Finance & Governance, November 13th 2017

Finance and Governance Committee Agenda

• Agenda of the Finance and Governance Committee Meeting to be held on Monday 13^th November 2017
• in the Council Chamber, Kesgrave Town Council

Minutes of the Meeting of the Finance and Governance Committee Held on 13th November 2017

Present: –

Councillors:

• A Athwall
• Beecroft-Smith (Vice Chair of Committee)
• A Comber (From End of Minute Number 3)
• D Fairbrother (Chair of Committee)
• S Fairbrother
• G Lynch (From End of Minute Number 3)
• R Patten
• R Spittle (From End of Minute Number 3)

In Attendance:

• Mrs S Clements (Clerk)
• Mrs D Jimpson (Business and Development Manager)
• Councillor K Archer
• C Rayworth (Chairman of SPARK – Sports and Recreation in Kesgrave)

Apologies:

• Councillor P Mills

1. Welcome and Apologies for Absence – The Chairman welcomed those present. Apologies for absence were received from Councillor P Mills.
2. Declaration of Interests – No declarations of interest were made.
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 4^th September 2017. (Copy in Minute Book).

Councillors Comber, Lynch and Spittle all arrived at this point of the Meeting.

4. Clerks/Officer Report/Update

Matters Arising Minute Number 8 – Office Efficiencies – The Committee noted that the Clerk has registered for Quality Council status and that she has attended part of the relevant SALC training for the CiLCA (Certificate in Local Council Administration), towards Level 3 of the National Qualification Framework (NQF) and is now undertaking the necessary portfolio for completion of this qualification.

• Matters Arising Minute Number 9 – General Data Protection Legislation Regulation (GDPR) – Councillors were advised that Mrs Jimpson had attended the relevant briefing session relating to the changes in the law which will be introduced by May 2018. She advised that the Council need to appoint a Data Protection Officer (DPO), who would need to be well versed in the legalities regarding the new regulations.

Mrs Jimpson advised further information is currently awaited from either the National or Suffolk Association of local Councils. An update will be provided at the next Meeting.

5. Members of the Public – Mr Rayworth reported that as Chairman of SPARK, he would recommend that the Council include budget amounts for all items that they would also like SPARK to contribute towards
6. Grants – The Committee received, considered and agreed to a grant of £100 to the Kesgrave Friendship Club to support their Christmas lunch event.
7. Bank Reconciliation – Councillors received, considered and agreed to these details, following the vote.

Draft Budget 2018-19 – Councillor D Fairbrother gave his thanks to Mrs Jimpson for her work on the budget reports and its presentation. The Committee discussed the budget, and Mrs Jimpson responded to queries and made points of clarification. Minor adjustments were made to the draft budget followed by consideration of budget bids from Council committees. The Committee agreed that a provision for a Highways budget of £10,000 would be taken from year-end reserves. Provisions for Air Quality testing, Community Transport, Ice Rink 2018, WW1 Beacons of Light 11th November 2018, Quality Council accreditation, Kesgrave Market revamp and Bus shelters were included in the budget resulting in a Budget/Precept requirement for 2018/19 of £267,610, Using the confirmed tax base this would equate to £56.13 per council tax Band D equivalent for Kesgrave Town Councils proportion of the council tax, an increase of 3.54% on the 2017-18 Precept. Following the vote (5 in favour, 3 against), Councillor D Fairbrother and Councillor S Fairbrother requested that their votes against the budget were recorded). The Committee recommended that the budget was referred to the Full Town Council for approval at the Meeting on the 20^th

9. Quality Council Status – The provision for the Quality Council Status process was agreed and approved for inclusion in the draft budget for 2018-19.
10. Items of sufficient urgency and importance – Councillor S Fairbrother reported that Café 66 had been awarded team of the year at the ‘Stars of Suffolk’ awards ceremony.
11. Date of Next Meeting – The next Meeting is on Monday, 8^th January 2018 at 15pm in the Council Chamber of the Town Council Offices.

Agenda Items for Next Meeting – Councillor Lynch requested that Internal control checks is included as an agenda item for the next meeting.

13. Resolution to exclude the Public and the Press – The Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960 – The Committee is asked to consider and agree to exclude the Public and the Press, since publicity would legally prejudice commercial sensitivity and confidentially.