Minutes of the Ruskington Parish Council Office Relocation Committee meeting held on Monday 20 September 2021 at Ruskington Parish Office.

Present: Cllr Tonge, Cllr Ditch, Cllr Cunningham,

Also present:  Kathryn Locke (Clerk), Kirsty Sinclair (Deputy Clerk & RFO)

Apologies: Cllr Conway (Chairman of the Committee), Cllr White

No members of the public were present.

As the Chairman of the Committee was not present at the meeting, it was agreed for Cllr Tonge as Vice-Chairman of the Council to lead the meeting.

1. Apologies for absence.

Cllr Conway and Cllr White were not present at the meeting and their reasons of absence were known.

Action: The Committee RESOLVED to accept Cllr Conway and Cllr White’s valid reasons for absence. Proposed by Cllr Cunningham, seconded by Cllr Ditch and approved unanimously.

2. To receive Declarations of Interest under the Localism Act 2011.

None were declared at this time.

3. To approve as a correct record the notes of the last Office Relocation Committee meeting held remotely on Monday 16 February 2021.

Action: The Committee RESOLVED to accept the notes of the meeting as Minutes and an accurate record. Proposed by Cllr Cunningham, seconded by Cllr Tonge and approved with two for and one abstention.

4. Expenditure to date.

In financial year 2021-2022, £649.00 had been spent on 2 storage cabinets for the parish office. Total expenditure was £7,486.44.

5. To receive an update on the application for borrowing approval.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government had approved the borrowing approval application for £260,000 for Ruskington Parish Council to purchase a property to use as a parish office on 31 August 2021.

6. To consider the best source of funding to purchase the property to be used as a parish office. (Public Works Loan Board (PWLB) or North Kesteven District Council (NKDC) for recommending to Council.

Information had been circulated prior to the meeting. On the date on this meeting, NKDC offered the best interest rate, the money would remain in the area, and there were no overpayment or early repayment fees. Interest rates for the PWLB loan fluctuated and would not be known until the day the application was approved.

Action: The Committee RESOLVED to recommend to Council that the NKDC provided the best source of funding. Proposed by Cllr Cunningham, seconded by Cllr Tonge and approved unanimously.

7. To consider the term of the loan repayments based on the latest interest information available. (25 years or 30 years)

Action: The Committee RESOLVED to recommend to Council that a lending term of 25 years be considered. This would save approx. £13,000 over the term of the loan. Overpayments and early repayments could be made with the NKDC loan, with no financial penalty.

8. To review the funding agreement received from NKDC and consider seeking legal advice to confirm the agreement is satisfactory.  (Approx. cost £250.00.)

NKDC had sent a lease agreement on request for borrowing application information.

Action: The Committee RESOLVED to seek legal advice for the NKDC loan agreement. Proposed by Cllr Cunningham, seconded by Cllr Tonge and approved unanimously.

9. To resolve whether to exclude the public and press, in accordance with the Public Bodies (Admissions to Meetings) Act 1960, to discuss the following legal matters.

The Chairman closed the meeting at 12.20pm. As no members of the public or press were present, the Chairman re- opened the meeting at 12.20pm.

Action: The Committee RESOLVED to exclude the public and press to discuss the following legal matter.

10.  To receive an update on the continuation of the lease until the property can be purchased.

A lease for a further 12 months had been legally agreed, commenced in July 2021 and replicated the original lease. This would end as soon as the purchase of the property was completed.

The Chairman closed the meeting at 12.30pm.