Finance and General Purposes Working Party Meeting Minutes 16 October 2024

1/1610. RECEIVE ANY DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Christmas Smile - Cllrs K. Hardy and K. Bonsall.
Finance & General-Purpose Working Party - Cllrs J. Stephenson, K. Hardy, K. Bonsall, N. McGuiness and P. Dackombe.
Friends of the Earth - Cllr K. Hardy.
Labour Party Member - Cllr J. Stephenson.
Mansfield District Council Planning Committee - Cllr J. Stephenson.
Meden Medical Services PPG - Cllr K. Bonsall.
Staffing Working Party - Cllrs J Stephenson, K. Hardy, K Bonsall, N McGuiness, P Dackombe.
Vibrant Warsop Subcontractor - Cllr P. Dackombe.
Warsop Carnival Committee - Cllrs P. Dackombe, K. Bonsall and J. Stephenson.
WPC Room Hire (Ferocious Dog) - Cllr K. Bonsall.

2/1610. APOLOGIES

Cllr P. Dackombe.

3/1610. REVIEW, DISCUSS AND MAKE RECOMMEND ANY S137 APPLICATIONS

The council received an application from the Christmas Smile Campaign. Cllr Hardy was asked to leave the discussion due to her involvement in the campaign. Members discussed the £1,000 requested and the other funding sources the group would use to try and reach their £5,000 target. This year will be different for the group as the council will no longer be able to provide a suitable base for them and some funding such as Cllrs allowances has been reduced.

4/1610. REVIEW, DISCUSS AND MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS ON THE QUARTERLY BUDGETS

Members viewed the quarterly budgets. As of 31st March, there was £48,228.65 left in the bank that was carried over into the new tax year. The £48,228.65 included some reserves but once they were deducted the council are left with around £17,000 that needs to be earmarked. The following are rough suggestions for the £17,000:

Warsop Toilets - £3,177.37
Emergency noticeboard maintenance fund - £3,000
Christmas event - £2,000
WPN design software/training - £2,000
Christmas lights - £660.38
Contingency fund - £6,000

There is still outstanding refunds of £1,200 to come from electric and around £1,500 from the insurance company.

The Chairperson suggested that some money could be used to top up the s137 funding pot.

Cllr Bonsall suggested that a Christmas event committee be established to help get more people involved. Other members stated that the roles required are those on the day of the event and not the planning stages.

RECOMMENDED: The Clerk is tasked with finding actual figures for the Christmas event and design software/training and the rest of the possible reserves list will be discussed at full council.

5/1610. TO DISCUSS AND MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS ON THE EMAIL FROM MDC FOR FUNDING FOR WARSOP TOILETS FOR 2025/26

Mansfield District Council contacted the Clerk regarding the funding for Warsop toilet. This year the Parish Council paid £9,322.63 towards keeping the toilets open for 2024/25 by raising the precept with MDC paying the remaining £3,177.37. However, MDC have confirmed they will be unable to contribute any monies towards the toilets for 2025/26 and have asked what the Parish Councils intentions are for next year.

RECOMMENDED: The council increase the precept to cover the £3,177.37 that is required to save the toilets from being closed by MDC.

6/1610. TO DISCUSS, REVIEW AND MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS ON THE EMAIL FROM MDC REGARDING THE COST FOR CHRISTMAS LAMPPOST DECORATIONS

Due to MDCs budget cuts from last year, the 12 lamppost Christmas lights will need to be paid for again if the Parish Council want them. The price has gone up slightly from 644.28 to £660.38. The council can finance the 12 lamppost Christmas lights for 2024/25.

RECOMMENDED: The council agree to pay the £660.38 for the lamppost Christmas lights which will compliment the Parish Councils Christmas event.

7/1610. REVIEW, DISCUSS AND RECOMMEND ANY QUOTES FOR WORKS

Lifespring have sent the Parish Council an invoice for £429.52 to cover May and June’s water bill. The Clerk provided evidence that the councils water bill for the year used to be around £700 and informed members that Gemma has spoken to the water company from the middle of March up to the 2nd May. They were unaware of the location of the water meter but confirmed that an engineer visits every 3 months to provide an up-to-date reading. The Clerk recommended that due to the building being transferred on 1st May, this is a matter for Lifespring to resolve.

Cllrs Bonsall and Mcguiness did not take part in the discussion or making the recommendations due to an interest in Lifespring Church.

There were 2 recommendations made:

RECOMMENDATION ONE: The Chairperson recommended that the council should not pay this as the Town Hall was no longer in the council’s possession. The evidence shows the council’s bill for a year is around £700 and Lifespring are asking for above half of that amount for 2 months.

RECOMMENDATION TWO: The Vice-Chairperson recommended that the council ask Lifespring to investigate this matter further. The council can provide them with details from records and come back to the council with an update from their investigation.

8/1610. TO REVIEW, DISCUSS AND MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS ON THE TOWN HALL CHRISTMAS TREE

The order for the High Street Christmas tree needs to be arranged asap and the question arose about the Town Hall Christmas tree. The Clerk explained that the Town Hall Christmas tree is very problematic. The drawings for the tree trunk must be very precise due to the location of the tree being on a balcony. The health and safety risk and insurance cover is no longer there because the Parish Council are no longer owners of the building and weather conditions are becoming worse each year.

Cllrs Bonsall and Mcguiness did not take part in the discussion or making the recommendations due to an interest in Lifespring Church.

RECOMMENDED: The council agree to purchase the High Street tree only.

9/1610. TO REVIEW AND DISCUSS THE EXTERNAL AUDIT

The Clerk apologised to the council for an error she made on the external audit. Section one was not signed by the Clerk. The 3 other matters raised were what the council discussed from the internal audit.

RECOMMENDED: The council accepts the report and amends the errors for next year.

10/1610. TO DISCUSS THE RESIGNATION FROM CLLR BUTLER

Cllr Butler confirmed in writing to the Clerk that he could no longer hold the position of Cllr due to ill health. He thanked everyone he worked with at the council. The Clerk did respond to the initial email and thanked him for his service.

RECOMMENDED: The council accept Cllr Butlers resignation, and the Clerk will write to him officially for his service to the council.

11/1610. TO DISCUSS AND MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS ON MDCS CAR PARK CONSULTATION AND THE PARISH COUNCIL CAR PARK – DEFERRED ITEM

Members discussed the impact of MDCs decision on the Parish Councils car park. Cllr Hardy had surveyed the area and collected data on how the car park is used. The car park is normally always full and there are certain vehicles that are parker there constantly. She had some feedback from the businesses who said they have staff who use the MDC car parks for more than the 4 hours while they are working, and this would impact them.

The Clerk explained that the Parish Council would need to add some signage and information to their car park to cover liability/insurance purposes.

RECOMMENDED: Cllr Hardy will continue to monitor the situation once MDC have enforced their new rules. She will bring the information back to full council. The Clerk will find costings for signage or noticeboards as the computer shop will not allow anything to be attached to their wall.

12/1610. TO DISCUSS AND MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS ON THE RULES FOR THE CLLR SECTIONS ON THE FULL COUNCIL AGENDA – DEFERRED ITEM

The Clerk suggested some rules for the councillor section on the full council agenda to ensure good time keeping is kept and the meeting does not exceed the agreed time as per the standing orders.

• There will be a 2- or 3-minute time limit.
• This item is for update purposes only. There will be no proposals/motions heard under this section.
• Motions/proposals should be submitted to the Clerk within the correct period of time for these to be added to the full council agenda
• Each Cllr will give their own update
• The Chairperson will interject if anything is repeated or not relevant to the agenda item.
• Cllrs can ask questions at the end of the update, but this will be limited by the Chairperson who needs to manage the timings of the meeting.

RECOMMENDED: The council trial this agenda item to give Parish Councillors a chance to give an update on the works they have been undertaking for the Parish Council. The trial will last 6 months. The Chairperson will ask if anyone wants to share an update and then allow each member their turn to speak.

13/1610. TO REVIEW, DISCUSS AND MAKE ANY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE MEMORIAL FOR GLYNN MORRIS

The Clerk explained that the decision made by council was for a memorial tree in the grounds of the council’s car park where there are already trees sited. This was a decision made by council and cannot be changed for 6 months as per council rules. The 6 months’ time period will come to an end after October.

Cllr Bonsall informed members that she has already purchased a tree for £107 and will site it herself, maintain it and clean the mosaic tiles.

The Clerk explained that Cllr Bonsall would be unable to site the bench until the council can be certain that the highways rules are being adhered to, the council insurance isn’t affected and if Cllr Bonsall would require any kind of public liability due to be responsible for the maintenance of the bench. The Chairperson asked Cllr Bonsall not to site the bench until the Clerk had the answers to the above questions. The council would then decide once all information has been obtained.

RECOMMENDED: The Clerk will contact highways and the councils’ insurers to obtain the above information.

14/1610. TO DISCUSS THE REQUEST FROM KHTE FOR FUNDING TOWARDS A DEFIB

KHTE contacted the Clerk to ask for funding towards the box for the outside that will sit on their property. The costings they researched were around £400-£500. The Chairperson stated he had an email from a company who can provide match funding, and this might be the option that the council use to help KHTE with this project.

RECOMMENDED: The Clerk investigates the funding options available and help KHTE achieve their funding that way.

15/1610. TO REVIEW, DISCUSS AND MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS ON THE ONGOING WARSOP PARISH NEWS REVIEW

This was discussed under item 4.

16/1610. TO DISCUSS AN EMERGENCY MAINTENANCE PLAN FOR PARISH NOTICEBOARDS

This was discussed under item 4

17/1610. TO DISCUSS THE SOLICITORS QUOTE FOR THE LEGAL ADVICE ON THE ROOM HIRE LEASE AGREEMENT AT THE TOWN HALL

The Clerk received a quote for the solicitor to review the lease from Lifespring and act on behalf of the council. The quote was £1,500+VAT to 1,750+VAT. The Clerk checked the price with another solicitor, and it was the same price. This was a decision that the Clerk could have gone ahead with as permission was already granted by council and the money was set aside in the relocation fund. Due to the price the Clerk felt it was in the best interest of the council to be aware of this before she agreed to go ahead.

Cllrs Bonsall and Mcguiness did not take part oi the discussion or making the recommendations due to an interest in Lifespring Church.

RECOMMENDED: The council agree to follow its previous decision and seek legal advice for the lease agreement. The money will be used from the relocation budget pot.

18/1610. TO DISCUSS COUNCIL INSURANCE TERMS IN RELATION TO THE REMEMBRANCE EVENT

A copy of the council’s insurance certificate has been provided and an error regarding dual roles has been corrected as per advice from S.A.G. and insurers.

19/1610. TO DISCUSS THE CO-OPTION INTERVIEWS AND PROVIDE A SUMMARY OF THE CANDIDATES

The interview panel were impressed by both candidates and what they could offer to the role of Parish Councillor. The recent resignation of Cllr Butler means the council have another vacancy. A notice to the electorate will be published allowing them to call an election if they wish. If no election is called, then the council can move into co-option.

RECOMMENDED: The interview panel will give a summary of the candidates, and each member can cast their vote as they see fit. The voting will be by a show of hands as per transparency and council rules unless a member of the council proposes a ballet.

20/1610. CLOSE MEETING

The meeting was closed at 9.12pm.

These will be presented to Full Council on Monday 21st October 2024.