NORTH MYMMS PARISH COUNCIL

 

 

Minutes of a MEETING of the FINANCE COMMITTEE held in the Council Office, Annexe to 1 Bushwood Close, Welham Green on Wednesday, 25 June 2008.

 

PRESENT :             Councillors    W A Storey   Chairman 

                                                   

                                                  C Everard

                                                  P Hastings

                                                  R Horrocks                                 

                                                           

                              Clerk            Mrs J A Schettino

 

 

1.       APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

 

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor K Pieri

 

2.       MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING

 

It was agreed that the Minutes of a Meeting of the Finance Committee held on Wednesday, 28 May 2008 were a true record of the proceedings and signed by the Chairman.

 

3.       ACCOUNTS FOR PAYMENT

 

A Schedule of Accounts for Payment totalling £12,441.99, inclusive of Imprest Expenditure of £384.88 was presented.   After careful consideration of each item, it was agreed that the total amount be recommended to Council for approval and payment in full.

 

4.       STATEMENT OF BALANCES

 

A Statement of Balances dated 23 June 2008 was considered and income of £42.28 was noted.

5.       TRANSFER OF MONIES

 

 The Clerk had not transferred money between accounts in June but would need to take action to cover standing orders and direct debits due on 1st July 2008.

 

6.               ANY OTHER BUSINESS

a)    JURY DUTY


The Clerk reported that Karl Whybrow had been called for jury duty for 10 days from 4 August 2008 and that the courts were expecting his employers to do their public duty and continue to pay his wages.  Following a discussion it was agreed that the Finance Committee would recommend to Council that he should continue to be paid during this period.

 

b)  DONATION

 

The Parish Council had received a last minute request to part fund three scouts on a summer annual scout camp.

 

It was agreed that usually a request of this type would be considered by the North Mymms Charitable & Recreational Trust but the deadline for requests had passed.  However, the donations made by the Parish Council were to clubs and organisations only and were always budgeted for at their November meetings.

 

On this occasion the Parish Council agreed to recommend to Council that an unbudgeted emergency donation of £480 be made but that it should be made clear that individual help would not normally be considered and requests for donations would need to be received before the end of October each year for consideration at the Councils Budget Meeting.

 

c)  VAT PENALTY LIABILITY NOTICE

 

The Clerk advised that the Parish Council had received a Penalty Liability Notice from HM Customs & Excise applicable from 01.04.08 but there were no accompanying documents explaining what errors had been made.

 

It was suggested and agreed that the Council write and request the documents which should have been enclosed which would clarify the problem.

 

d)  CALENDARS 2009

 

Although the Clerk had requested quotations from two companies for producing the 2009 Calendars, only one had been received so far.  As this was from the same company that produced the calendars last year and the cost was less than last year at £995 for 300, it was felt that this quotation would be more favourable because the company already had some art work.  It was agreed to recommend to Council that the quotation from MPC Print Solutions for £995 should be accepted.

* Councillor Horrocks declared an interest in the above and took no part in either discussion or decision.

 

e)    PLAY EQUIPMENT

 

The Clerk said that the Parish Council had received three quotations for updating the Gobions Open Space Recreation Ground as follows:

 

LAPPSET –   Option 1        Metal playzone                  £21,901

Option 2        Wooden playzone              £19,043

SMP PLAYGROUNDS                                               £24,300

SUTCLIFFE PLAY                                                     £20,936.53

 

All three companies had provided wonderful large coloured layouts and explanations of the equipment used and prices quoted excluded VAT.

 

Following a discussion and inspection of the plans the Finance Committee agreed to recommend to Council that the quotation from Sutcliffe Play should be accepted being nearest to the budget figure of £21,000 and with a sturdy metal playzone.

 

7.       DATE OF NEXT MEETING

 

The next meeting of the Finance Committee has already been arranged for Wednesday 30 July 2008 commencing at 7.15 pm in the Council Office, Annexe to No 1 Bungalow, Bushwood Close, Welham Green.

 

 

Meeting Closed 8.05pm