Minutes of a MEETING of the FINANCE COMMITTEE held in the Council Office, Annexe to No 1 Bungalow, Bushwood Close, Welham Green on Wednesday, 29 October 2008.
PRESENT : Councillors W A Storey Chairman
C Everard
P
R
Clerk Mrs J Schettino
1. APOLOGIES FOR
ABSENCE
Apologies for
absence were received from Councillor K Pieri.
2. MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING
The Minutes of a Meeting of the
Finance Committee held on
Page 1 Date of meeting
“ Item 2) Minutes of a meeting held on
3. MATTERS ARISING
There were no matters arising.
4. ACCOUNTS FOR PAYMENT
A Schedule of Accounts for Payment totalling £19,025.72 inclusive of Imprest Expenditure of £115.39 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.
5. STATEMENT OF BALANCES
Consideration was given to a
Statement of Balances held with the National Westminster Bank plc as at
6. TRANSFER OF MONEY
Approval was given to the Clerk’s
action in arranging the transfer of £22,000 from the Council’s SIBA Account to
Current Account with effect from
7. ANY OTHER BUSINESS
a) National Pay Negotiations
HAPTC advised that notification had been received from the National Joint Council that with the likelihood of further delays arising from the arbitration process, the two Sides of the NJC have now decided that the Employers’ final offer of 2.45% should be implemented with effect from 1 April 2008.
Councillor W A Storey proposed, and
it was unanimously agreed, to recommend to Council the above increases, backdated
to
It also advised that the Section
137 expenditure limit for 2009/2010 will be £6.15 from
b) James Rudling
The Finance Chairman said that James had been working on a voluntary basis for the council one day per week while on his college course and was considered an asset by the groundsmen. His proposal to consider giving James three days paid employment during his half term holiday in February 2009 out of this year’s budget was unanimously agreed. It was also suggested that if the Council agreed, provision for paid holiday work in the 2009/2010 financial year could be considered at the next budget meeting.
c)
Scribe Report
Councillor Storey said that a Scribe Report for the six months to end of September 2008 had only just been received and following a minor amendment would be circulated to all Councillors. He asked all members to bring suggested expenditure to the next meeting for consideration prior to a budget meeting.
d) NALC Briefing on the Banking Crisis
NALC had issued a briefing on the banking crisis noting that many types of Council had deposits with the main high street banks, especially as most Parish & Town Councils had just received the second installment of their precept, which did not fall under the present government protection scheme. However, the Government believes that its recent intervention should stabilize the position and should secure deposits made by local authorities.
As a result of this briefing the Finance Committee discussed the recent bank crisis and decided that their present arrangements for a Special Interest Bearing Account with the Nat West Bank were prudent and the interest on it, coupled with other incentives on the current account, represented a good return.
e) Signs
Councillor Storey said that the Council needed to replace three signs at a total cost of £216.80 and it was agreed to recommend this expenditure to full Council for approval.
f) Trees
The Chairman said that following a short period of very inclement and unseasonal weather there had been quite a lot of damage caused in Gobions Woods. A number of tree branches had fallen and were blocking paths, accidental damage had been caused to two fences at the rear of The Grove and some other trees seemed to be in a perilous state. The Clerk said that the groundsmen had been working in the woods all day and managed to clear most of the paths and she had contacted a Tree Surgeon who would be checking the area for further damage. It was likely that this work would incur unbudgeted costs of approximately £1,000 and this would have to be found from the Council’s reserves.
8. DATE OF NEXT MEETING
A meeting has already been arranged
for
The meeting closed
at 7.50pm.