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PEASEDOWN ST JOHN PARISH COUNCIL

Beacon Hall, French Close, Peasedown St John, Bath BA2 8SN Tel: 01761 433686 E-mail: clerk@peasedownstjohnparishcouncil.gov.uk

www.peasedownstjohnparishcouncil.gov.uk

Minutes of the Finance & Amenities Committee Meeting held on Tuesday 10th Dec 2013

at 7.00pm at the Beacon Hall, French Close, Peasedown St John

Present: Councillors: John Bailey, Calvin Bird (Chair), Jo Davis, Andy Larcombe (Vice-Chair), Kathy Thomas, David Walker. Cllrs. Andrew Fraser and Karen Walker were also present at the meeting, in their capacity as Chair and Vice-Chair of Full Council respectively, providing them with full voting rights. In attendance: Tanya West – Parish Clerk. Public Session Mike Cosh from Rotary Club of Somer Valley was present at the meeting, to speak in support of their request for a community grant towards the cost of installing a defibrillator at Peasedown St John Co-operative. He provided the Committee with some statistics on the number of deaths that occur each day as a result of sudden heart attacks/cardiac arrests, which could be prevented by using a defibrillator. The defibrillator cabinet would have a coded lock. Anyone wishing to use it should dial 999 and ask for the ambulance service, who will provide an unlock code, if appropriate. The defibrillator has spoken instructions to guide the user through the process. It will not give the patient a shock if it is not required. Rotary Club of Somer Valley have already provided defibrillators in Chilcompton, Midsomer Norton, Weston, Radstock and Bath (many of them at Co-Operative stores), and they believe that there is a need for similar equipment in Peasedown St. John. The Co-Operative Peasedown St. John has already made a donation towards the cost and have agreed to cover both the installation costs and ongoing electricity costs. The Chairman thanked Mike Cosh for providing this information, and he left the meeting at 7.05pm. 7.05pm - Cllr Jo Davis joined the meeting.

Minute Ref. Agenda Item Action

F&A075- 10/12/2013

Apologies for Absence There were no apologies for absence.

F&A076–10/12/2013

Declarations of Interest To receive any declarations of Members’ Interests in any item on the agenda, which have not already been disclosed to the Monitoring Officer – no interests were declared.

F&A077–10/12/2013

Minutes i. The minutes of the Finance Committee meeting held on 29th October 2013

were not yet available, but would be circulated shortly. ii. The up-dated actions register would be circulated by e-mail. It was noted

that accounting software had not been included on the agenda, but the Clerk would be obtaining more information on this issue from Cllr Jonathan Rich in due course.

Clerk

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F&A078–10/12/2013

Items for Urgent Report There were no items for urgent report.

F&A079 – 10/12/2013

Community Grants The Finance and Amenities Committee considered the second phase of applications for Community Grants for the current financial year. Three applications had been received:

1. A request from Rotary Club of Somer Valley for a contribution towards the cost of installing a defibrillator at Peasedown St John Co-Operative.

2. A request from Golden Oldies Charity for £356 towards the cost of promoting their singing and activity group at St John’s Close and engaging with children at Peasedown St John Primary School.

3. A request for £1,500 from Peasedown Athletic and Peasedown Albion Football Clubs towards the cost of replacing the roof of their spectator stand.

It was agreed that the application from Golden Oldies Charity for £356 should be supported, with the proviso that it is used to support activities within Peasedown St John. The request from the Rotary Club of Somer Valley for a contribution towards the cost of a defibrillator was not supported. It was thought that, should the Rotary Club wish to apply again, it would be useful to have more information on how effective defibrillators have been in other areas, including some statistics relating to how many times similar equipment has been used to save lives in the local area. In addition, it would be helpful to know how the additional defibrillators might be used, given that there are already 3 in the village in medical establishments. The request from Peasedown Athletic Football Club was not supported through the S137 process, but it was agreed that it should be referred to the Football Club Advisory Panel for them to make further investigations on the extent to which the spectator stand is used, and whether the Parish Council should be replacing the roof as part of its regular asset maintenance.

Clerk Clerk Clerk

F&A080– 10/12/2013

Review of Current Finances 2013/14 A report on spend against budget had been circulated to all Councillors as pre-reading for the meeting. Cllr. Calvin Bird drew attention to an up-dated version of the Chart of Accounts report, which had been tabled at the meeting, a copy of which is attached to this document as appendix F&A080i. It was noted that all expected income has been received and income from Ashgrove Cemetery is up this year. Income from the Beacon hall is as it should be for this part of the year. The following points were also noted:

Expenditure has overrun due to staff pensions. Staff absence cover was also higher than originally anticipated, because the person who normally provides caretaker cover was not available and the alternative cover was more expensive.

Meeting and surgery costs were over budget, due to more meetings being held than originally anticipated.

Some staff training had agreed by the Policy & Personnel Committee, which will come out in due course.

The item under “Miscellaneous” has not yet been allocated to Recreation Ground works.

Expenditure on the Christmas Tea Party appears to be over budget, but the donations from the calendar adverts had not been married with the expenditure on the chart.

Cllr Jo Davis asked the final cost of replacing the damaged feeder pillar. The Clerk advised that the replacement had cost £650, but it was hoped that this could be claimed back under the Parish Council’s insurance policy. Cllr Calvin Bird suggested that this should be put under “Miscellaneous” in the interim.

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Electricity costs for the cemetery were higher due to the provision of an electric water heater and electric heating element to prevent pipes from freezing.

F&A081 – 10/12/2013

Capital Projects Budget Councillor pre-reading provided a breakdown of expenditure for the 2013 Capital Projects budget, linking to the proposed individual projects (pre-reading appendix E, refers). The following up-dates were received: Grit Bins – It was noted that these are due for delivery next week. The Clerk advised the Caretaker will be installing the bins as soon as possible after they arrive, pending a response to a couple of site queries on which the Clerk is awaiting a response from B&NES Council Highways Department. Signs and Street Furniture – Cllr Karen Walker reported that the remaining budget will be spent, as agreed, by the end of the financial year. Planted Peasedown – Cllr Andrew Fraser mentioned the possibility of rolling forward the budget allocated to Planted Peasedown to the next financial year. Cllr. Kathy Thomas commented that she was aware that rolling forward budgets to the following financial year should be avoided to ensure that, where possible, projects are carried out as planned. She suggested there would be a clearer indication of whether Planted Peasedown would wish to carry forward any of the current year’s budget following its meeting on 11th December 2013. It was also noted that any decision to roll-over project budgets would need to be taken by Full Council. Recreation Ground Boundaries – Cllr Andy Larcombe asked for an up-date on this project. The Clerk mentioned that one possible way forward would be to obtain help with hedge laying from the National Probation Service/Community Payback Scheme. It was suggested that the Clerk should contact Cllr Gavin Heathcote to ask if any progress has been made. The issue may then need to be discussed at the January Full Council meeting to decide whether some or the entire budget set aside for this project should be re-allocated.

Clerk Clerk Clerk

F&A082 – 10/12/2013

Internal and External Audit The Committee considered arrangements for the interim audit for the 2013/14 financial year and the appointment of an Internal Auditor. It was noted that the Clerk has contacted two potential internal auditors, but had not received any quotes yet. This will be included on the agenda for the Finance & Amenities meeting on 7th January 2014.

Clerk

F&A083– 10/12/2013

Standing Orders The Committee reviewed the draft model Standing Orders as amended by the Standing Orders Advisory Panel (pre-reading appendix F, refers). The Chairman mentioned that the draft Standing Orders had been included as pre-reading for the Finance & Amenities Committee, because they include some aspects relating to finance. He went on to express his concern regarding the requirement that written notice for a motion be given to the Proper Officer. Cllr Fraser explained that there would still be the facility to make an “ad hoc” proposal, such as to suspend Standing Orders at a meeting, but under the new standing orders, 3 working days’ notice would be required for more major proposals. This was discussed at length and ultimately decided to refer non-finance aspect for further consideration by the Advisory Panel and the Policy & Personnel Committee.

Ad.Pnl.Clerk

F&A084 – 10/12/2013

Parish Amenities To receive a report from the Clerk on the following:

i. Ashgrove Cemetery/Caretaker’s Workshop – it was noted the Caretaker had been undertaking clearing of ivy and undergrowth on the row of fir trees, burials were now taking place in the new area of the cemetery, the Garden of Remembrance plans had been displayed at the cemetery and on the website, and feedback forms were coming in.

ii. Ecewiche Green – it was noted that information regarding an insurance claim relating to trees had been received which had been forwarded onto

Clerk

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the Parish Council insurers, works to trees adjoining Underleaf Way and works to an Ash tree and some stump grinding is due to be carried out in the near future.

iii. Recreation Ground – prices are being obtained for the proposed car parking area and fencing for the football pitch.

iv. Persimmon owned land – a meeting would be arranged shortly with Jane Robson, Dave Dixon, and B&NES Highways to discuss options moving forward.

v. Parish Office – several problems had been encountered with the boiler and various parts had been replaced. Various improvement/operational changes were being investigated including the cost of insulating the inside of the roof, although as no specific budget has been allocated for the Parish Office this may need to be sourced from other areas.

Clerk Clerk Clerk

8.50pm - It was agreed to adjourn the meeting for a comfort break. 9.00pm - It was agreed to reconvene the meeting.

F&A085 – 10/12/2013

Resolution Relating to Confidential Nature In accordance with Standing Order 2m and in view of the confidential nature of the business to be transacted, it was resolved that the press and public be temporarily excluded from the meeting.

F&A086 – 10/12/2013

Staff Finance A report was provided from Cllr. Calvin Bird regarding staffing budget proposals for the 2014/15 financial year. It was also noted that staffing costs relating to project work may need to be included as part of the overall project cost with the appropriate sum being transferred to the staffing budget once the project was under way in order to cover any additional works outside of those determined under ‘general maintenance’ with budgets already allocated.

Clerk

F&A087 – 10/12/2013

Resolution to Revert to Public Session It was resolved to put the meeting back into public session.

F&A088– 10/12/2013

Future Capital Projects & 2014/15 General Maintenance Budgets Pre-reading was circulated at the meeting of the initial budget proposals which had been put together by Cllr. Calvin Bird and the Clerk, incorporating those recommendations and suggestions from each Committee. Cllr. Calvin Bird explained the document and the individual account number budgets were looked at and discussed. It was suggested that Cllr. Andy Larcombe, following obtaining information from the Clerk, circulate an email to all Councillors regarding the Memorial Garden investment in order for them to carefully consider whether the option of taking up a loan should proceed. Cllr. Calvin Bird requested any additional suggestions be put forward as soon as possible in order to calculate several budget options for consideration at the next meeting.

AL & Clerk All Cllrs. & Clerk

F&A089 – 10/12/2013

S106 Monies The Clerk provided an update on obtaining the Wellow Lane development S106 monies, including initial discussions on requested B&NES Council waiving their administration fees as they had done for the Sunnyside S106 monies, for which the Clerk had been requested to submit evidence of to B&NES Council.

Clerk

F&A090 – 10/12/2013

Payroll Systems The Clerk advised that it was hoped the transfer to new payroll systems and provider would take place in the new year.

Clerk

F&A091–10/12/2013

Bank Account & Cheque Signatories The Clerk confirmed she was now a signatory on the Nat West accounts and would email any updates once received regarding progress on the transfer to Unitary Trust Bank.

Clerk

F&A092–10/12/2013

Date and Time of Next Meeting & Future Agenda Items The date of the next Finance & Amenities Committee meeting is scheduled to be held on Tuesday 7th January at 7pm at the Beacon Hall. Items to be considered for inclusion on this agenda to be submitted to the Clerk prior to 30th December 2013.

Clerk

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The meeting closed at 10.21pm

Signed…………………………………………………………. Date…………………………………………….

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Appendix F&A080i

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