Finance and Administration Meeting 23rd May 2024

Present:           Cllrs C Hainsworth, E O’Neill & A Bouvie and the Clerk S Grant in attendance.

Appointment of Chairperson - Councillor Cllr E O’Neill agreed to act as Chairperson.

Appointment of Vice Chairperson - Cllr C Hainsworth proposed Cllr A Bouvie seconded by Cllr E O’Neill to act as Vice Chairperson.

Approved and submitted to the Parish Council 7th November 2023. Minute ref; 2023.115

Approved and submitted to the Parish Council 5th March 2024 minute ref 2023.173.4 Agreed to recommend amending Regulation 6.17 ‘Instructions For the Making of Payments’ to the value of £500 in line with regulation 4.5 ‘Budgetary Control and Authority to Spend’ of £500.

Reconciliation of the yearly accounts were submitted by the Clerk for scrutiny.

These were reconciled to 31 March 2024:

Approved and submitted to Parish Council Meeting 7th May 2024

Bank Balances at 31/03/24.

•           Community Account £10,135.28

•           Community Savings Account £50,616.34

•           Total £ 60,751.62

•           Less unpresented payments at 31/03/2024 of £4,926.82

•           Add unpresented receipts at 31/03/2023 of £468.05

•           = Total of £56,292.85

Receipts for 2023/2024 = £62,495.01 Excl VAT

Payments for 2023/2024 = £68,299.90 Excl VAT

Leaving a deficit of £5,804.89 taking into account unpresented payments and receipts at 31/03/2024.

Increase on payments for 2023/2024 mainly due to the following: -

Accumulative budgeted payments £53,999.90 actual payments £68,299.90. Difference mainly due to: -

•           £6,450.00 payment for 3 x Vehicle Activated signs.

•           £3,588.40 Third Party Contribution for the War Memorial FCC Grant

•           £500.00 Grant to Friends of Colsterworth C of E School towards a shed.

•           Minimum wage increase from for 2023/2024 and the Clerks NALC salary increment October 2023 backdated to 01/04/2023

Increase on receipts for 2023/2024 mainly due to the following.

1.         Accumulative budgeted receipts of £53,999.90 actual receipts £62,495.01. Receipts difference mainly due to: -

• Transfer from General/Savings account of £2,062.84 & £5,677.16 (Ear Marked Reserves) = £7,740 net amount £6,450.00) (To purchase 3 x vehicle activated signs)

Also, Grant Income Received of: -

•           £3,000.00 from Colsterworth Festival of Remembrance (CFoR) contribution to the FCC Third Party Contribution.

•           £1,200.00 from SKDC Prosperity Fund for tree assessment on the Nature Trail £5,324.49.          

•           £1,124.49 from SKDC Community Coronation Fund.

1. SCRIBE Summary Report including % +/- under/overspend produced to full Council monthly and uploaded to the website.

2. Account balances as at 23/05/2024 provided by the Clerk: -

• Colsterworth Parish Council Charitable Account £24,988.46
• Colsterworth BMM Account £51,248.37
• Resolved to transfer £15,000 from the Charitable Account to the BMM Account.

1. External Audit Auditor’s Report and Certificate 2022/2023 – No findings or recommendations.

2. External Annual Governance and Accountability Return (AGAR) 2023-2024 approved and signed at the PC Meeting 07th May 2024. Submitted to PKF Littlejohn Auditors 10/05/2024.

3. The following Policies were reviewed and updated: -

CAD Standing Orders – No changes.

CAD Financial Regulations – See Agenda item 4 for recommended amendments.

CAD Code of Conduct – No changes.

CAD Communications – No changes.

CAD Social Media Policy – Parish Council Website Address included at ‘Approved Social Media’ section.

4. Recommend adopting the following Policies: -

Draft CAD Training and Development Policy – Deferred to the next F&A Meeting.

Draft CAD Working Group Terms Of Reference (TOR) – Agreed  

5. Unanimously Agreed to authorise a Debit Card linked to the HSBC Colsterworth Parish Council Charitable Bank Account for the Clerk to purchase items for the Parish Council and annual subscriptions such as McAffee Protection, Office 365, LCN Email hosting. Council.

F&A Regulations Section 6.17: “Any Debit Card issued for use will be specifically restricted to the Clerk and will also be restricted to a single transaction maximum value of [£500] unless authorised by council or finance committee in writing before any order is placed.”

6. Internal Audit Recommendations: -

• Governance

Suggest Terms of Reference are put in place for any Working Groups. Implemented

• Transparency

Suggest Internal Auditors Reports are published to website once agreed and approved by Council. Implemented.

• Income Control

Strongly recommend that a debit or credit card is provided to the Clerk/RFO for use when making purchases to negate the need for the Clerk to use personal cards/funds for purchasing. More and more businesses will not now raise invoices and need payment at the point of ordering. Agreed at agenda item 6.4.

• Asset Control

The Clerk/RFO maintains an excellent Asset Register and is to be complimented.

Recommend that the Clerk attends the Play Equipment Course provided through LALC to give credibility to the play equipment inspections. The Clerk to attend the Play Equipment Training Course.

• General

Suggest Council investigate the Local Council Award Scheme. The Clerk to investigate the registration/application criteria and associated costs.

• Proper Process/Practice

Suggest that a list of payments to be approved at Council meetings is available through the Agenda (listed or as an attachment) to enable residents to be able to view payments to be approved at meetings. Considered and agreed to keep the current process.

Recommend all councillors should have and use, a dedicated email address to ensure that should a forensic examination of Council become necessary (for whatever reason), personal information/emails etc are not available to an examiner. Agreed to encourage all Cllrs to use the dedicated Parish Council email address.

• Payroll and HR

Training record viewed however, suggest that a Training Policy is put in place. Deferred to the next F&A Meeting see agenda item 6.3.

Annual appraisals for two community cleaners conducted by Clerk/RFO.

Clerk/RFO is Line Managed by Finance and Administration Committee however suggest that Chair withdraws from any Line Management of Clerk/RFO. However, the apparent good working relationship should be maintained. Considered and agreed to continue with the current process through the F&A Committee. This will be reviewed if the F&A Committee membership changes.

1. Risk Register - Uploaded to the website monthly and working towards green.

2. Asset Register Uploaded to the website – The Clerk has reviewed the asset register with the insurance schedule to ensure that all assets as recorded are appropriately insured or “self-insured” by the Authority. The asset register is provided for the Insurance Company and on Section 9 of Section 2 of the AGAR Accounting Statement. 

3. Parish Online Annual Subscription of £136.00 – Recommended to renew the annual subscription from 1st June 2024 when the free subscription through Clear Councils Insurance expires.

This was reviewed and recommended to amend the reserves as follows: -

• Neighbourhood Plan – Increase from £2,000 to £4,000.
• Brick Bus Shelter Upgrade – Remove of £1,000.  No project taken forward.
• Office Equipment Upgrade – To include set up costs and compliance with Display Screen Assessment (DSE).
• Defibrillators – Include £1,000 for a replacement Defibrillator. Two defibrillators are out of the 10 year warranty and the other 3 units will expire their warranty within the next 18 months. Current replacement cost for like for a like unit is £995.00 + vat including battery and pads.

The Clerk to further investigate the ownership, responsibility and maintenance of the car park at Little Legs Nursery.

The Chair closed the meeting at 8.57pm. Date and time of next meeting to be confirmed.