Finance and General Purposes Working Party Meeting Minutes 6 March 2025

1/0603. 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, P. Dackombe and S. Sorrell.
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 and P. Dackombe.
Swallows Green - Cllr J. Stephenson.
Vibrant Warsop Subcontractor - Cllr P. Dackombe.
Warsop Carnival Committee - Cllrs P. Dackombe, J. Stephenson and S. Sorrell.
WPC Room Hire (Ferocious Dog) - Cllr K. Bonsall.

The above additions have been made –
Cllr Sorrell – Finance and General-Purpose Working Party
Cllr Sorrell – Warsop Carnival Committee

2/0603. APOLOGIES

Cllr P. Dackombe.

3/0603. DISCUSS THE TREE INSPECTION REPORTS AND ANY QUOTES RECEIVED FOR WORKS

The Clerk informed members that there was one tree in the church yard highlighted a moderate priority and one in the car park that is highlighted as a high priority.

The Clerk has contacted 3 companies for quotes for the works and only 2 have provided quotes so far. The Clerk explained that due to having a tree classed as a high priority she would get on with arranging the works to be completed as soon as possible.

These are the quotes that have been received so far:

Maplebeck Tree Care
Church Yard - £150 +VAT
Car Park - £180 +VAT

Parkin Contractors Ltd
Church Yard - £200 +VAT
Car Park - £350 +VAT

The Clerk will contact Maplebeck for the removal of the dead tree in the car park. The Clerk explained that the church yard tree was more challenging due to the church wall that is quite brittle and potentially has tree roots in and around the wall.. She suggested a site visit with the companies who have quoted for the work.

RECOMMENDED: The Clerk is to contact the companies who have quoted for the works and resolve any issues around the removal of a tree near the church yard wall.

4/0603. DISCUSS AN UPDATE FROM NALC ON CHANGING TO A .GOV.UK DOMAIN NAME

The following topic note from NALC was shared with members:

This advice note was last updated on 19 February 2025 and was issued by the Parish Council Domains Helper Service at the Government Digital Service.

Background
More and more council businesses are being handled online, whether working with each other or with communities. Parish and town councils are expected to have a legitimate and trusted online presence so citizens can find and communicate with them easily. Having a .gov.uk domain supports your community’s expectations.

Best practices
To ensure professionalism, transparency, and compliance in council communications, parish and town councils should follow these best practices:

• The Smaller Authorities Proper Practices Panel (SAPPP) recommends all parish and town councils use .gov.uk emails and websites for council business
• A .gov.uk domain, email, and website help maintain a consistent and professional image and ensure all communications are identifiable as coming from the parish or town council.
• Council-owned email accounts provide a clear record of communications, which is essential for transparency and communication. All councillors should use one for council business.
• Using a .gov.uk domain and email supports data protection compliance and makes managing data subject access requests and freedom of information requests easier.
• Parish and town councils are encouraged to compare the prices, support and services offered by Parish Council Domains Helper Service registrars.

Taking action to comply with guidance
There is comprehensive guidance on moving your parish council to a .gov.uk domain on the .gov.uk website. Set out in easy-to-follow steps, this provides information on:

• Getting parish or town council approval to buy a .gov.uk domain
• Checking the services your parish or town council will need, such as website and emails
• Understanding who can be a registrant
• Choosing a registrar to buy the services your parish or town council needs
• What to do when a new domain is set up
• Who to contact if you need help

Roles
While the parish or town council must decide to move to a .gov.uk domain, it is the clerk’s role to facilitate and manage the move. This is because the clerk is a permanent council staff member, and only they have the authority to complete some of the key steps required, such as being named the domain registrant.

Members discussed the benefits of following the above best practice guidance.

RECOMMENDED: The council follow the best practice advice and ask the Clerk to find information on all Cllrs being able to have a .gov.uk domain name and any costs involved.

5/0603. DISCUSS AN UPDATE FROM NALC ON NI INCREASES THAT WILL APPLY TO THE COUNCIL FROM APRIL

The following topic note from NALC was shared with members:

This advice note explains the impact of the government's changes to national insurance, which parish and town councils should consider when setting their 2025/26 budget.

Change in threshold for employer’s national insurance
Many parish councils will need to budget for employer’s national insurance for the first time when setting their 2025/26 budget. They will have to pay these contributions from 6 April 2025, when the threshold where they become payable falls from £9,100 to £5,000.

Any parish or town council with employees earning more than £5,000 a year (£96 a week or £417 a month) but less than £9,100 a year will become liable for the employer's national insurance from April and will need to register as an employer with HMRC prior to 6 April 2025.

They will also need payroll software (such as HMRC’s Basic PAYE Tools) to calculate the amounts due and submit Real Time Information to HMRC each time the staff are paid.

Any parish or town council with employees earning £9,100 or more will face an additional £615 cost for each of those employees next year just because of the change in threshold. This is in addition to the impact of the rise in the rate of employer’s national insurance and any pay award or increments that may be due.

Budgeting
In addition to the impact of the reduction in the threshold, the employer national insurance contribution rate will increase from 13.8% to 15% of salary from 6 April 2025.

If your parish or town council has a separate budget line for employer’s national insurance, please note that this will require at least an 8.7% increase in that budget (15 divided by 13.8) in addition to the impact of the threshold change, not just a 1.2% rise.

Where an employee earns less than £56,000 a year, the drop in threshold has a bigger impact than the increase in contribution rate from 13.8% to 15%. The drop adds £615 to the bill for every employee earning £9,100 or more, whereas the rise to 15% only adds £371 to the cost of employing somebody on £40,000 a year.

The percentage increase is bigger for lower paid staff. For example, a council with one employee on £9,100 a year will see £615 added to their payroll cost, a 6.75% increase.

Even a small parish or town council with one employee on £6,000 a year will find itself paying employers national insurance of £150, which requires a 2.5% increase in staff budgets. Where someone earns £8,000 a year, £450 would be payable, representing a 5.625% increase in the cost of employing them. These increases are in addition to any pay increase.

Employer's national insurance is still due when an employee is above the state pension age, even if the employee is no longer liable to pay national insurance.

There are calculators available online to help estimate the impact. This is one example, and we can offer no guarantee of accuracy in all cases: Employers NIC Calculator FY 2025/26 UK.

Employees
There are no changes to the contribution rates or thresholds for employees and councils must not deduct the employer’s contribution from employees’ pay.

Most employees below the state pension age pay national insurance of 8% on earnings above £12,570 a year, but parish and town councils must ensure that they use the correct category letter for each person.

Multiple employers
Where two or more parish or town councils employ the same person, national insurance thresholds apply to each employer separately. For example, a clerk working for four different parish and town councils, each paying less than £5,000, would not result in any employer’s national insurance becoming payable.

Tax-exempt payments
Where payments are exempt from tax and national insurance, such as homeworking allowance up to £26 a month or approved mileage payments, these amounts do not count towards the employer's national insurance threshold, and no employer's national insurance is due on them. The government has provided more information on expenses and benefits.

Employment allowance
Local authorities are not currently eligible for the employment allowance, which permits eligible employers to avoid paying the first £5,000 of the employer’s national insurance contributions (rising to £10,500 from April 2025). No parish, town or community council should be claiming this allowance.

The Clerk said that both employees earn over the £9,100 which showed would be an increase of £615 for one employee.

RECOMMENDED: The council will use any money from an underspend or from reserves to cover the payroll budget increase required due to this NI increase.

6/0603. DISCUSS ALL COUNCIL POLICIES

The Clerk listed the current policies in place:

Equality and Inclusion
Subject Access Request Procedure
Records Retention
Data Protection
Data Breach
Parish Councillor update (fairly new item on the agenda)
Publication Scheme
Financial Risk Assessment
Financial Regulations
Asset Register
Standing Orders
Constitution
Members Code of Conduct
Council Meeting Rules
s137 Guidance Policy
The following policies are covered in the employee contracts –
Grievance
Disciplinary
Leave

The Clerk suggested that following policies should be either amended or adopted –
Grievance
Disciplinary
Leave
Appraisals
Dignity at Work
Social Media
Staffing (the Clerk reiterated that these should be a committee)
F&GP (the Clerk reiterated that these should be a committee)
Co-option Process
Risk Assessment

The Vice Chairperson asked for Editorial of WPN to be included. She also asked to work with the Clerk on updating or creating the policies and start bringing a number of them to each meeting.

RECOMMENDED: The Clerk and Vice-Chairperson will start working on the policies and over the next few meetings will bring them all to council for approval.

7/0603. DISCUSS TRAINING COURSES AVAILABLE THAT WOULD BE BENEFICIAL

The Clerk informed members that there were a few courses being run over the year that would be useful to some members. There was a finance for council, VAT and an employment – policies and procedures course. The Clerk asked a member of the council to do the VAT course with her and open the invite to Gemma if she is interested.

RECOMMENDED: The council should agree to all the finance members attending the finance for council course and ask other members of the council if they are interested.

RECOMMENDED: The council agree to the Clerk and a Cllr attending the VAT course with an invite for Gemma if she is interested.

RECOMMENDED: The council agree to Cllrs Hardy, Bonsall, and Mcguiness to attend the employment – policies and procedures course. This is open to other members who are interested as well.

8/0603. DISCUSS THE NEXT EDITION OF WARSOP PARISH NEWS

The Clerk explained that the next edition being planned was 24 pages, but the council had only agreed a budget for 3 8-page editions for 2025-26. A recommendation is required as the design deadline is approaching.

The following was presented to members:

Current Printers
Product: Tabloid Newspaper 360mm x 289mm
Image Area: 330mm x 265mm
Pagination: 24
Paper: 45gsm
Colour: F/C
Finishing: Standard Bundles
Origination Details: Complete PDF files via FTP, Mortons to process direct to plate.
Despatch Details: Delivery via dedicated transport - £120.00
Print Prices: 6,000 Copies, Print: £875.00, Run on/back per 1,000: £64.00

New printer (Previous account manager the council have worked with)
Format: tabloid (finished page size: 352mm x 280mm / image area: 322mm x 250mm)
Quantity: 6,000 copies
Pagination: see below
Grammage: 45gsm std newsprint
Colour: full colour throughout
Delivery: Delivery to one address in Warsop via next day delivery service.

Quotations:

• 12pp tabloid printed to above spec: £597.00
• 24pp tabloid printed to above spec: £771.00
• 28pp tabloid printed to above spec: £829.00

Delivery note:

• Our standard form of delivery is via next day palletways delivery service (i.e. delivery during normal office hours). This would be £90.00 + vat for 1 pallet (all three of the above specifications will fit comfortably on one pallet).

The last edition invoice for printing was –
8 pages £650.00
Delivery £120

Total £770.

Next years budget has been set out as

Printing - £2,667.00
Design - £1,650.00
Delivery - £1,475.64
This covers 3 8-page editions for 2025-26.

Members discussed different options along with producing a paper that is worthwhile for residents. Cllrs Hardy and Sorrell asked for the link to the design software free trial.

RECOMMENDED: The council produce a 16–24-page paper as per the information from Gemma and look at what funds are available in the new financial year to continue with 24-page editions.

9/0603. RECEIVE AN UPDATE ON THE ALLOWANCE FROM CLLR WETTON FOR TOWN CENTRE FLORAL DISPLAYS

The Clerk mentioned that Cllr Wetton had been too specific on his request for the money towards floral displays in the town centre and the council could then agree costs brought forward by Cllr Bonsall for the hanging basket project.

Cllr Bonsall reiterated from the February council meeting that she was still confused about the allowance money and it going through a council bank for a private business.

The Clerk explained again that the money is not for a private business. The money is there to help continue the community project that was originally set up by the private business.

The Clerk declared the owners of JOSONDIL are related to her and that further interactions and communications between the council and JOSONDIL should not involve her to avoid any conflicts.

10/0603. CLOSE MEETING

The meeting was closed at 8.00pm.

These will be presented to Full Council on Monday 17th March 2025.