Finance Minutes 14th August 2013
MINUTES of the Meeting of the Finance & General Purposes Committee
held at
The Guildhall, Church Street, Harwich
on Wednesday 14th August 2013
| Present: | Councillors Brown, Calver, Fowler, McLeod and Thompson |
| In the Chair: | Councillor Day |
| Clerk: | Mrs Lucy Ballard |
| Also present: | no members of the public and no members of the press |
Public Question Time:
None
| F31/13 | APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Cllr I Henderson, Cllr J Henderson – chosen substitute is Cllr D King, Cllr Morrison and Cllr Todd |
| F32/13 | DECLARATIONS OF MEMBERS’ INTERESTS None |
| F33/13 | MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING RESOLVED that the minutes of the Finance & General Purposes meeting held on Tuesday 11th June 2013 (previously circulated) be approved by the Committee and signed by the Chairman as a true record with the amendment to the ‘members present’ to include Cllr Thompson. FURTHER RESOLVED: that the confidential minutes of the Finance & General Purposes meeting held on Tuesday 11th June 2013 (previously circulated) be approved by the Committee and signed by the Chairman as a true record. |
| F34/13 | MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES F16/13 – The clerk informed members of an additional insurance premium paid which had exceeded the budget by £1699.25 and that this should be considered wF27/13 – Cllr Day reported on the insurance policy taken out to cover the Council in the event that access to the Hill School site became permanently restricted. |
| F35/13 | HARWICH & DISTRICT COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION RESOLVED TO RECOMMEND: to fund the bench seating and tables, to a maximum level equivalent to the grant request for those elements, adjusting for VAT, pending receipt of further quotations for these items and on condition that the lease with TDC is in place first. |
| F36/13 | PHAROS TRUST RESOLVED TO RECOMEND: to grant £1250 S137 funding to cover half of the project costs. |
| F37/13 | GUILDHALL CHARGES The clerk confirmed the current tariff of charges and income received for room hire over the last year. RESOLVED: to freeze Guildhall charges at current rate for this Municipal year. |
| F38/13 | FREE ADMITTANCE SIGNAGE FOR GUILDHALL The clerk informed members of investigations made with regard to planning permission/listed building consent that may be needed. RESOLVED: to defer until such time as planning commences for disabled access at Guildhall. |
| F39/13 | ARCHIVIST BUDGET Cllr Calver relayed the request by the Archivists for a budget for stationery and conservation materials. The clerk advised that the archivists did not have the same powers to spend that council committees have, and as such HTC’s Financial Regulations would not allow for this. RESOLVED: To decline the request on the basis that the Financial Regulations, in their current form, do not allow for an Archivists budget but that no reasonable request for stationery or conservation materials would be refused. |
| F40/13 | GUILDHALL TOUR Cllr Calver informed members that previous tours of the Guildhall, for members, proved successful and suggested another be arranged for the benefit of the council’s recently-elected members. RESOLVED: To arrange a tour. |
| F41/13 | TOWN PLAQUES The clerk confirmed there was only 1 plaque remaining. RESOLVED: To defer decision, on whether to purchase more plaques, until the next meeting pending receipt of quotations. |
| F42/13 | DISABLED ACCESS Cllr Day updated members on progress since the last meeting. |
| F43/13 | PUTTING GREEN SHED The clerk relayed to members the wishes of Cllr I Henderson to write to TDC’s Leisure Services and request they consider replacing the shed under a future Capital Funding Programme. RESOLVED: to write to TDC. |
| F44/13 | REVIEW OF WORKING ARRANGEMENTS The clerk and Cllr Day provided some background on the current workloads of the office and concerns of the Internal Auditor that staffing levels were insufficient. RESOLVED: to set up a Working Party comprising the Chairman, Cllr Fowler, Cllr McLeod, the clerk and Asst. clerk, to review working arrangements, duties, job descriptions and to consider changes to working hours. |
| F45/13 | RISK ASSESSMENTS The clerk informed members that risk assessments were in progress and once completed would be brought before the next available meeting of the F&GP committee for approval, then would be reviewed annually or as necessary. |
| F46/13 | CiLCA RESOLVED: To approve expenditure (estimated at £540) for Asst. clerk to undertake professional qualification. |
| F47/13 | CHAIRMAN’S TRAINING RESOLVED: To approve expenditure (estimated at £210) for Deputy Mayor to undertake training in preparation for becoming 2014 Chairman. |
| F48/13 | HARWICH –CHARTER-400.CO.UK RESOLVED: To allow domain to lapse. |
| F49/13 | PHONE CALLS TO THE OFFICE The clerk relayed the expected benefits to be reaped from shortening the time during which calls to the office will be answered, to 9.30am-1pm Monday to Friday. All members were supportive of this measure to improve efficiencies. |
| F50/13 | MATTERS TO BE REPORTED The clerk reported on the following matters:
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| F51/13 | LIGHTING AT HILL SCHOOL Members considered a quotation to carry out work to the pathway lighting to rectify the problem of the lights illuminating during daylight hours. RESOLVED: to accept quotation and proceed with instructing works. |
| F52/13 | HARWICH STORY BOOKS Cllrs King and Calver declared an interest and refrained from partaking in the debate. Members discussed how the remaining stocks of books will be sold. RESOLVED: to sell all remaining stocks at the reduced price of £6.50 each with all proceeds going to the Mayoress’ Appeal. |
| F53/13 | MATTERS RECEIVED IN THE POST Members noted letters of thanks for grant funding from:
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| F54/13 | DATE OF NEXT MEETING The date of the next meeting of the Finance and General Purposes Committee will be held on 2nd October 2013 at 7pm at the Guildhall, Church Street, Harwich |
| F55/13 | EXCLUSION OF PUBLIC AND PRESS Pursuant to Sub-Section 2 of Section 1 of the Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960 the meeting is closed to the press and public for the transaction of the under-mentioned business:
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The Chairman closed the public part of the meeting at 9.23pm