FINANCE AND POLICY COMMITTEE MEETING

Lytchett Matravers Parish Council

MINUTES of the Meeting held on 8th August 2016 in the Methodist Church, Wareham Rd, Lytchett Matravers at 7:00 p.m.

PRESENT: Cllrs K Norris, A Bush, M Colvey, J Gracey, P Webb, and the Parish Clerk (Mr T Watton).

1. APOLOGIES. Cllr C Wood

2. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

There was none.

3. Declarations of Pecuniary Interest; and consideration of requests for Special Dispensations under Section 33 of the Localism Act 2011.

There was none.

4. MINUTES OF THE MEETING on 13th June 2016 were ACCEPTED as a true record.

5. MATTERS ARISING

Minute 12, 6th June 2011. Security of council papers & records. It was noted that one Council minute book is still with Cllr Bush, who is currently making an electronic copy. Carried forward.

Minute 9, 13th June 2016, response to consultation on proposed NHS service provision changes. Cllr Norris reminded those present that a response will be prepared by him and Cllr Gracey and submitted before the consultation closes in the Autumn. He has already provided an update to the resident who raised the matter during “public participation” at an earlier council meeting. DISCHARGED.

Minute 10, 13th June 2016, Club Hall alteration to toilet facilities to make them suitable for the disabled. It was noted that Cllr Norris has looked into this matter and the possibility of available funding. As the Council is not undertaking other major works at Club Hall it was decided not to go ahead with this project. DISCHARGED.

Minute 15, 13th June 2016, replacement of noticeboard between the Library and the Pharmacy. In the light of the work done by Cllr Gracey to improve the condition of the existing noticeboard, it was determined that it does not currently need to be replaced. Thanks were reiterated to Cllr Gracey for the excellent job she has done on this. DISCHARGED.

6. Receipt of LATEST 2016/17 bank reconciliation and accounts.

The Parish Clerk referred to the bank reconciliation and accounts update which had been circulated to all members prior to this meeting. It was resolved to RECOMMEND acceptance of the Bank Reconciliation and Accounts update as attached at Appendix 1 to these minutes.

7. Review of the terms of the Council’s Grants policy – with particular attention to the requirements regarding submission date and the supporting information.

A review was undertaken of each of the individual terms and conditions within the existing policy. Proposals were made to alter the submission deadline for applications to 31st May, and that the Council will then consider these at its July meeting each year. It was also decided to remove the option to consider applications for grants to organisations who operate commercially; but to retain the condition allowing flexibility for applications received outside of the normal deadline period to be considered. It is RECOMMENDED to Full Council to accept the revised policy as attached at Appendix 2 to these minutes.

8. Consideration of “Discretions Statement” in relation to Local Government Pension Scheme.

The committee considered each of the statements in the DCC template document and agreed to RECOMMEND as a policy for adoption the version attached at Appendix 3 to these minutes. In order to assist the decision-making process at Full Council, Cllr Bush offered to prepare a plain English commentary.

14. FINANCE AND POLICY RELATED CORRESPONDENCE

There was none.

15. MATTERS OF INTEREST AND INFORMATION RELATED TO FINANCE AND POLICY

Cllr Colvey took the opportunity to reflect on the potential future challenge for the Council arising from the anticipated changes at District and County level – particularly with regards to possible increases in volume and complexity of workload as a result of devolution of services to Parish level. He noted three threads of challenge: (i) maintenance of existing Parish Council services and responsibilities, (ii) the development of future one-off projects, (iii) the national trend towards devolution of services to Parish level. He suggested some preparation work in response to this:

(a) A tour of the existing Council facilities and estate for new / newer council members.

(b) Setting up a one-off working group meeting of all council members, with some external input, to take place during the autumn. The purpose of this event is to do some forward planning.

With regards to item (b) above it was agreed to RECOMMEND to Full Council that it sets a ceiling of up to £600 expenditure for this event.

Cllr Wood had forwarded a proposal that the council consider formally registering the former RBL club as a “village asset” – thus enabling the possibility of a bid to acquire it, if it becomes available within suitable terms. In order to further inform council consideration of this, Cllr Webb indicated that he would seek clarification with an agent about the status of the building.

Cllr Bush verified with the Parish Clerk that the current outstanding invoice to the Sports Club for rental of the land on which the Sports Club Pavilion stands relates to 2016. It was further clarified that the Sports Club had not paid the land rental for 2015, so the Parish Clerk is to prepare a further in voice for this. Action: Parish Clerk to prepare the 2015 invoice accordingly.

There being no further business, the Chairman closed the meeting at 20:25

Annotated by/on …………………………. Approved by/on ………………………

FinanceMinutes160808 Appendix3 (LGPS Discretions Policy – LMPC2016).pdf
Finance Minutes 160808 Appendix1 (Bank Reconciliation).xlsx
Finance Minutes 160808 Appendix2 (proposed revised Policy for grants).doc

Minutes of Finance & Policy Committee meeting 8th August 2016