Extraordinary Meeting Minutes 7 February 2024

1/0702. RECEIVE ANY DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Age UK - Cllr R. Butler.
Birklands School Board of Governors - Cllr G. Simpson.
Christmas Smile - Cllrs K. Hardy, D. Scaysbrook and K. Bonsall.
Finance & General-Purpose Working Party - Cllrs K. Hardy, D. Scaysbrook, A. Burgin, R. Butler and K. Bonsall.
Friends of the Earth - Cllrs R. Butler and K. Hardy.
Friends of the Carrs - Cllr A. Burgin.
Friends of Warsop Vale CIC Director - Cllr A. Burgin.
Green Party member - Cllr R. Butler.
Labour Party member - Cllrs A. Wetton, A. Burgin, J. Stephenson and D. Hughes.
MDC Planning Committee - Cllrs A. Wetton and J. Stephenson.
Meden Medical Services PPG - Cllr K. Bonsall.
Meden Vale Colts FC - Cllr A. Wetton.
School Board of Governors (Eastlands & Netherfield) - Cllr G. Simpson.
Sports 4 Kidz - Cllr G. Simpson.
Staffing Working Party - Cllrs K. Hardy, D. Scaysbrook, A. Burgin, R. Butler and K. Bonsall.
Swallows Green - Cllr D. Barlow.
Vibrant Warsop Subcontractor - Cllr P. Dackombe.
Warsop Youth Club - Cllr G. Simpson.
WPC Room Hire (Ferocious Dog) - Cllr K. Bonsall.

2/0702. APOLOGIES

Cllrs K. Bonsall (holiday), A. Wetton (MDC) (work), P. Dackombe (work) and G. Simpson (work).

Cllr Wetton was disappointed that the meeting was held on a Wednesday rather than a Monday.

3/0702. TO REVIEW AND DISCUSS THE 2024-25 BUDGETS AND MAKE A DECISION ON THE PRECEPT

The Chairperson opened the meeting and asked that detailed minutes are recorded for this meeting. The meeting will also be recorded.

The Chairperson stated that a balanced budget for 2024-25 will need to be set before agreeing on any precept increase and the council should consider that the cuts at Mansfield District Council will impact the Parish Council. Those budget cuts at MDC are affecting Warsop Carnival, Christmas lamp post lights, Warsop toilets and Citizens Advice Bureau. The asset transfer of the Town Hall has stalled slightly due to the building’s EPC G rating. A G rating would stop the new owners from hiring out rooms, which is an essential part of their business plan. They are seeking more information on how to increase the rating, but the council needs to consider that the building may need to return to MDC should the asset transfer fall through.

The council considered the expenditure budget for 2024-25 and reviewed each item.

Rent – there were 3 different rental options for consideration that included two for the Town Hall and one for separate premises in the parish. Cllrs discussed what storage the council required and a conversation about the market stalls ensued. Some Cllrs were inclined to sell the market stalls and others suggested they be kept for future use. It was considered that a storage container could be stored in the Parish Council’s car park, but security was raised as an issue.

RESOLVED: The council agreed that the rental budget would be £10,700. The council would be hiring the council chambers and office 26.

Payroll (£50,000), S137 (£8,000) and professional fee’s (£ 7,150) budget figures were unchanged.

Training – Cllrs Scaysbrook and Barlow reflected on the past 5 years’ figures for this budget pot and accepted that £500 would be sufficient. Cllr Burgin and the Chairperson proposed that the budget should increase to £700 with Cllr Burgin commenting that council staff aren’t provided with enough training. A vote took place with a majority of 4-2 with 1 abstention. However, due to the overall budget not balancing, the council suggested it should go back to the original £500.

RESOLVED: The council agreed to a training budget of £500.

Churchyard – A reduction in the number of grass cuts was suggested but the majority of Cllrs were against lowering the standard of work. The council receives lots of positive feedback from the public about the local company who undertake the maintenance works.

RESOLVED: The council agreed to £4,000 for the budget.

The War Memorial (£100) and Chairpersons allowance (£0.00) were unchanged from option 1. Admin costs were increased to £4,000, which includes a new quote for cheaper phones and broadband. Car park maintenance (£2,000) will stay unchanged as well as the car park rates (£600).

CAB – The cost of the CAB surgery for 2024-25 has increased to £6,600 and there would be a £70 room hire charge once a week.

Another organisation secured £5,000 funding for a Freedom service which is similar to CAB.

District Councillors were frustrated with the way the information has been portrayed by Mansfield CAB with regard to the funding from Mansfield District Council. Cllr Burgin suggested paying for Freedom rather than CAB as they offer more than CAB and would be less money. Cllr Barlow stated CAB was a widely recognised organisation and would support a way to keep the CAB service open. Cllr Stephenson said as part of his job, they refer people to CAB. The Vice-Cairperson suggested holding the surgery once a fortnight.

RESOLVED: The CAB budget will stay as £5,000 and will either support a Freedom surgery or a CAB surgery with reduced hours.

Parish projects (£15,000) stayed unchanged.

Christmas lamp post lights – due to the Parish Councils current financial position, it was agreed that this item be removed from the budget.

RESOLVED: The council agreed to remove the Christmas lamp post light from the budget.

Storage – this was mainly discussed under rent, but a decision was made on the amount. A lot of different locations around the parish were discussed. The suggested storage was at Warsop Enterprise Centre on Burns Lane.

RESOLVED: The council agreed to £2,000 for storage with the hope that an alternative solution can be found. Possibly speaking to local businesses with land who may be willing to offer competitive rates for storage hire.

Room hire – this would have only applied to the option of hiring offices at Warsop Enterprise Centre.

Warsop Parish News - many options were explored by Cllrs but in the end an overall figure was agreed along with the option of working alongside another local organisation.

RESOLVED: The council agreed to £6,032 for Warsop Parish News. Parish Council staff will seek ways of working with local groups who may be able to source some funding. The income figure for WPN would be removed due to working with a charity.

Contingency fund – the Clerk suggested that any remaining money on the 1st April be transferred to this budget and the reserves account be used to increase this if required.

RESOLVED: The council agreed to transfer any remaining money on the 1st April to this budget and the reserves account be used to increase this if required.

RESOLVED: The budget for 2024-25 was thoroughly discussed and agreed by the council.

The council moved on to discussions about increasing the precept to keep Warsop public toilets open. The council started an informal survey to collect public feedback on whether residents in the parish would accept an increase on their precept to stop the toilets from closing. The feedback was as follows –
Facebook – 74% in favour of an increase
Local businesses – 95% however this information showed a biased way of presenting the information to the public
Age Concern – the 200 names collected would be counted as a petition due to the no option being crossed out.

Cllr Butler shared his concerns regarding the closure of the toilets and the impact that will have for Age Concern and its users. He stated that without the toilets, Age Concern would close.

Cllr Stephenson said that the coffee shops/cafes had expressed a concern about the viability of them continuing. The loss of the toilet could impact on their customers. Boyes confirmed that they have a lot of customers asking to use their toilet and they direct people to the public ones.

Cllrs Burgin and Hughes gave some information from their time canvassing. There was some support on the doorsteps for an increase in the precept to keep the toilets open with examples being given by a driving instructor and members of a walking group on how useful those public toilets are in their lives.

Cllr Barlow questioned why this decision had come about from MDC and how the £9,000 costings had been calculated. She is aware of complaints that there are no toilet facilities on the local parks and that these public toilets do provide a valued service. Cllr Barlow questioned whether Mansfield Woodhouse toilets would re-open if MDC found the finances as she feels this would be unfair on the people of the parish.

The Chairperson stated she has questioned the figures presented by officers at MDC and believed the figures had been created from a shared budget. They suggested that the costs for this could continue to increase, and her concern was that as each quarter passes, their figures could show a clearer picture of what is actually being used on the toilets meaning they could come back to the parish council for more funds throughout the year.

The Vice-Chairperson proposed that communication is made with the Mayor, but the service level remains as it is (Status Quo) currently.

Cllr Burgin proposed an amendment to the Vice-Chairpersons proposal. He proposed the council write to the Mayor informing him that the Parish Council have £9,322.63 for the toilets to be kept open 6 days a week for 48 hours minimum. The Parish Council will review this decision in 12 months.

RESOLVED: The council agreed to write to the Mayor informing him that the Parish Council have £9,322.63 for the toilets to be kept open 6 days a week for 48 hours minimum. The Parish Council will review this decision in 12 months.

4/0702. CLOSE MEETING

The Chairperson closed the meeting at 8.46pm.