Report of the Finance and General Purposes Committee Meeting held on Monday 27th October 2008

1. Record of Members present

Chairman: Mr Braisby

Councillors: Mrs Dickinson, Mr Jackson, Mr Blaber, Mr Micklem and Mr Greenwood.

2. Apologies for Absence

There were none.

3. Declarations of interests (existence and nature) with regard to items on the agenda.

There were no declarations of interest.

4. Public Participation session with respect to items on the agenda.

There were no members of the public present at the meeting.

5 Parish Council Accounts as at 30^th September 2008 .

These were presented, discussed and agreed.

The clerk presented a written report on the accounts as at 30^th September 2008 , as follows:

General Account

1. Additional income from VAT refund now estimated at £650 in view of additional expenditure on VAT-able items.

2. Additional income from EALC grant for display screens (£227.50) and an anticipated donation from Friend’s of Great Waltham and Ford End Churches (£150) has been allocated as part payment for public address system.

3. Prize Money from RCCE Best Kept Village Competition (£150) and a voucher value (£500) have been allocated to illuminate the oak tree at Banbury Square over the Christmas period.

4. Vouchers for tree purchase (£50) have been used in part payment to plant an oak tree at Penden Hill Corner.

5. A grant has been applied for half the cost of the goalposts for Ford End Playing Field £225.

6. An additional grant from CBC towards the Parish Clear up is used to arrange a kartaway for the project.

7. £1685 has been transferred from the General Reserve to cover the costs of ground-works at Ford End Playing Field – as agreed by the Finance and General Purposes Committee on 6^th October 2008 .

8. Revised Estimates of Expenditure have been calculated as at September 2008 which resulted in the following estimated under/over spending exceeding £100.

9. Within the revised estimates there remains contingency sums totaling £1,762 under the following headings:

Clerks Gratuity Account

As at 31^st March 2009 estimated to fall short of 2 x Clerks Salary £18,972 by £2,974.

General Reserve

As at 31^st March 2009 the balance carried forward is reduced to £91 as a result of the transfer of funds to the general account to cover the ground-works at Ford End.

Capital Works Account

See separate report – item 7 below

Allotment Account

Nothing to report

Changing Rooms Account

With the increased rental for the use of the facilities and increased use and reduction in the redecoration/maintenance and insurance costs it is estimated that the loss on the changing rooms will not be as great as anticipated. It is estimated that this will be £321.30 lower than the budget allowance.

2007/8 Audit

The Clerk reported that the External Auditor had completed the Audit and has duly returned the certified Annual Return without comment. The Parish Council is now required to display a Notice on each notice board to this effect. Notices to this effect were distributed.

Current Economic Climate

It was agreed that as a result of the current economic downturn and the ceiling announced by Government for compensation in the event of bank failure (£50,000) that the Clerks Gratuity Account (Current Balance £15,812) should be moved to a new account with Barclays Bank.

6. Outstanding Accounts.

The clerk reported that there were no accounts outstanding for over one month.

7. To review Capital Works Provision, and the funding of the programme (see attached)

CAPITAL WORKS PROVISION

The Capital Programme was reviewed and approved as follows:

Latest Adopted Programme

Summary of Expenditure from Capital Works Account

2008/9   £  5514

2009/10 £10000 (£2000 from revenue budget surpluses)

This will leave and estimated balance in the Capital Works Account:

As at 31^st March 2009 of £15439.52

As at 31^st March 2010 of £10068.52

Latest Proposed Programme

Summary of Expenditure from Capital Works Account

2008/9   £8847.34

Summary of Expenditure from Capital Works Account

2009/10 £6,000

This will leave and estimated balance in the Capital Works Account as at 31^st March 2010 of £10418.48

Note: The Committee agreed that the Parish Focal Point project should progress to the feasibility study stage and therefore include the sum of £3333.34 in the 2008/9 Capital Programme being one third of the estimated cost of the study.

8. Report on outstanding loans.

There were no outstanding loans to or from the Parish Council

9. To consider funding for fencing works required at Ford End Playing Field as per the Minutes of the Recreation Committee on 22^nd September 2008

The clerk reported that a sum of £1110 had been included in the 2009/10 estimates to allow for these works to be carried out.

10. To prepare a budget for the year 1^st April 2009 to 31^st March 2010

The clerk presented the proposed budget for the year 2009/10 as attached.

The Committee agreed that in view of the proposed Parish Focal Point Project it would be prudent to transfer a sum of £4000 to the Capital Works Account. This has the effect of increasing the precept for the year 2009/10 to £38,080 an increase of 10%.

11. To consider the review of the Financial Regulations of the Parish Council (Mr Micklem)

Items to be included – Annual consideration of the effectiveness of Internal Audit

                                       Annual review of risks facing the Parish Council

                                       Annual Inspection of Assets

Mr Micklem reported that he had looked through the Model Financial Regulations prepared by National Association of Local Councils and had compared them to the Great Waltham Parish Council adopted Financial Regulations.

It was now proposed to adopt the Model Financial Regulations and incorporate the additional regulations which had been adopted by Great Waltham Parish Council. The amalgamated regulations would then be sent to councillors for approval.

12. To consider the review the Standing Orders of the Parish Council.

The clerk reported that a revised edition of the draft Standing Orders produced by National Association of Local Council was still not available. This edition would contain all the latest legal and recommended standing orders. It was agreed to await the publication of the recommended Standing Orders before reviewing the Great Waltham Parish Council Standing Orders.

13. To review Salaries Wages and Other Payments

The following information has been received from NALC.

The Employers’ Side of the National Joint Council (NJC) for Local Government Services made a final pay offer for 2008/09 of 2.45%. No agreement has been reached and this failure to agree has been referred to arbitration by the Trade Union Side. The Employers have acceded to this request.

Given the time that has elapsed since the award was due, and the likelihood of further delays arising from the arbitration process, the two Sides of the NJC have now decided that the Employers’ final offer should be implemented, with effect from 1 April 2008.

Both the National Association and the Society of Local Council Clerks jointly recommend that the interim award based on this decision by the National Joint Council for Local Government Services is implemented with immediate effect.  A further briefing will follow once the arbitration process referred to above is complete indicating the implications (if any) on the award affecting salaries in 2008/09.

CLERKS SALARY

The clerk is currently paid on Local Government Salary Scale LC2. This scale was evaluated by the Finance and General Purposes Committee on 23^rd January 2006 to a spot salary (a single salary point to be reviewed by the Council annually) The spot salary point was determined as point 26 the lowest of the LC2 range below the substantive benchmark range.

The full scale is as follows:

Therefore applying the recommended rate indicated above to the clerks salary, with effect from 1st April 2008 at the Spinal Column 26 results in the rate £11.402per hour being multiplied by the contracted number of hours rate of pay, which is currently set at 832 (16 hrs per week as per contract of employment) is as follows – 832 hours at £11.402 = £9486.46 per annum representing an increase of 2.45% as per the National Joint Council’s interim salary recommendations.

Recommended: That the pay increase for the Clerk be applied with effect from 1^st April 2008 as above, and that further information be awaited from the arbitration process.

OTHER WAGES AND FEES PAID 

At the Finance and General Purposes Committee on 28^th January 2008 discussion took place on the basis for applying pay increases for other employees. It was recommended and later agreed by the full Council that other employees that pay would be reviewed at the January Finance and General Purposes meeting each year according to the information available at that time.

The Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform has recently announced increases in the National Minimum Wage rates from 1^st October 2008 . For workers aged 22 and over the rate has increased from £5.52 per hour to £5.73 per hour and increase of 3.8%. It is therefore recommended that the % rate of increase be applied to other employees which results as follows:

It should be noted that this is the first increase since April 2007.  

Recommended: That the pay increases for other employees be applied with effect from 1^st October 2008 as above.

14. To check, confirm and sign the latest Bank Reconciliation

The bank reconciliation was checked, confirmed, and signed.