FPPC November 2022 Minutes
DEEPING ST JAMES PARISH COUNCIL
The Institute, 38 Church Street, Deeping St James, PE6 8EP
E-mail: clerk@dsjpc.co.uk
Tel: 01778 343266
Webpage: //deeping-st-james.parish.lincolnshire.gov.uk Facebook: Deeping St James Parish Council
Parish Clerk: Julie Fortnum
The minutes of the Finance, Policy and Personnel Committee meeting held in the meeting room at the Institute 38 Church Street Deeping St James PE6 8HD at 7.45pm on Tuesday 15 November 2022.
Present: Councillors Bowell, Halls, Olson, Shinkins-Hoppe and Stevens. The minutes were taken by the Parish Clerk
23.33 To receive apologies of absence.
Apologies had been received and were accepted from Councillors Gilbert and Hosking
23.34 To receive any declarations of interest. No declarations were received.
23.35 To adopt the minutes of the previous meeting held on Thursday 11 October 2022. These were agreed and signed.
23.36 To receive the Clerk’s report.
-The Clerk has contacted Barclays and obtained paperwork which has been completed signed and returned in order to amend the bank mandate.
A further letter has been received from Barclays confirming
-After representatives from Deeping St James Parish Council attended the Lincolnshire Association of Local Councils AGM and conference Churches Charities and Local Authorities Investment Management Limited provided some information about their public sector deposit fund which they felt may be of interest to Deeping St James Parish Council. Councillor Bowell requested that this was included on a future agenda for further discussion.
-The first provisions of the Charities Act 2022 are coming into force in Autumn 2022. For more information, please follow the link Charities Act 2022: information about the changes being introduced - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
-After obtaining a reinstatement assessment for the Village Cross and lock-up the Insurers have agreed to add the additional risk to the Parish Council’s insurance at an increase to the premium of £36.94
23.37 To receive an update on the Parish Council’s current financial position.
The bank balance as at 8 November 2022 of £260,844.31including general reserves of £50,020.11 and earmark reserves of £73,550.00 was noted.
23.38 To receive and consider reports on the Parish Council’s income and expenditure from 1 April 2022 to date.
The contents of the reports were noted.
It was RESOLVED to defer standing orders and amend the order of the agenda so that the budget setting items could be discussed next.
23.40 To receive and consider the 2023/24 budget recommendations from the Allotments committee held on 13 October 2022.
Councillor Halls confirmed that the Allotments Committee had agreed a budget however after some discussion it was agreed to amend it to the following
|
EXPENDITURE |
||
|
Item |
Budget |
Notes |
|
Grounds Maintenance (Skip, hedge, repairs to tanks, water bill etc) |
2,750.00 |
|
|
Allotment Improvements (Roadway) |
3,000.00 |
£2,000 from 2022/23 moved to earmarked reserves which already has £1000 in it. |
|
Allotment Association Membership Fees |
550.00 |
|
|
INCOME |
||
|
Item |
Budget |
Notes |
|
Allotment Fees |
4,000.00 |
|
|
Allotment Association Membership Fees |
550.00 |
What is collected will be paid over to DSJ Allotment Association |
23.41 To continue (following on from the meeting held on 11 October 2022) to consider all non-committee budget headings for 2023/24 in preparation for precept setting.
Councillor Bowell advised that most of what was agreed at last months meeting however staffing costs needed to be addressed as did a budget for vehicle purchase/hire and maintenance. It was agreed to increase the staffing cost centre (B) budget by £7580.00 and to include a budget of £10,000 for vehicle costs.
It was also agreed that the recruitment budget (304) should be doubled from £200 to £400 in order for an advert to be issued promoting the elections in May 2023.
It was also agreed that the community events budget (303) should also be increased from
£2700 to £3700 to allow a sufficient funds to be available to hold an event to mark the Coronation of King Charles III
A RECOMMENDATION would also be made to full council create a Chairperson’s allowance budget of £100 to cover items that the Parish Council did not have the power or duty to provide such as gifts and cards to individuals to mark significant events (retirement, ill health, loss of a loved one, etc)
23.39 To receive and consider information regarding fuel card services.
Councillor Bowell advised that he had read all the information provided and felt that it was a good idea for the Parish Council to obtain at least one fuel card. This would be even more important if the Parish Council resolved to lease or purchase a vehicle for the maintenance team to use. The Clerk confirmed that she had completed and forwarded an application form and was awaiting a reply
23.42 To receive the updated Parish Council’s action plan and agree any further additions. It was agreed that this document was acceptable to move forward with.
Councillor Stevens asked for further information behind the suggestion of reinstating the Councillor’s surgeries. Councillor Halls said that the idea was to investigate holing open mornings at the Institute where the parishioners could meet with Councillors and find out more about what the Parish council do. It was suggested that this could be promoted in the next newsletter along the May 2023 elections.
23.43 To receive the revised pay scales after the National Association of Local Councils has been notified by the Local Government Association that it has come to an agreement on the 2022/23 pay offer with the unions representing local government employees.
The Clerk confirmed that the Payroll Provider had been advised of these salary amendments and would process them in the November salary payments.
23.44 To agree the date of the next meeting – 7.45pm Tuesday 14 February 2023 however an extraordinary meeting will be called in either December 2022 or January 2023 to finalise the budget and agreed a precept figure to recommend to Council on Tuesday 17 January 2023.