Finance and General Purposes Working Party Meeting Minutes 11 May 2022

1/1105. RECEIVE ANY DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Association of Labour Councillors - Cllr A. Burgin.
Big Warsop Partnership - Cllrs A. Burgin and W. Williamson-Cooper.
Birklands School Board of Governors - Cllr W. Williamson-Cooper.
Finance & General-Purpose Working Party - Cllrs D. Barlow, A. Burgin, W. Williamson-Cooper, R. Butler G. Morris and K. Hardy.
Friends of the Earth - Cllrs R. Butler and K. Hardy.
Friends of the Carrs - Cllrs W. Williamson-Cooper & A. Burgin.
Friends of Warsop Vale - Cllr A. Burgin.
Green Party member - Cllr R. Butler.
Let Warsop Speak - Cllrs D. Barlow, K. Hardy & R. Butler.
MDC Tenants Association - Cllr W. Williamson-Cooper.
Save The Town Hall Group - Cllr W. Williamson-Cooper.
Meden Vale Colts FC - Cllr A. Wetton and D. Scaysbrook.
Staffing Working Party - Cllrs D. Barlow, A. Burgin, R. Butler, G. Morris, and W. Williamson-Cooper.
The Rotary Club - Cllr W. Williamson-Cooper.
Warsop Carnival - Cllr W. Williamson-Cooper.
Warsop Food Share - Cllr W. Williamson-Cooper.
Warsop Youth & Community Trustee & Secretary at the Shed - Cllr W. Williamson-Cooper.
Where There’s Hope - Cllr W. Williamson-Cooper.

2/1105. APOLOGIES

Cllr Wayne Williamson-Cooper.

Cllr Morris was absent.

3/1105. RECEIVE AN UPDATE ON RBL, AUDIT, CLEANER, POLICE, INSURANCE VALUATION AND BIG WARSOP - RBL

The Assistant Clerk and I arranged another meeting with Cliff Meredith (RBL Chair) regarding the Remembrance Service and parade. The first meeting involved Cllrs Barlow and Burgin and some suggestions were made and agreed on.
Since that meeting, the Assistant Clerk had received some general information from officers who work for MDCs Safety Advisory Group (SAG). This information would make the agreements from the first meeting void.
The Parish Council will need to make the decisions based upon the advice that is being given and not what has been done in the past or what was originally discussed with Cliff. An example of this would be the car park, it seems the car park will need to be closed because of vehicle and pedestrian traffic merging together and the huge health and safety risks that poses. It has been fully explained to Cliff that the Parish Council will need to make the decisions, but he will be kept updated. Cliff accepted that the Parish Council will need to what is required of them, and the Assistant Clerk will keep him updated and involved at all times.

AUDIT

The audit will take place on 30th May and then the AGAR and any recommendations will be brought to the June meeting for agreement.

CLEANER

The cleaner started a few weeks ago. He seems to have settled in really well and the communication with the cleaning company has been good. The cleaner works Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and cleans all communal areas as well as Parish Council rooms and offices.

POLICE

The PCSO’s and Inspector K Davis have contacted the Parish Council and asked if the council would become a member of the NOTTINGHAMSHIRE KEY INDIVIDUAL NETWORK (KIN). This program is about building relationships and engaging with local communities in tacking issues that are most important to that community.

INSURANCE VALUATION

Barrett Corp Harrington have completed the insurance valuation.

Rebuilding Cost - Cost excluding VAT £1,340,000, Cost including VAT £1,608,000

Demolition & debris removal - Cost excluding VAT £96,000, Cost including VAT £115,000

External Works - Cost excluding VAT £276,000, Cost including VAT £331,000

Professional & other fees - Cost excluding VAT £200,000, Cost including VAT £240,000

Day one reinstatement cost - Cost excluding VAT £1,912,000, Cost including VAT £2,294,000

BIG WARSOP

Michael Smith had been contacted with a list of dates from the Chair to arrange a meeting that he/Big Warsop had requested. He has never responded to the email.

4/1105. DISCUSS AND RECOMMEND THE CARNIVAL’S S137 APPLICATION

The new Chair of Warsop Carnival has submitted the Carnival’s s137 application form. There are issues with the figures that are stated and there is no constitution. Cllrs were a little concern and suggested meeting with the new Chair.

RECOMMENDED: The Clerk is to contact the Carnival Chair and review the application with him.

5/1105. DISCUSS AND RECOMMEND THE MEDEN VALE COLTS S137 APPLICATION

Meden Vale Colts formed in 2019 and have created 18 teams with 300 registered player and 43 coaches. They offer football opportunities to boys, girls, men and women starting from the age of 3 to over 35-year-olds. They have recently received 2 FA accreditations, 1 is to provide paid sessions for girls new to football and 2 is a girl’s squad centre for ages 12-14 years. They are asking for £500 towards a coaching course for all of their coaches. The course is an FA introduction to coaching football plus safeguarding and first aid workshops.

RECOMMENDED: The council accept the application from Meden Vale Colts and grant the £500 funding.

6/1105. DISCUSS AND RECOMMEND SWALLOWS GREEN S137 APPLICATION

The Swallows Green community group are trying to raise funds to install play equipment on the field on Cottage Lane. They will also be the only open space available for the residents of The Oaklands Centre. They are intending to run 5 events throughout 2022/23, 2 dog shows, a Jubilee event, a summer event and a Christmas event and have asked for £500.

RECOMMENDED: The council accept the application from Swallows Green and grant the £500 funding.

7/1105. DISCUSS AND RECOMMEND THE C.R.Y. (CARDIAC RISK IN THE YOUNG FUNDING REQUEST

Anne Siddall contacted the council for some funding towards running cardiac screening sessions. Her daughter passed away at the age of 15 due to a sudden cardiac arrest and now tries to raise funds in her daughter’s name to help stop this happening to another family. The screening session is from 9am to 4pm and they have 3 appointments every 10 minutes. All patients must be aged between 14 and 35 years and they can screen up to 100 people in a day. There will be a session running on Saturday 14th May The council currently have a £12,000 surplus from last years budget that has not been added to the earmarked reserves.
Cllr Barlow stated that the council should consider some funding towards running a session and that Warsop United Charities, Mansfield Mayor and others should be contacted to ask for some joint funding.

RECOMMENDED: The council should defer this item to the next F&GP so the Clerk can contact C.R.Y. to see if any funding that goes directly to the organisation can be used only for the Parish of Warsop. This will give the finance working party time to review the council’s finances which are currently inadequate. The Clerk is to find other local funders who might be willing to help fund another screening session.

8/1105. REVIEW THE CCTV QUOTES AND MAKE A RECOMMENDATION

Clerk contacted a number of electricians for quotes for a new 2 camera system as well as disconnecting the 7 cameras that are connected to the old system. Only 1 electrician came back with a quote. The Clerk stated that it is incredibly difficult to find tradesmen to quote for works the council requires. Cllrs raised a concern regarding the price of one item description and that 2 quotes state different prices.

RECOMMENDED: The Clerk is to contact FS Electrical regarding the discrepancy and then the council are to decide if the Clerk should continue to obtain more quotes.

9/1105. DISCUSS ADDITIONAL STORAGE AT THE TOWN HALL FOR MARKET STALLS AND EVENT EQUIPMENT

The Assistant Clerk asked members to consider some additional storage for the event equipment and the metal market stalls. Currently the event equipment is being stored in the main entrance and room 22 which is a room that will be advertised in the next WPNs for a rental income.

RECOMMENDED: The council should ask Warsop Infotech again if they are using all of the space/rooms that is currently on their rental agreement.

10/1105. DISCUSS DELEGATING POWERS TO THE CLERK AND ASSISTANT CLERK FOR EVENT PLANNING

The Assistant Clerk asked if delegated powers could be transferred to the Clerk and herself for the purpose of buying items for the events that are scheduled as the 3-quote process that must move through council wouldn’t allow the purchase of items within the deadlines.

RECOMMENDED: The council delegate powers to the Clerk and Assistant Clerk for the purchase of items under £1,000. Any purchases should be mentioned to the Chair and Vice-Chair.

11/1105. REVIEW AND DISCUSS THE QUARTERLY AND END OF YEAR BUDGETS

Members discussed the budgets from 2021/22 and raised concerns for this year’s budget.

RECOMMENDED: The council should ask the Clerk to bring the 2022/23 budget to the next F&GP along with information on what is required to make the Town Hall compliant with all building and health and safety regulations.

12/1105. DISCUSS THE COMMUNITY LENGTHSMEN SCHEME EMAIL FROM A HIGHWAYS LIAISON OFFICER

The Clerk received an email from Via East Midlands regarding a Community Lengthsmen Scheme. A lengthsman can tackle include grass and vegetation cutting, ensuring visibility of traffic signs, maintaining heritage and non-illuminated signs, clearing drains, ditches and storm debris, tidying roadsides, painting of traditional signs and ironwork and reporting problems to us. This scheme offers some funding towards employing a lengthsman but the Parish Council would need to pay the remaining costs. This would include payroll, pensions, etc.

RECOMMENDED: The council should seek more information, but Parish Council funds currently wouldn’t allow for this expense.

13/1105. DISCUSS IF THE PARISH COUNCIL ARE CONTINUING WITH THE NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN

The Clerk received an email from Paul Tebbitt who has taken over the role of Team Leader in Mansfield District Councils Planning Policy Team. He asked for an update on the NP. Members agreed it was a good scheme and would benefit Warsop Parish, but the NP is very time consuming and requires committed members to see it through.

RECOMMENDED: The council should decide if it wishes to proceed with the NP.

14/1105. DISCUSS INCREASING THE S137 BUDGET POT AS DISCUSSED AT FULL COUNCIL IN MARCH

This item will be deferred to the June F&GP meeting due to inadequate finances.

15/1105. REVIEW THE PRICE INCREASE EMAIL FROM ACER GROUNDS MAINTENANCE

Acer grounds maintenance have contacted the council about a small increase on the grounds maintenance prices. This is due to the increasing costs of fuel, wages, herbicide, insurances etc. They are asking all their customers this year to increase our prices, just to cover the big rise in their overheads. They propose to increase the price from £165 per visit at the church to £195. The services and specification would remain the same. We propose to increase car park visits from £50 a visit for both to £65.

RECOMMENDED: The council accept the price increases.

16/1105. RECEIVE AN UPDATE ON THE TREE INSPECTION COURSE THE CLERK AND DISCUSS THE OUTCOME

The Clerk recently attended a tree inspection course due to MDC no longer having an arboreal officer. The officer was asked to undertake a tree inspection of the church yard last year but stated that Covid was creating delays. The council also have the responsibility of the trees in the car park on High Street, next to the library. This course does not mean that I become an arboreal officer, but it allows me to undertake tree inspections on behalf of the Parish Council. I will be able to identify if there are any hazards or problems with the trees and seek specialist advice. Most council employees who attended the training have potentially a more cost-effective way of working in relation to tree works. WPC in one year normally have an inspection and then receive quotes to do all the works listed. The other councils will do a tree inspection at least 2 times a year so that they can see the trees in different seasons and photograph this as evidence for monitoring any issues that could arise. They will also schedule an inspection after stormy weather to access an emergency that may have been created. The Clerk asked if the council would like to consider this new way of working which could make a difference to the budget but still follows all rules and regulations the council has to adhere to. The Clerk asked if members would consider paying for a tree inspection on the car park as this hasn’t had an inspection before and would help with future inspections as a map would be provided along with the expert knowledge that a professional can offer.

RECOMMENDED: The council pay for a tree inspection for the car park on High Street next to the library and allow the Clerk to inspect the church yard on a trial basis.

These will be presented to Full Council on Monday 16th May 2022.