Great Sankey Parish Council

Finance Committee Meeting 2 June 2009            Whittle Hall Community Centre

Chairman:                Cllr K Gleave

Present                     Cllr K Reynolds    Cllr Wheeler       Cllr Carter

In Attendance:         Mrs C Wakefield (Parish Clerk)

1.         Apologies for absence

An apology for absence was received from Cllr J Regan.  It was agreed Cllr Gleave would therefore take the Chair

2          To discuss payment of arrears relating to a particular user group.

            The person responsible for the user group in question attended to discuss the arrears, which relate to a bill for damage to chairs, not hall rental.  The user group denies they did the damage but have to accept that it happened at the time of one of their bookings.

            The representative contended forcefully that none of his group had done the damage, going into some background to this, and he also made the point strongly that the group have no access to funds to pay this bill.

            The Clerk pointed out that there is a long history of incidents of damage and mess at this centre which coincided with bookings by this particular group.  There had been complaints from 5 different Caretakers plus 2 other members of staff about the state in which the hall has been left at times by them.  She had contacted them several times in the past warning that they would have to pay for damage for which they were responsible.  Although they deny actually doing the latest damage there is no doubt it occurred during a period when they were using, and therefore contractually responsible for the hall.

            The user representative withdrew while the Committee discussed the issue.  Their conclusion was that the costs must be recovered.  As the group maintains it cannot pay this extra bill it was proposed that the rental rate for this group should be increased to cover the extra costs, from £5 per hour (local user concessionary rate) to £8 per hour, and that if any further damage is caused by this group the rental rate will rise again.  Further, the members of the group must be told that they have to abide by the rental conditions and leave the hall in the same condition in which it is found, or they will jeopardise their future use of the hall.  This was agreed unanimously, then put to the User representative who also agreed to accept this solution.  The Clerk was asked to send a letter to the group confirming the arrangement.

RESOLVED FC/56/2009  That the concessionary rental rate of the group in arrears for damages should be increased to £8 per hour now, and increased further in the event of any future damage by them.

3.         To approve the minutes of the previous meeting -5/5/2009

The draft minutes had been circulated before the meeting.  The draft Minutes were moved and accepted as a true record of the meeting and signed as such by the Chairman.

RESOLVED FC/57/2009  That the minutes of the meeting held on 5^th May 2009 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

4          To be informed of progress on matters arising from the previous meeting and take any action required

4.1       to be updated on progress with obtaining valuation of land at Tim Parry

The Clerk had asked ChALC for guidance on getting land valuations, and had received a lot of information from them that morning.  She would read it through and then be able to make some progress for the next meeting.

4.2       To be updated about Hood Manor Coffee Mornings

The Clerk noted that she had not heard any word yet about resumption of the coffee mornings but had been approached about a possible fashion show at Hood Manor.

There was a discussion about various aspects of this.  She was advised to book the date provisionally then wait for further developments.

4.3       To be updated on the possibility of using Hood Lane Community Centre for Youth purposes.

There were no developments to report yet.

5          To be updated on position with regard to the CCTV at Hood Lane, and decide if any further action is required

There have been a number of reliability issue with the camera over the last few weeks.  The CCTV company have called upon the CMO a number of times to re-boot the router, in addition to doing it himself when he has seen it is "down".  He has had the engineer out and had it replaced but the engineer blames the BT line.  A BT engineer has been out twice to check the broadband and they say there is no fault on the line, the problem lies with the router.  BT say the company replaced the original with a used router, not new.  The CCTV company say the camera is still working and recording when the router is down it is just not transmitting the data to them for live monitoring.  Clearly the situation is not satisfactory.  The Committee decided that they will give the CCTV company until the next meeting to get the system fully operational and prove its reliability.  In addition images are to be looked at to check if they are satisfactory.  There was an incident outside Hood Manor on 28^th May and so the images from that night are to be asked for to see if they allow the police to take any action.  The Clerk is to report back to the next meeting for the Committee to review the service.

6          To consider and complete the documentation necessary to implement telephone banking

NatWest had originally advised the Clerk that this service could be set up by phone, however when the Chairman tried they said documentation was required.  The form had now been received from the bank but it is not clear.  The Clerk was advised to complete the form but also draft a letter and bring both to the next PC meeting for signature.

7          Allotments - update on progress with gathering information for the Council

            The Clerk gave a verbal report of the information she had got together so far on the situation with allotments in Warrington.  In addition ChALC are going to provide something.about costs and benefits of allotments in general.  There was a discussion about what further information is required.  Cllr Wheeler volunteered to get more information from WBC.  She also brought an application form for a grant from the Warrington West Neighbourhood Board to apply for money to do a scoping study which she will try to get completed within the deadline, which is very close.  The Committee asked the Clerk to put an item on the next PC agenda for them to report back on what the Committee is doing about allotment provision.

8          To consider if the Committee wishes to move any funds into the Temporary Loan fund, and if so how much

            The Committee considered the current financial situation and decided to put £100,000 on deposit with WBC Temporary Loans Fund, which pays more interest than the NatWest Reserve account.  There was consideration given to putting money into a fixed term account, but the Committee decided it was not prudent at this time.  The situation is to be reviewed again in August.  The Clerk will bring a Cheque to the PC meeting for signature.

RESOLVED FC/58/2009  To place £100,000 into the WBC Temporary Loan Fund and review in August.

9          To consider if the Council wishes to sign a long term agreement with its insurers in order to obtain a discount on the premium

The Committee considered the discounts on offer but decided they were not sufficiently significant at this time to warrant the possible risk involved in making a long term commitment to one insurer, particularly as there is a strong possibility of new firms coming into this specialised market.  However the Committee will keep the situation under review at future renewals.

10        Budget 2009/2010 - to scrutinise documentation, and when satisfied as to correctness to sign off financial report and bank reconciliation for April.

The Bank Reconciliation, pages from the Cash book, and budget monitoring sheets for April had all been circulated prior to the meeting.

Cllr Wheeler scrutinised a random selection of payments in from the cash book pages and Cllr Gleave scrutinised a random selection of payments out.  These were in order and were signed off.

The councillors all looked at the budget monitoring sheets. 

RESOLVED  FC/59/2009  To accept the Bank Reconciliation and Cash Book pages for April 2009 as correct

11        To examine petty cash records and balance, to sign off if correct and authorise cheque to restore balance to the set limit

The petty cash register, docket book and cash balance were all checked by Cllr Carter and agreed.  The cash balance was £268.49 and so a cheque for £131.51 was requested and signed in order to bring the operating balance back to the balance of £400.

RESOLVED FC/60/2009  To authorise a cheque for £131.51 to bring the petty cash balance back to £400 (LGA 1972 S111).

12        To consider recommendations on financial expenditure arising since last meeting, plus estimates received, and authorise where appropriate, - paper attached (Appendix 1)

            Using the Finance Committee's delegated authority the following were signed for payment.

For cheque 8231 the Clerk explained that West Vale House had been in.touch and asked if they could be given the money to purchase their own bench, rather than the Parish council source it (PC/2009/31 refers).  It was agreed that this could be done, and the Council will purchase a dedication plaque which will be handed over at a public ceremony.  The Clerk was authorised to buy a suitable engraved brass plaque at an approximate cost of £20.  The final Care Home, Sankey Manor, had now responded to the approach by the Council and they also asked for garden furniture, although they prefer the Council to buy it for them from an internet store.  The Clerk was therefore authorised to use her credit card to buy garden furniture to approximately the same value for Sankey Manor and then take re-imbursement from petty cash.  She is also to buy a plaque for this, to be handed over at a presentation.

RESOLVED FC/61/2009  To purchase for Sankey Manor Care Home garden furniture to the value of approximately £200 for the benefit of elderly residents, plus dedication plaque (LGA 1972 s137)

The Clerk informed the meeting that she has been having trouble with the current waste service provider which has recently become a lot less reliable, so she is getting a quote from another provider.

RESOLVED FC/62/2009 That all cheques listed be authorised for payment (all under LGA 1976 s19 or LGA 1972 ss101, 111, 112 or LG and R Act 1997 s31).

13        To consider any requests for financial assistance received as detailed in Appendix 1.  To decide if any donations are to be made or if any other requests should be recommended to the Parish Council

One request had been received.  This was from a local business which is doing fund raising on behalf of a local hospice.  Although the Committee was sympathetic and acknowledges the hospice is a good cause, it did not feel it would be proper to donate money via a third party.  If the hospice want to apply direct it would be given due consideration.

The Clerk was asked to write and explain this refusal, while still giving the best wishes of the Council.  It was agreed that the appeal could be put on the Council website to help raise awareness.

14        Pursuant to section 1(2) of the Public Bodies (Admission to meetings) Act 1960 it is proposed that, because of the confidential nature of the business to be transacted, the public and Press leave the meeting during consideration of the following agenda items

            There were no members of the public present.

15        To authorise payment of wages, tax and ERNIC for May - paper to be tabled at meeting

Cllr Reynolds checked a selection of timesheets in detail.  All Councillors looked at the wages listing sheet.  The Committee agreed to authorise all payments as listed. 

RESOLVED FC/63/2009  That Wages and Inland Revenue costs as listed be authorised for payment (LGA 1972 s112)

16        To be informed of current position on customers in arrears. 

            One of the former customers in arrears is continuing to pay off the debt on a monthly payment plan as promised. 

The other 2 former customers in arrears have been referred to the debt collecting  firm discussed at the last meeting  and the Clerk is awaiting results.

            The unpaid bill for damage to property had been dealt with under agenda item 2.