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Great Waltham Parish Council
- Finance & General Purposes Committee
The order of presentation of these reports has been changed so that the most recent is shown first, and so on. From April 2009 onwards these minutes will be in .pdf format for easier printing. |
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Report of the Finance and General Purposes Committee meeting held on Monday 12th January 2009 at Great Waltham Village Hall 1. Record of Members present Chairman: Mr Braisby Councillors: Mr Jackson, Mr Greenwood and Mr Blaber 2. Apologies for Absence Were received from Mrs Dickinson and Mr Micklem 3. Declarations of interests (existence and nature) with regard to items on the agenda. Mr Braisby declared an interest in item 5. 4. Public Participation session with respect to items on the agenda. There was no public participation. 5. To carry out a further review the budget prepared for the year 1st April 2009 to 31st March 2010 and its effect upon the year 2010/11 following the proposal by Chelmsford Borough Council to withdraw the Parish Revenue Support Grant £4,584. The clerk presented a further set of budget documents which showed the saving that had been agreed at the 8th December 2008 meeting. The document also projected the budget forward for a further year to show the year 2010/2011 (without inflation). A copy of the proposed budget is attached. Following consideration of the budget it was agreed that the precept for the year 2009/10 be kept at the same level as 2008/9 reflecting a 0% increase by the actions of the Parish Council. It was however noted that the withdrawal of the Parish Revenue Support Grant by Chelmsford Borough Council for the year ending 31st March 2010 had the effect of increasing the Parish Rate by 15.3% or £4.94 per band D property per annum. It was felt that by keeping the precept at last years level the services provided by the Parish Council could be kept at the same level. It was agreed that the Annual Report issued by the Parish Council should fully explain the procedure used by the Parish Council in reaching the level of the precept, and to indicate that the increase had taken place because of the actions of Chelmsford Borough Council and not the Parish Council. The Chairman would also be asked to refer to this matter at the Annual Assembly on 11th May 2009. 6. To recommend to the full Parish Council the preferred wording for the entry into the booklet issued by Chelmsford Borough Council with the Council Tax Demand for the year 2009/10. The Committee considered the three options which had been suggested by Essex County Council and the comments which had been made on the suggested options by Parish Councillors. It was agreed to recommend that the following wording be that recommended by Great Waltham Parish Council for publication in the Council Tax Leaflet published by Chelmsford Borough Council. “The Parish Council Tax percentage increase has been higher this year than originally planned by the Parish Councils due to the removal of support grant previously given annually to Parish Councils by the Borough Council”
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Report of the Finance and General Purposes Committee meeting held on Monday 8th December 2008 at Great Waltham Village Hall 1. Record of Members present Chairman: Mr Braisby Councillors: Mr Jackson, Mr Greenwood., Mr Micklem and Mr Blaber 2. Apologies for Absence Were received from Mrs Dickinson 3. Declarations of interests (existence and nature) with regard to items on the agenda. No declarations of interest were made. 4. Public Participation session with respect to items on the agenda. There was no public participation. 5. To review the budget prepared for the year 1st April 2009 to 31st March 2010 following the proposal by Chelmsford Borough Council to withdraw the Parish Revenue Support Grant £4,584.
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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
3.
Prize Money from RCCE Best Kept Village Competition (£150) and a
voucher value (£500) have been allocated to illuminate the oak tree at
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 trans 8.
Revised Estimates of Expenditure have been calculated as at September
2008 which resulted in the following estimated under/over spending
exceeding £100.
Clerks
Gratuity Account
As
at
General
Reserve
As
at
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 As
at 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 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
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
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 23rd
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:
Recommended:
That the pay increase for the Clerk be applied with effect from OTHER
WAGES AND FEES PAID
At
the Finance and General Purposes Committee on The
Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform has recently
announced increases in the National Minimum Wage rates from 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 14.
To check, confirm and sign the latest Bank Reconciliation
The
bank reconciliation was checked, confirmed, and signed.
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The news was received that CBC proposed to withdraw the Parish Revenue support Grant from Parish Council’s for the year 2009/10. The Parish Revenue Support Grant had been made over many years and was based on the number of names on the electoral roll. The proposal to withdraw the grant had been made without consultation with the Parishes. The effect on Great Waltham Parish would be that a grant of an estimated £4,584 which was set against the precept made by Great Waltham Parish Council in 2008/9 would not be made for the year 2009/10. Parish Rate 2008/9 Precept £34617 less £4584 = £30,033 which was equivalent to £32.04 per annum for a property in the Band D range. Parish Rate 2009/10 Precept (as agreed by Minute 7b on 17th November 2008) £35,656 which would be equivalent to £38.03 per annum for a property in the Band D range. This represents an increase of £5.99 per annum or 18.7%. £4.89 or 15.3% of this increase is attributable to the withdrawal of the grant. A letter of protest had been sent by Great Waltham Parish Council to the Chief Executive of Chelmsford Borough Council complaining about the effect that this had on the Parish Rate and also to complain about the way in which it had been withdrawn without any consultation or prior notice. A reply to the letter has not been received from the Chief Executive. A response has been received from the leader of CBC Councillor Roy Whitehead. Many other Parish Council’s have also sent letters of protestation. Mr Whitehead’s response gives reasons for the withdrawal of the Parish Revenue Support Grant by referring to shortfalls in funds for other areas of CBC expenditure. The lack of consultation has not been referred to and no answer given. A meeting of the Association of Chelmsford District Parish Council’s was held on Thursday 4th December 2008 and a letter of protest prepared on behalf of the majority of Chelmsford District Parish Council’s again referring to the effect on Parishes and the way in which the withdrawal has been handled. Also querying the way in which the increase in the Parish Rate will be shown on the Council Tax bill and what explanation will be given by CBC. The Mayor of South Woodham Ferrers will also make a statement on behalf of the Association of Chelmsford District Parish Councils at the CBC Full Council meeting on 10th December 2008. The committee considered the implication of the withdrawal of the Parish Revenue Support Grant for the year 2009/10. It was agreed that a budget be prepared on the basis of a 3% increase in the Parish Rate (i.e. 2008/9 nett precept £30,033 plus 3% = £30934. It was also noted that the reduction of interest rates would seriously affect the Parish Council’s income from interest on the account and the estimated amount of £400 for interest was removed from the account. In order to achieve a reduction of expenditure cuts need to be made in expenditure: The following cuts are recommended:
6. To decide whether the Parish Council should attend and make a statement at the public participation session of the full CBC meeting to be held on Wednesday 10th December 2008. Mr Braisby and the clerk would be attending the meeting. It was agreed that should it be found necessary to make a statement or ask a question then the two representatives were free to do so. Or possibly even to indicate that Great Waltham Parish Council fully endorses the statement made by the ACDPC. The following does not form part of the meeting report. NOTE: at the meeting this was felt to be sufficient to deal with the removal of the Parish Rate Support Grant. However it has been discovered upon preparation of an amended budget following the meeting that further savings of £2380 need to be achieved. This would also leave the Parish Council in the position that to maintain the same level of expenditure in 2010/11 as 2009/10 (i.e. £39,000) an increase in the Parish Rate to £41.40 per annum for a property in the Band D range, an increase equivalent to 25.5%. The alternative would be that for 2010/11 if (say) there was no increase in the Parish Rate then a further £8,066 savings would need to be found. |
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ferred 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
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This page was last edited on 25th May 2010
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