try tochange the date of the next meeting.
The meeting concluded at 9pm
Signed: Pat Athawes (Chairperson, Finance and Personnel Committee)
Date: 25th November 2019 (provisional date)