Finance and Strategy Committee – Tuesday 26 May 2026 at 6:30pm

Agenda and Minutes

Attendance: Councillors Stephen Blogg, Nigel Bowler (C), Nicholas Coxon, Richard Craig, Michael Devine, David Dobbie, Paul Key, Glenn Puxty

In Attendance:
Rachel Allbones                  Town Clerk & Responsible Finance Officer

Venue: Meeting Room, Richmond House, Richmond Park, Morton Terrace, Gainsborough, DN21 2RJ

FS27/001  Apologies for Absence
To note apologies for absence.

Minutes:
Apologies were received from Councillor P Hooton

FS27/002  Vice Chair
To appoint Vice Chair for this committee.

Minutes:
RESOLVED: To elect Councillor Devine as Vice Chair for Finance and Strategy Committee.

FS27/003  Declarations of Interest
To receive any declarations of interest in accordance with the requirements of the Localism Act 2011.

Minutes:
No declarations of interest were made.

FS27/004  Dispensation Requests
To consider any dispensation requests received by the Town Clerk in relation to personal and/or disclosable pecuniary interests, not previously recorded.

Minutes:
No dispensation requests were received.

FS27/005  Items for Exclusion of Public and Press
To determine which items on the agenda, if any, require the exclusion of public and press under the Public Bodies (Admissions to Meetings) Act 1960 1 (2) and resolve to exclude public and press for these items. 

Minutes:
No items for the exclusion of public and press.

FS27/006  Minutes of the Previous Meeting (Paper A pages 4 to 7)
To receive and resolve to sign as a true and accurate record the minutes of the Finance and Strategy Committee meeting held on Tuesday 28 April 2026.

Minutes:
RESOLVED: That the minutes of the Finance and Strategy Committee meeting held on Tuesday 28 April 2026 be approved as a true and accurate record and signed by the Chair.

Note: Councillors Bowler, Craig, Key and Puxty abstained from voting on the above resolution.

FS27/007  Finance Reports
To receive and consider for approval the following financial reports:
i. Unpaid Expenditure Transactions for 20 May 2026 (Paper B pages 8 to 13)
ii. Cashbook Summary (including due and unpaid transactions) for 20 May 2026 (Paper C pages 14 to 15)
iii. Budget Comparison Report (including due and unpaid transactions) for 20 May 2026 (Paper D pages 16 to 33) 

Minutes:
RESOLVED: To NOTE and approve the following reports:
i. Unpaid Expenditure Transactions for 20 May 2026.
ii. Cashbook Summary (including due and unpaid transactions) for 20 May 2026
iii. Budget Comparison Report (including due and unpaid transactions) for 20 May 2026

FS27/008  Bank Reconciliation (Paper E pages 34 to 65)
To approve and resolve to sign the monthly bank reconciliations for 30 April 2026 per paragraph 2.2 of Financial Regulations.

Minutes:
RESOLVED: That the monthly bank reconciliations for 30 April 2026 be approved and signed, with the following closing balances:
i. HSBC Current/Deposit Account: £580,721.67
ii. CCLA: £500,000.00

FS27/009  Year End Accounts 2025/26
To consider end of year accounts for the 2024/25 financial year and recommend to Full Council for approval, which consist of the following documents:
i. Consolidated Balance Sheet (Paper F pages 66 to 68)
ii. Income and Expenditure Account Report (Paper G pages 69 to 71)
iii. Income and Expenditure Account Analysis Report (Paper H pages 72 to 74)
iv. Income and Expenditure by Budget Headings Report (Paper I pages 75 to 81)
v. Trial Balance (Paper J pages 82 to 84)

Minutes:
RESOLVED: To RECOMMEND TO FULL COUNCIL to approve the following reports for the 2025/26 financial year: –
i. Consolidated Balance Sheet
ii. Income and Expenditure Account Report
iii. Income and Expenditure Account Analysis Report
iv. Income and Expenditure by Budget Headings Report
v. Trial Balance

FS27/010  AGAR – Section 2 Accounting Statements (Paper K pages 85 to 86) 
To consider end of year accounts for the 2025/26 financial year and recommend to Full Council for approval, which consist of the Section 2 – Accounting Statements of the AGAR:

Minutes:
RESOLVED: To RECOMMEND TO FULL COUNCIL to approve the Section 2 Accounting Statements of the AGAR for the 2025/26 financial year.

FS27/011  Reserves Policy (Paper L pages 87 to 92)
To review and adopt the Reserves Policy.

Minutes:
RESOLVED: To adopt the reviewed Reserves Policy.

FS27/012  Councillor Business Cards (Paper M pages 93 to 95)
To consider whether to proceed with purchasing Councillor business cards.

Minutes:
RESOLVED: To purchase 500 generic business cards from Instant Print at a cost of £16.64.

FS27/013  Office IT Infrastructure (Paper N pages 96 to 98)
To consider the future provision of office IT infrastructure

Minutes:
RESOLVED: To
i. Accept the quotation submitted by F5 Computing for replacement office IT equipment and associated migration works;
ii. Approve migration to Microsoft 365 and subsequent decommissioning of the existing server once implementation is complete; and
iii. Authorise the Town Clerk to progress procurement and implementation in accordance with the approved quotation.

Note: Councillor Dobbie requested that all office and Member IT is renewed at the same time in the future.

FS27/014  Items for Notification
To receive any items for notification to be included on a future agenda (for information only)

Minutes:
RESOLVED: To NOTE the items for notification to be included on a future agendas:
i. Internal Audit Report 2025/26
ii. Appropriate Policy Document
iii. Newsletter
iv. Operation Bridges Review
v. Civic Protocol
vi. Registrar Lease renewal
vii. Unity Trust Bank
viii. Strategic Plan
ix. LCAS Silver Status submission

FS27/015  Time and Date of Next Meeting
To note the date and time of the next Finance and Strategy Committee meeting is scheduled for Tuesday 23 June 2026 at 6:30pm.

Minutes:
RESOLVED: To NOTE the date and time of the next Finance and Strategy Committee meeting scheduled for Tuesday 23 June 2026 at 6:30pm at Richmond House, Morton Terrace.

The meeting closed at 7:23pm.