Minutes of the Finance and General Purposes Committee Meeting held on Tuesday, 17 June 2008 in the Civic Chamber, Council Offices, Skelmanthorpe
PRESENT: Cllrs J A Barlow (Chair), M Barlow, R Brook, E Shaw, G Turner, A Tribe
624 Open Session
No members of the public were present.
625 Apologies for Absence
Reasons for absence were received from Cllrs J E Birdsall, M Mills, C Rimmer and N Wilson. The Clerk reported that Cllr J C Birdsall was absent from the meeting because he had tendered his resignation from the council and this information would be submitted to the council meeting in July meeting.
626 Declarations of Councillors’ Interests
There were no declarations of interest.
627 Admission of the Public
It was RESOLVED that the press and public be excluded for item 13, since it includes matters relating to staffing terms and conditions.
628 Minutes
It was RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 11 March 2008 be received.
629 Insurance Cover
The Clerk confirmed that the insurance cover had been renewed with Zurich Municipal which had offered the most favourable quote. As requested by the previous meeting, she submitted a detailed breakdown of the insurance cover, including information about insurance of the civic regalia and insurance cover for loss of no claims discount for members using their cars on council business.
a) The Clerk pointed out that the civic regalia had last been valued for insurance purposes was in January 2004 and it was RESOLVED that the chain be revalued in January 2009 in time for next year’s insurance renewal. .
b) The Clerk pointed out that the insurance covers 20 drivers for loss of no claims discount at a cost of £10.76 per driver. However, the names of the drivers needed to be confirmed and it was RESOLVED that the matter be put on the agenda of the July council meeting to determine the names of those members to be included in the Certificate of Motor Insurance.
It was further RESOLVED that the information about the council’s insurance cover be circulated to all members for information.
630 Corporate Homicide and Corporate Manslaughter Act 2007
The Clerk submitted correspondence from Zurich Municipal confirming that in line with the Corporate Homicide and Corporate Manslaughter Act 2007, the insurance policy now provides corporate manslaughter defence costs of up to £5 million in any one period of insurance under the Employer’s Liability section of the policy. It was RESOLVED that the report be noted.
631 Risk Assessment
The Clerk submitted a revised risk assessment which she had prepared using the new software. The assessment had thrown up a number of issues which required the Clerk’s attention and it was RESOLVED that the risk assessment be adopted subject to the following matters being addressed: creation of password control on the computer; introduction of monthly back-ups of computer data and the website and finally, that the Chair of the Finance & General Purposes Committee be given a demonstration of the internet banking process in relation to the Council’s accounts with the Co-operative Bank.
632 Audit Matters
a) Internal Audit
The Clerk reported that Torevell Dent had completed the internal audit. It was RESOLVED that the report be noted.
b) External Audit
The Clerk reported that the annual return had been submitted to Mazars, the external auditors, and that the auditors’ report would be issued following the period set aside for public examination of the accounts at the end of August. It was RESOLVED that the report be noted.
633 Report on Grants Awarded in 2007-2008
The Clerk submitted a report on grants awarded during the year under the small grants scheme as well as those awarded without application. Of the 12 grants awarded under the small grants scheme, two had not yet been claimed, but since preparing the report, one of the applicants had submitted a claim. Applicants had up to 12 months from the offer of the grant to claim and the twelve month period had not yet expired.
In addition, the Clerk submitted accounts from the four organisations which had been allocated grants: The Skelmanthorpe & District Chrysanthemum Society, the Textile Heritage Unit, the Denby Dale Parish Accident Prevention Committee and the Denby Dale Parish Environment Trust. It was RESOLVED that the accounts be noted.
The Clerk also submitted correspondence from the Textile Heritage Unit, thanking the Council for the grant received for 2008-2009 and enclosing a letter of thanks from Class PP of St Aidan’s First School following their recent visit to the museum. It was RESOLVED that the report be noted.
634 Funding of Youth Projects
Following the discussion at the May Council meeting, the Clerk submitted a paper giving details of the youth project funding provided by the Parish Council.
a) In January 2003, the Environment Trust had granted £18,000 to Shelley College to distribute equally to projects in Denby Dale, Skelmanthorpe, Emley and Clayton West. The first two projects have been completed and Debby Lumb of Shelley College is continuing to look at projects in the other areas. It was RESOLVED that Debby Lumb be invited to a future meeting of the council
b) In March 2006, a grant of £7,500 was granted to the Clayton West Youth Initiative to fund a facility for young people in Clayton West. Following local discussion, it had been agreed to install a MUGA. Following information received from the Clayton West group, the Clerk had made enquiries and had now established that the Clayton West MUGA was to be 100% funded by the Big Lottery Children’s Play programme. Mary White, Regeneration Manager of the Kirklees Council’s Children and Young People Service which is managing the funding confirmed that the project would proceed without the need for any match funding. It was RESOLVED that the £7,500 grant should be recalled.
c) In March 2006, a grant of £7,500 was granted to YEAST to fund a MUGA for Emley. The group has applied for other funding and is currently hoping that it will be awarded a grant through the landfill tax scheme with the assistance of Andy Wickham, the Countryside Officer. It was RESOLVED that the report be noted and no action be taken
d) In March 2006, a grant of £7,500 was given towards the Skelmanthorpe Skate Park. This project has been concluded. It was RESOLVED that the report be noted.
635 Childcare Allowances
The Clerk submitted a discussion paper on the payment of childcare costs for members attending parish council meetings. She explained that at present, there is no legislation which enables parish councils to pay such an allowance. The most up to date statement on Councillors’ Allowances is contained in YLCA Advice Note 012 “Councillors’ Allowances”, which states the following:
Parish and town councillors are not entitled to claim this allowance under the regulations and yet it is available under the new regulations, for example, to those district councillors with dependant children. The case of Grubb v Price Waterhouse Coopers and Notts CC (28 July 2000, The Times) tested the previous regulations. In that case, the council paid hotel expenses greater than those permitted under the regulations to councillors attending a conference, direct to the hotel. The court held that this was lawful under section 111 Local Government Act 1972 and that the allowances regulations did not constitute an exclusive code. It would follow that the cost of a child carer could be paid direct to the carer (not to the councillor to pass on) if the council had agreed that it was in respect of approved duties.
Allowances paid to Parish and Town Councils are currently set by Kirklees Council’s Remuneration Panel which prefers to have a standard set of allowances paid to all 5 Parish and Town Councils. In view of this, the Clerk explained that if the Parish Council decided to pay a childcare/babysitting allowance, the Remuneration Panel would have to agree the rate. The options open to the Parish Council were twofold:
a) Ask representatives to the South Pennine Branch of the YLCA to raise the matter through the Branch with a view to persuading YLCA to adopt this as policy; and/or
b) Raise the matter with the other parish and town councils and pursue with the Remuneration Panel.
It was RESOLVED that the matter be put to the full council at its meeting in July 2008.
636 Budget 2008-2009
a) Budget Report The Clerk submitted a budget report to 31 May 2008. It was RESOLVED that the report be noted.
b) Budget Reallocation: The Clerk reported that the sum of £3000 had been set aside for payment of an honorarium to Kenneth Haigh. In light of his resignation, she proposed transferring funds to other budget headings. It was RESOLVED to approve the following virements: £800 to a new Training Budget to cover Clerk’s training; £350 to the poop scoop bags budget; £700 to the office equipment budget to pay for a photocopier/printer/scanner. The remaining £1150 to be allocated to reserves.
637 Orders for Payment
It was RESOLVED that Orders for Payment No. 475 totalling £1516.37 be approved.
638 Date of Next Meeting
The next meeting will be held on 18 November 2008 starting at 7.30pm.
639 Exclusion of the Press and Public
It was RESOLVED in terms of Schedule 12, Local Government Act 1972 the following items are likely to disclose exempt information relating to contractual matters and it is therefore RESOLVED that pursuant to the provisions of the Public Bodies (Admissions to Meetings) Act 1960, the press and public be excluded.
640 Council Newsletter
The Clerk submitted Newsletter No. 17. It was RESOLVED that the newsletter be approved subject to amendments to page 2.
Signed………………………………
CHAIR
