Minutes of the meeting of
the Resources & Policy Committee held via Zoom on Wednesday 13th
January 2021 at 19:30.
PRESENT:
Councillor T. Wiltshire
– Chairman
Councillor J. Percival
– Vice Chairman
Councillor L. Brandon
Councillor J. Brennan
Councillor M.
Eames-Petersen
Councillor C. Juggins
ALSO PRESENT:
Councillor B. Zhaveri
1 member of the public
OFFICERS:
C. Lloyd (Town Clerk)
S. Frake (Head of
Operations)
33.
APOLOGIES
There
were no apologies for absence.
34.
QUESTIONS
There
were no questions.
35.
DECLARATIONS
OF INTEREST
There
were none
36.
MINUTES
Minutes
of the meeting held on 14th October 2020 were approved and will be signed
by the Chairman when possible.
37.
ACTIONS
FROM PREVIOUS MEETINGS
Members noted the actions from
previous meetings.
|
DATE
OF MEETING |
ACTION |
BY
WHOM |
|
6th
July 2020 |
Tree
planting report
(to Sport & Leisure Cttee following Tree Survey) |
Head
of Estates Report
to future S&L Committee |
|
20th
August 2020 |
Call
deHavilland Grange Working Group. Suggested
date 20th October. Action
changed from Cllr Eames-Petersen to Town Clerk on 3rd September. Town
Clerk emailed Working Group Members 4th Sept with suggested date. Councillors
met on 19th October. Cllr
Eames-Petersen is to draft a letter to invite a few select Members of the
public to the next meeting. Date
of next meeting 30th Nov 2020 – Cancelled Rescheduled
for Feb 2021 |
Cllr
Eames-Petersen |
|
3rd
Sept 2020 |
Change
to Terms of Reference. Document
amendment. Accessible
document created and sent to Website owner for upload to Website on 4th
September. |
Town
Clerk Completed |
|
3rd
Sept 2020 |
Contact
Allotment Association regarding rent increase in 2021. Meeting
held in October. Positive outcome and
better understanding of roles achieved. |
Town
Clerk/Office Manager Completed |
|
3rd
Sept 2020 |
(i) Officers
look at the other revenue streams in a considered order and present the
findings to future Resources & Policy meetings in confidential session
due to the commercial sensitivity of the information; and (ii)
Officers look at the decrease in revenue at Birchwood
Leisure Centre and if this continued how long the Town Council could support
it and present the findings to future
Resources & Policy meetings in confidential session due to the commercial
sensitivity of the information. |
Head
of Operations reporting to next Committee – 9th Dec 2020 or poss.
23 Dec 2020 depending when information streams come on line. |
|
14th
Oct 2020 |
HR
Services Partnership be engaged to provide up to 5 hours’ advice or training
to Councillors. |
Head
of Operations Official
Purchase Order signed and emailed to HR Services Partnership 15/10/2020 -
Completed |
|
14th
Oct 2020 |
Staff
Gift Policy |
Gift
purchased for Janice Upson and presented to her 4th Nov. -
Completed |
|
14th
Oct 2020 |
Requests
for Land Acquisitions |
Requesters
advised that the Council do not wish to dispose of their land. Leader
of the Council moved that this be reconsidered in light of 2021/22
budget. Seconded by the Chairman. RECOMMENDED that this item be reconsidered at
a future meeting in accordance with Standing Order 7. |
|
14th
Oct 2020 |
Head
of Operations to define tipping point that the losses become significant
enough that a change is required and build a contingency plan for how this
will be handled to ensure that the Council manage the impact e.g. reducing
the Council’s Leisure Centre offering and opening times. |
Head
of Operations reporting to next Committee – 9th Dec 2020 or poss.
23 Dec 2020 depending when information streams come on line. This
is on-going. |
38.
DRAFT
BUDGET 2021/22
Members
considered the 3 proposed budgets. The
Head of Operations undertook to look into any grants available for Howe Dell
Hall whilst it was closed in the current lockdown and ways in which the Council
could ensure that it was no longer liable for Business Rates if the building
was being used for educational purposes.
All Members undertook to
consider options for community offerings and potential cost saving measures in
the future.
Proposed
Councillor Juggins and by seconded by Councillor Brennan that that a precept of
£900,951 be recommended to Council on 20th January 2021.
Councillor
Brandon requested a recorded vote;
Councillor
T. Wiltshire – in favour
Councillor
J. Percival – in favour
Councillor
L. Brandon - against
Councillor
J. Brennan – in favour
Councillor
M. Eames-Petersen – in favour
Councillor
C. Juggins – in favour
Councillor
B. Zhaveri indicated that if she were a member she would have voted against.
The
motion was CARRIED.
RECOMMENDED
TO COUNCIL that a precept of £900,951 be approved (3.5% increase at Band D).
|
2021/22 |
|||
|
BUDGET HEAD |
Income |
Expenditure |
Net
|
|
DEMOCRATIC |
£0 |
£6,700 |
-£6,700 |
|
CENTRAL |
£0 |
£251,716 |
-£251,716 |
|
EVENTS |
£0 |
£4,300 |
-£4,300 |
|
ALLOTMENTS |
£3,000 |
£2,250 |
£750 |
|
BIRCHWOOD |
£182,050 |
£369,115 |
-£187,065 |
|
ESTATES |
£0 |
£329,568 |
-£329,568 |
|
HOWE
DELL |
£0 |
£2,330 |
-£2,330 |
|
LEMSFORD |
£22,313 |
£19,749 |
£2,564 |
|
NEWGATE
STREET |
£150 |
£1,900 |
-£1,750 |
|
OXLEASE
HOUSE |
£0 |
£6,097 |
-£6,097 |
|
ROE
HILL |
£24,550 |
£32,288 |
-£7,738 |
|
TO
RESERVES |
£0 |
£107,000 |
-£107,000 |
|
£232,063 |
£1,133,013 |
£900,951 |
|
Action: Town Clerk / Head of
Operations / All Members
39.
DATE
OF NEXT MEETING
Noted
that the next meeting of the Committee will take place on 17th February
2021 at 7.30pm.
Closure 8.30pm
----------------------------------
Chairman