AGENDA, MEETING OF THE FINANCE & GENERAL PURPOSES COMMITTEE, 26TH OCTOBER 2009, 7.30PM
Admission of the Public and Media
Members of the Public and Media are welcome to attend in accordance with the Public Bodies (Admission to Meeting) Act 1960
Public Participation
Public Participation will be in accordance with Standing Order No. 11
1. Apologies
2. Declarations of interests. Members are reminded to declare any personal or prejudicial interests they may have on any item on this agenda in accordance with Didcot Town Council’s code of conduct.
3. To receive the SOLL Quarterly Report for Willowbrook Leisure Centre (report attached)
4. To agree the Minutes of the Meeting held on 29th June 2009 (not attached, sent out with Council agenda for 13th July 2009)
5. Questions on the Minutes as to the progress of any item, report attached referring to minute 87 – Financial Statement/Interest on Investments
6. Financial Statement – report attached
7. Estimates for Financial Year 2010/2011 – report attached
8. Notice of Motion referred from Council on 14th September 2009 – report attached
9. Standing Orders, advice from the National Association of Local Councils (NALC) – report attached
10. PCSO Key Performance Indicators and local concerns/issues for the Town Council part funded PCSO – report attached
11. Correspondence
a. Oxfordshire County Council – Didcot Volunteer Centre Car Scheme (attached)
Dominic Stapleton
Town Clerk
20th October 2009
Minutes
244. PRESENT
Councillors:
- Mr P Hayward (Chair)
- Mrs M Davies
- Mrs J Murphy
- Mr B Cooper
- Mr R Hawlor
- Mrs L Hood (until during minute 250)
- Mr B Griffiths
Officer:
- Mr D Stapleton (Town Clerk).
245. APOLOGIES
Mr W Service (Holiday).
246. DECLARATIONS OF INTERESTS
Members were reminded to declare any personal or prejudicial interests they may have on any item on the agenda in accordance with Didcot Town Council’s code of conduct.
(a) Councillor Mr P Hayward declared a personal interest in items 247 and 250 referring to Willowbrook Leisure Centre, as he is a Management Committee Member at Didcot Town Football Club (DTFC) and they have shared use of the centre and lease the land it is built on to the Town Council.
247. RESOLVED that the meeting is adjourned for the next item.
SOLL WILLOWBROOK LEISURE CENTRE QUARTERLY REPORT
The quarterly monitoring report and the accounts figures as at 30th September were circulated and presented by Stuart Mundy, Leisure Centre Duty Manager and Wayne Hawkins, SOLL Contracts Manager.
It was noted that there had been a noticeable increased visibility of the centres activities and obvious signs of effort in improving the services and increasing the opening hours provided.
RESOLVED that the meeting is reconvened.
Following a question and answer session the report was NOTED
248. MINUTES
RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 29th June 2009 are approved and signed as a true and correct record.
Referring to minute 87, it was reported under Standing Order 36(d) that £200,000 had been invested in a 12 month bond with a return of 3%. NOTED
249. FINANCIAL STATEMENT
The following documents were circulated:
a. Detailed income and expenditure budget report as at 30th September 2009.
b. Financial Statement as at 30th September 2009.
Clerks Note: Following discussion on budget code 1761 Travel Tokens, an invoice of £10660 is expected for the current financial year.
NOTED
250. ESTIMATES FOR FINANCIAL YEAR 2010/2011
Councillors Mrs L Hood left the meeting during this item as she was unwell.
a. A report was circulated stating that the Retail Price Index change over the 12 months to September 2009 was -1.4%.
b. SOLL grant request – It was noted that the grant request from SOLL was £69,643 for 2010/2011; with the grant for the current year at £52,500.
RECOMMENDED that the estimates for 2010/11 for the budgets that fall under the competency of this committee remain unchanged from 2009/2010 with the exception of those listed below, and all are submitted for consideration to the budget meeting of this committee on 23rd November 2009:-
a. 1101 Admin Salaries and Wages – to be completed by the Town Clerk/RFO.
b. 1125 Insurance – to be completed by the Town Clerk/RFO.
c. 1301 Salaries OSS – to be completed by the Town Clerk/RFO.
d. 1243 PCSO Funding – Town Clerk/RFO to obtain figure from Thames Valley Police.
e. 1158 Legal & Professional Fees - £2000.
f. 1159 Accounting Support - £4000.
g. 1761 Travel Tokens – Town Clerk/RFO to obtain estimate from SODC.
h. 1764 Civic Hall Revenue Grant - £30000.
i. 1944 Christmas Lights – Town Clerk/RFO to investigate any additional costs with the changes to light bulbs being introduced in 2010.
j. 1941 Building Depreciation Fund – to be completed by the Town Clerk/RFO after a decision is made on the Civic Hall project.
k. 1176 Interest Received - £6000.
251. NOTICE OF MOTION REFERRED FROM COUNCIL ON 14TH SEPTEMBER 2009
The following motion was referred from Council:
“That a working group be set up to consider the future and present role of the Town Council in assisting the development of the town for the benefit of future and present Didcot residents. The working group would review funding, boundaries, relationships with neighbouring parishes, essential and desirable Town Council services and report within twelve months to Finance and General Purposes Committee”
Following discussion:
RECOMMENDED that a working group is set up as in the motion, consisting of 5 members and made up with the following councillors: 3 Conservative, 1 Labour and 1 Liberal Democrat, and that substitutes are permitted.
Clerks Note: Conservative and Labour Group leaders are asked to pass names to the Town Clerk.
252. STANDING ORDERS (SOs) REVIEW
It was reported that following advice received earlier in the year from the National Association of Local Councils (NALC), two issues referred to SOs:
a. clarification of the circumstances in which a point of order maybe called, and
b. To consider tightening up SOs, such as what is meant by improper language.
It was explained that the last review was completed in February 2007 and as part of considering the above advice, it was an opportunity to complete a full review during the current council.
Following discussion:
RECOMMENDED that a working group is set up to complete of full review of Standing Orders, which includes Financial Regulations, and that the group consists of 5 members and made up with the following councillors: 3 Conservative, 1 Labour and 1 Liberal Democrat, and that substitutes are permitted.
Clerks Note: Conservative and Labour Group leaders are asked to pass names to the Town Clerk.
253. PCSO SUMMARY REPORT
The PCSO Key Performance Indicators summary report for 2008/2009 was circulated. Members were disappointed at the number of contacts (64) with Didcot Town and Parish Councils.
Members were also deeply concerned with the decrease in the number of PCSOs in Didcot from 8 to 5, and therefore that the Town Council part funded PCSO was being utilised as one of the regular PCSOs and not an additional resource as understood by members when funding was agreed.
Members asked for a meeting with Martin Jubb from Thames Valley Police (TVP) which the Town Clerk is to arrange, and for a copy of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the PCSO part funded agreement.
With the above actions, the report was NOTED
254. CORRESPONDENCE
(a) Oxfordshire County Council (OCC) – Didcot Volunteer Centre (DVC) Car Scheme
OCC had been approached to provide a new funding stream for the DVC Car Scheme, and sort Didcot Town Council’s view on the justification for OCC support and any benefits from the service.
Members agreed unanimously that the DVC car scheme is an incredibly valuable resource, asset and service which provide great assistance and help to its users that, at present, no other service can offer.
RECOMMEND that a reply is sent with the above information.
Clerks Note: Deadline for a reply is 13th November 2009
The Meeting commenced at 7.30pm and closed at 9.15pm
Chair
