Finance and Governance, February 27th 2017

KESGRAVE TOWN COUNCIL Minutes of the Meeting of the Finance and Governance Committee Held on the 27th February 2017

Present:- Councillors: N Beecroft-Smith A Comber D Fairbrother (Vice Chair of Committee) J Ogden (Chair of Committee) P Mills (Apologies) R Spittle G Lynch

In Attendance:

• Mrs S Clements (Clerk)
• Mrs D Jimpson (Business and Development Manager)

1. Welcome and Apologies for Absence – The Chairman welcomed those present. An apology for absence was received from Councillor Mills.

2. Declaration of Interests – There were no declarations of interest.

3. Minutes of the Last Finance and Governance Committee Meeting -The Committee received, considered and agreed, following the vote, the Minutes from the last Finance and Governance Committee Meeting held on the 30th January 2017. (Copy in Minute Book).

4. Clerks/Officer Report/Update Minute Number 14 – Neighbourhood Plan Staffing Resources – Councillors noted that following the request at the last Meeting, Martlesham Parish Council has been contacted and confirmed that it completed the Pre-Submission Consultation stage on 31st January 2017 so that it had a draft Neighbourhood Plan. Its Team has been analysing the responses and with the assistance of Chris Bowden the consultant from Navigus, will be making the necessary updates to the document before the next stage of submission to the District Council. Martlesham Parish Council has spent £5,506.50 so far on the services of Navigus; this includes a presentation on Neighbourhood Plans, where parishioners were invited to consider whether they wished the Parish Council to take forward a Neighbourhood Plan. Additional costs for Navigus are likely to be in the region of in excess of £2,250. The Martlesham Team has carried out a huge amount of the work themselves. 2 The Committee noted that Martlesham began the process in 2013, but it experienced considerable delays with the designation of the boundary area because the District Council wished to exclude the Adastral Park development and also Woodbridge Town Council (with approval from the District Council), wanted part of the Martlesham North ward in their Neighbourhood Plan. The plan boundary for Martlesham therefore, does not follow the parish boundary. Minute Number 15 – Neighbourhood Plan Questionnaires – It was noted that these have been purchased from CAS (Community Action Suffolk), as agreed and that work is underway to format and finalise the Questionnaires.

5. Members of the Public – There were no members of the public present.

6. Business Use Car Insurance – Councillors discussed this matter, where it was noted that some organisations ask that Staff and Councillors should review their respective car insurance policies to ensure that business cover is included. It was agreed, following the vote, to ask Staff and Councillors to review this aspect of their cover. It was noted that there is reference to this within the Staff Handbook for Staff.

7. Reserves – Councillors received, considered and recommended, following the vote: Staff Fund – It was recommended, following the vote, to transfer the reserve of £1,968, previously under the now no longer Pension reserve, to cover any future long-term sickness, maternity, redundancies etc. “Tesco Land” – It was recommended, following the vote, to transfer this reserve of £10,000 to the Kesgrave Town Council Neighbourhood Plan reserve.  Rupert Fison Canopy (RFC) – It was recommended, following the vote, to create a new reserve for Millennium Jubilee Hall Maintenance Reserve and transfer £5,000 to it from the RFC reserve.  Youth Forum – It was recommended, following the vote, that this reserve of £491 should be transferred into the Youth reserve. Councillors also suggested that our general reserves are low and should ideally cover 3 months expenditure, this will be discussed at a future meeting.

8. Funds held on behalf of other Community Organisations – Councillors noted that currently funds are in the process of being disbursed for 12PT who have recently disbanded but that the council retains funds on behalf of the Kesgrave Firework Event. Mrs Jimpson the RFO (Responsible Financial Officer), explained that the Town Council should not be holding funds for other community stakeholders in the current way. 3 It was agreed, following the vote, that Mrs Jimpson will investigate other possible ways of managing these funds, perhaps by opening up a separate deposit/bank account for the Kesgrave Firework Event.

9. External Audit Fees for 2017-18 – The Committee received and considered the details and agreed, following the vote, to accept these.

10. SALC (Suffolk Association of Local Councils) Membership Subscription 2017-18 – Following the vote, the Committee agreed to renew this invaluable membership subscription.

11. Suffolk County Council Library Services Annual Budget – The Committee noted that following on from the relevant County Council Meeting on the 9th February 2017, which Councillor Ogden attended, that cuts to the Library Services Annual Budget will be reduced by £200,000 for Libraries in the County. At this stage, the Committee is unaware of how this will impact on Kesgrave Library. Councillor D Fairbrother asked for another Report from the Library, prior to the release of any further funds.

12. Councillor Email Accounts and Outlook Distribution Lists – Councillors considered the current system and whether to continue to utilise both the generically set up email addresses or/and personal emails. It was agreed, following the vote, to utilise the generic emails and the Office systems will be updated to reflect this.

13. Items of sufficient urgency and importance – There were no matters.

14. Date of Next Meeting – The next Meeting is on Monday, 27th March 2017 at 7.15pm in the Council Chamber of the Town Council Offices.

15. Agenda Items for Next Meeting – The Committee noted that Bank Reconciliation should be occurring at regular Finance and Governance Committee Meetings. This item will be included on the Agenda of the next Meeting There being no other business, the Meeting closed at 8pm.

Chairman ……………………………………………………..Date……………………