DRAYTON (ABINGDON)
www.DraytonPC.org
Minutes of the Meeting of the Finance and Personnel Committee
of Drayton Parish Council held at remotely at 6.30pm on Tuesday 25th October
2022
Present: Cllrs Pat Athawes (Chairman), Graham Webb, Alistair Cummings, Sue Harris and Richard
Wade.
Also, in attendance: Lorraine Watling (Clerk/RFO)
Public: None
Minute No.
31/22 Apologies for absence: None.
32/22 Membership: Cllr Cummings was welcomed onto the committee
33/22 (a) Declarations of Interest: No new ones. Cllr Webb declared an interest in the
charges for the part-access to the area by the allotments when the draft budget was
discussed.
(b) Dispensations received by the Clerk: None.
(c) Use of Delegated Powers: None.
34/22 The Minutes of the Meeting of 06
th September 2022: The minutes from the meeting held
on 06
th September 2022 were Approved as a true record.
Proposed: Cllr Webb Seconded: Cllr Athawes Resolved.
35/22 Internal Audit (IA): It was noted that, following approval by the Parish Council at the
October meeting, Auditing Solutions had been appointed as the internal auditor for 2022-
23.
36/22 Asset Check: It was noted that the Clerk and Deputy Clerk had undertaken the annual
physical check of the council’s assets during September 2022.
37/22 Budget Review:
The F&P Committee noted the budget position as at the end of September 2022 that had
been circulated to full council before the October meeting.
38/22 Budget 2023-24:
The committee reviewed an initial suggested draft 2023-24 budget prepared by the Clerk,
and discussed possible revisions. As a starting point the Clerk had increased some budget
lines by 10% to take account of inflation. It was suggested that:
a) There may be a lot of requests for grants in 2023-24 due to the economic climate,
and therefore the budget should include the maximum permissible amount, using
the current s137 rate for the calculation.
b) There will be elections in 2023 and so there may be the need for polling cards if it is
a contested election.
c) There will be a separate budget line for churchyard maintenance going forward.
d) The Clerk will discuss with the caretaker whether he undertakes other tasks that
should be included within the job description.
e) Projects costs would be discussed at the next Projects Working Group meeting to try
to estimate the possible budget requirements.
Cllr Cummings offered to help the Clerk by checking the calculations used in the updated
draft. The second draft will be discussed further at the November F&P meeting. The
allotment and burial ground charges will also be reviewed then. The recommended budget
and precept for 2023-24 will be presented to Council at the December meeting.
Action: The Clerk will produce an updated draft budget for 2023-24.
39/22 Contracts that are due for renewal early in 2023:
The F&P Committee received and noted the contractor contracts that are due for renewal
in early 2023.
40/22 Any Other Matters Arising to note in public: None.
Reserved Business: Exclusion of the Public and Press. In view of the nature of the
business to be transacted any members of the public and press to be temporarily excluded
from the meeting (Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960 s.1).
41/22 Burial Ground Covenant: An update about the burial ground covenant was noted.
42/22 Staff Matters:
The F&P Committee noted an update about the staff appraisals.
43/22 Benchmarking of the Deputy Clerk’s job:
The council is in the process of benchmarking the Drayton Deputy Clerk’s job to reflect his
additional role and duties. This work is being undertaken by the OALC HR advisor. The
advisor has sent an initial assessment that the committee needs to respond to in order that
he can then complete his work.
Actions:
- The F&P Committee will consider the email received from the HR advisor and send their
responses to the Chairperson. - The Chairperson will compile the responses and pass these to the Clerk.
- The Clerk will send these back to the HR advisor.
The date of the next meeting.
The next meeting will be in the Cauldwell Centre at 6.30pm on Tuesday 29
th November
2022.
The meeting concluded at 8.10pm
Signed: Pat Athawes (Chairman, Finance
and Personnel Committee)