Management & Finance Meeting 16th March 2021

REMOTE Management and Finance Committee - Tuesday 16 March 2021 PUBLIC

Agenda & meeting papers can be accessed in the PDF pack above.

Members of the public can view the meeting on YouTube at: https://youtu.be/rQcRAkaqnE0

DRAFT MINUTES of a REMOTE Meeting of the Management and Finance Committee held on Tuesday 16 March 2021 at 7:00pm

  

Present:

Councillor Matthew Boles (Chairman)

Councillor Tim Davies

Councillor David Dobbie

Councillor Sean Graham

Councillor Paul Key

Councillor Keith Panter – ex officio

Councillor Denise Schofield

In Attendance:

Tom Clay                                Town Clerk

Rachel Allbones                      Deputy Clerk & RFO

Sean Alcock                           Operations Manager

1. TO RECEIVE APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Councillor Harry Clarke

2. TO RECEIVE MEMBERS’ DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LOCALISM ACT 2011 AND TO RECEIVE ANY APPLICATIONS FOR DISPENSATION

Councillor Boles declared a personal interest in agenda item 10 as he is a personal friend of the owner of Gainsborough Skip Hire.

Councillor Key declared a personal interest in agenda 12 as an employee of West Lindsey District Council and a Lincolnshire County Councillor.

 3. MINUTES FROM THE PREVIOUS MEETING (Paper A)

 i. Minutes of the meeting of Management and Finance Committee held Tuesday 16 February 2021

 RESOLVED that the minutes of the Management and Finance Committee meeting held on Tuesday 16 February 2021 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

Note: Councillors Dobbie, Graham and Panter abstained from the above resolution.

 4. ADVERTISEMENT OF THE NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN REFERENDUM

 Note Councillor Dobbie left the meeting at 7:13pm.

Committee considered the following recommendation made by the Planning and Development Committee on 23 February 2021:

RESOLVED to RECOMMEND TO MANAGEMENT AND FINANCE COMMITTEE that a budget be established of between £500-£1000 to pay for advertisement of the referendum.

RESOLVED to take up to £1,000 from general reserves to pay for advertising for the Neighbourhood Plan referendum, Councillor Dobie to assist in distribution.

 5. RICHMOND PARK (Paper B)

Committee considered the following recommendation made by the Community Services Committee on 9 March 2021:

RESOLVED to approve option 1 in the report of undertaking survey work at a cost of £1,725 (excluding VAT) and to RECOMMEND TO MANAGEMENT AND FINANCE COMMITTEE that a budget line is created to cover the cost of the work.

RESOLVED to create a budget of £1,725 to carry out drainage survey works on the Richmond Park play area.

6. AISBY WALK SKATE PARK (Paper C)

 Committee noted that there is £2,547.65 in ear marked reserves for general play equipment maintenance and £2,000 in 2021/22 budget for the work that could be used for repairs to Aisby Walk Skate Park.

Committee further noted that the estimate provided for the repairs following fire damage are a worst case and the cost could be lower. Council could look to recover the costs through insurance.

Committee considered the following recommendation made by the Community Services Committee on 9 March 2021:

RESOLVED to RECOMMEND TO MANAGEMENT AND FINANCE COMMITTEE that the budget available be increased to account for works required to the Skate Park following of RoSPA inspection £4,950.

Committee is also recommended to set aside £3,150 to make repairs as a result of fire damage.

Note: Councillor Dobbie returned to the meeting at 7:26pm.

RESOLVED in take £4,000 from general reserves for repairs to Aisby Walk Skate Park, depending on total costs to the fire damaged area, Council may reclaim costs from insurance.

7. COMMUNITY RESILIENCE GRANT

Committee considered the following recommendation made by the Community Services Committee on 9 March 2021:

 RESOLVED to RECOMMEND TO MANAGEMENT AND FINANCE COMMITTEE that a £5,000 Community Resilience Grant be established from reserves. The grant would be used to assist organisations that support groups or individuals impacted by the pandemic and associated measures. Applications for the grant would be reviewed on a monthly basis.

RESOLVED that subject to Full Council approving a criteria policy at the April meeting a £5,000 Community Resilience Grant be established from general reserves. The grant would be used to assist organisations that support groups or individuals impacted by the pandemic and associated measures. Applications for the grant would be reviewed on a monthly basis.

Note: Councillor Boles & Key would try and locate the LCC policy for their resilience grant and send it to the Town Clerk.

8. FINANCIAL REPORTS (Papers D, E & F)

Committee received and considered the following reports:

i. Unpaid Expenditure Transactions for 10 March 2021
ii. Cashbook Summary (including due and unpaid transactions) for 10 March 2021
iii.    Budget Comparison Report (including due and unpaid transactions) for 10 March 2021

 RESOLVED that Members accept and approve the following reports: –

• Unpaid Expenditure Transactions for 11 March 2021
• Cashbook Summary (including due and unpaid transactions) for 11 March 2021
• Budget Comparison Report (including due and unpaid transactions) for 11 March 2021 

  9. MONTHLY BANK RECONCILIATIONS (Paper G)

Committee considered sign off of the monthly bank reconciliation for the month of February 2021 as per the paragraph 2.2 in Financial Regulations.

RESOLVED to accept and sign off the Bank Reconciliation for 28 February 2021.

 10. LOVE LANE SKIPS

Committee considered a request from Love Lane Allotment Site for funds to hire a skip in the current financial year at a cost of £175.

Committee to note that currently the net expenditure for the budget line is £700. The budget was originally set at £525. The additional expenditure relates to the hire of two skips to clear waste after a plot holder left earlier in the 2020-2021 financial year. It had been hoped that the funds would be recovered, but unfortunately that has proven not to be the case.

RESOLVED to approve an increase in skip hire budget of £175 from general reserves for an additional skip.

11. EXCLUSION OF THE PRESS AND PUBLIC

Due to the confidential nature, members RESOLVED to exclude the press and public from the meeting during consideration of the next item in accordance with the Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960.

12. RICHMOND HOUSE CONSERVATORY (Paper H)

Committee NOTED an update on the Richmond House Conservatory project.

RESOLVED to reaffirm the position reached in July 2019 and that the Town Clerk be instructed to resolve any outstanding issues on that basis. It was confirmed that the ratio of the costs should be shared 20:20:20 between WLDC, LCC and the Town Council.

RESOLVED to come out of closed session.

Meeting concluded at 8.35pm