1 October 2024 - Finance Committee
Minutes of the Ruskington Parish Council Finance Committee meeting on Tuesday 1 October 2024 at 7pm at Ruskington Parish Office.
Present: Cllr O Ditch, Cllr C Bain, Cllr S Cotter
Also present: Kirsty Sinclair (Deputy Clerk & RFO), Kathryn Locke (Clerk to Council)
Apologies: Cllr G Cox, Cllr Trolley
No members of the public or press were present.
The Chairman opened the meeting at 7.12pm and welcomed the delegates.
1. To elect a Chairman for the remainder of the civic year.
Action: The Committee RESOLVED to elect Cllr Ditch as the Chairman on the Finance Cttee for the remainder of the civic year. Proposed by Cllr Bain, seconded by Cllr Cotter and approved unanimously.
2. To receive and accept apologies where valid reasons for absence have been given to the Parish Clerk prior to the meeting.
Cllr Cox and Cllr Trolley were unable to attend the meeting and had sent valid apologies.
Action: The Committee RESOLVED to accept the apologies from Cllr Cox and Cllr Trolley. Proposed by Cllr Cotter, seconded by Cllr Bain and approved unanimously.
3. To receive declarations of interest and to consider applications for dispensations in relation to DPIs.
Cllr Cotter declared an interest in agenda items 12,13 and 14, below, as she was related to a member of staff. Cllr Cotter would be required to leave the meeting whilst these agenda items were discussed and would not be able to vote. It was noted that the meeting would not then be quorate, and the agenda items in Closed Session would need to be deferred to another meeting.
4. To approve as a correct record the notes of the last meeting held on 16 January 2024.
Action: The Committee RESOLVED to approve the notes of the meeting as accurate Minutes. Proposed by Cllr Bain, seconded by Cllr Ditch and approved unanimously.
5. To review the accounts and schedule of reserves at the mid-point of the financial year. (Information circulated prior to the meeting and displayed on the screen at the meeting.)
The RFO explained that Council was working slightly under budget, but reserves were extremely low. The accounts were discussed in detail and the RFO answered questions. The high cost of the water bill was queried and the reasons for this were to be explored. Ways to increase reserves were also considered.
Action: The RFO to produce a summary of the accounts for the next meeting, and ways to increase the reserves were to be considered by the Committee.
6. To review the annual investment strategy.
Action: The Committee RESOLVED to recommend the investment strategy to Council with no amendments. Proposed by Cllr Ditch, seconded by Cllr Bain and approved unanimously.
7. To consider the grant applications from community groups and make recommendations to the Council.
Council had allocated a total of £1,000 for grants for 2024-2025. One application had been received and the information had been circulated prior to the meeting.
7.1. Ruskington Short Mat Bowls Club
The application was detailed and included all the information requested. The Committee noted that the club provided an opportunity for residents to get together to enjoy a recreational activity.
Action: The Committee RESOLVED to recommend to Council that a grant of £250.00 be awarded to the Short Mat Bowls Club, and the remaining £750.00 to be allocated to reserves. The Club were to be encouraged to apply again in 2025. Proposed by Cllr Ditch, seconded by Cllr Bain and approved unanimously.
8. To consider the fees for 2025-2026 for the following, for recommending to Council.
The sports fees for the current year had been circulated prior to the meeting and were discussed at length, including the planned improvements for the facilities.
8.1. Hire of Pavilion, MUGA, playing field and changing room hire by sports teams.
Action: The Committee RESOLVED to recommend to the Council that the fees remained unchanged for FY 2025-2026. Proposed by Cllr Bain, seconded by Cllr Cotter and approved unanimously.
a. Hire of Pavilion, pavilion kitchen and pitches by the Ruskington Lions JFC.
Action: The Committee RESOLVED to recommend to Council that the fees be increased from £1,500 to £1,600 for FY 2025-2026. Proposed by Cllr Ditch, seconded by Cllr Bain and approved unanimously.
b. Hire of the changing rooms and a football pitch by Ruskington Athletic FC.
Action: The Committee RESOLVED to recommend to Council that the fees be increased from £500.00 to £600.00 for FY 2025-2026. Proposed by Cllr Bain, seconded by Cllr Cotter and approved unanimously.
c. Hire/ use of the sports facilities for non-sporting activities.
Action: The Committee RESOLVED to recommend to Council that the fees remained the same as in FY 2024-2025. There would be no charge for charities to use the facilities. The facilities to be promoted for use. Proposed by Cllr Ditch, seconded by Cllr Cotter and approved unanimously.
8.2. To consider the fees for the cemetery for FY 2025-2026 as recommended by the Estate Management and Planning Committee.
Action: Council had RESOLVED to increase the fees for the cemetery by the cost of inflation at its meeting on 10 September 2024, as recommended by the Estate Management and Planning Committee.
8.3. To consider the allotment fees for FY 2025-2026.
The allotments and fees were discussed at length and questions were raised regarding the hire of a skip, the waiting list and allotment holders having more than one plot when there was a waiting list. The RFO and Clerk explained that second and subsequent plots were only allocated when plots were vacant or had been allocated historically; items were being fly-tipped at the allotments which the Council had to remove, and the compost bins were being misused. There were currently four people on the waiting list and six plots were being returned. The misuse of the waiting lists was also discussed as it was known that non-residents were using their connections within the village to acquire an allotment, and residents wanting a second or additional plot were putting family members on the waiting list for a first allotment, to speed up their allocation of their second plot.
Action: The Committee RESOLVED to recommend to Council an increase in the allotment fees from £25.00 per annum to £30.00 per annum for FY 2025-2026. Proposed by Cllr Ditch, seconded by Cllr Bain and approved unanimously.
a. To consider introducing a deposit of £50.00 per plot for allotment holders with more than one plot.
The rationale for this was discussed.
Action: The Committee RESOLVED to recommend to Council the introduction of a £50.00 deposit per plot. Proposed by Cllr Cotter, seconded by Cllr Ditch and approved unanimously.
9. To consider the expenditure for publishing quarterly Signpost newsletters. (This had no budget in FY 2024-2025.)
Action: The Committee RESOLVED to recommend to Council that a budget of £1,400 be allocated for the quarterly Signpost newsletters, but this would be reviewed during the setting of the precept. Proposed by Cllr Ditch, seconded by Cllr Cotter and approved unanimously.
10. To consider the budget requirements for FY2025-2026 based on the Council’s action plan and requests for projects and equipment from committees.
A three-year action plan had been circulated prior to the meeting, listing projects already underway, or previously agreed, their costs where known, and the statutory powers for the expenditure. The Environment Caretaker had submitted a list of environment projects for the Committee and Council to consider. Not all committees had met to agree projects or equipment required for the following financial year.
Action: Costings and timings for projects to be confirmed for informing the budget and precept setting. The requirement to include a budget line for incurring reserves was also to be considered.
11. To resolve whether to exclude the public and press, in accordance with the Public Bodies (Admissions to Meetings) Act 1960, to discuss the staffing matters below.
At this point in the meeting, Cllr Cotter was required to leave the meeting following her declaration of interest in agenda items 12 and 13 below. The Committee was no longer quorate, and the meeting was required to close. Agenda items 12, 13, and 14, below, were deferred for consideration at another meeting. The date for the next meeting was to be confirmed.
The Chairman closed the meeting at 9pm.
12. To consider recommendations from the HR Cttee regarding staff pay for FY 2025-2026.
13. To consider recommendations from the HR Cttee regarding staff pensions for FY 2025-2026.
14. To adjust the budget as required to include any financial recommendations from the staff wages and pension resolutions, above, for recommending to Council.
15. To agree the date for the next Finance Committee meeting.