Minutes of the Finance Committee held on Wednesday 25th May 2011 at 7.15 p.m. in the Council Offices, 1a Brushwood Close, Welham Green

Those Present:

Councillors                              W A Storey                  Chairman

C Everard

R N Horrocks             Vice Chairman

Mrs T Travell

Also present                            R L Wheeler

Officer                                     Ann Morton                  Clerk

1.      Election of Chairman

It was proposed by Councillor Horrocks, seconded by Councillor Everard and RESOLVED that Councillor Storey be elected Chairman of the Finance Committee for the year 2011/2012.

2.      Apologies for absence

Councillor Hastings had given his apologies.

3.      Declarations of interest

There were no declarations of interest.

4.      Election of Vice-Chairman

It was proposed Councillor Mrs Travell, seconded by Councillor Everard and RESOLVED that Councillor Horrocks be elected Vice-Chairman of the Finance Committee for the year 2011/2012.

5.      Minutes

The minutes of the Finance Committee meeting held on 27th April 2011 were approved as a true record and were signed by the Chairman.

6.      Expenditure

The details of expenditure for payroll, direct debits and Council tax of £5,502.96 since Wednesday 27th April 2011 was approved.

7.      Accounts due for payment

The schedule of accounts for payment totalling £22,576.68 was presented, including the £5,502.96 already paid.  The schedule listing of Morter Hargrave Ltd was queried as the £84.30 total shown differed from the cheque amount of £84.60 but this matched the invoice total.  It was agreed to sign the cheque as it matched the balance asked for.  The Clerk will ask the book keeper to check the reconciliation and report the amended figures to the next meeting. 

As delegated at the Council meeting held on 18th May 2011, minute 11, after careful consideration of each item the amounts were approved for payment in full.

8.      Transfer of funds

As delegated at the Council meeting held on 18th May 2011, minute 11, the transfer of £25,000 from the Council’s Business Reserve Account to the Current Account was approved and a letter to NatWest was signed.

9.      Banking matters

The Clerk reported that a reply had been received from NatWest regarding the complaint about transferring funds and circulated a copy to Members present at the meeting.  The Chairman explained the background and gave the details of the response.  NatWest advise that the request to transfer should be taken to the branch in person.  It was agreed this would be time consuming and not practical and Members consider this to be a service problem when the letter is addressed to a named person.  Councillors Storey and Horrocks will raise this matter when meeting with the bank to discuss standing orders or alternatives for payroll.

The paperwork to update the Council’s cheque signatories for both Current and Imprest Accounts has been filled in and when signed by the Chairman it will be forwarded to the bank.  New signatories will need to go personally to any NatWest branch to verify their ID.

10.  Parish Council property matters

There were no property matters relevant to the Committee to be considered.

11.  Internal Auditor’s report

The Internal Auditor’s report has been delegated to the Committee for consideration of the actions required.  It was agreed to defer this item to the next meeting of the Committee.

12.  Committee Terms of Reference

The Committee appears to have no Terms of Reference and Members agreed that this will be addressed before the end of July.

The meeting closed at 7.45 p.m.

                                                Signed             _____________________________

                                                Date                _____________________________