STORRINGTON & SULLINGTON PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of the Meeting of the Finance and Budget Committee held in the Chanctonbury Room, Sullington Parish Hall, Thakeham Road, Storrington, on Monday, 21st November, 2007, commencing at 7.00 p.m.

Present: Mr. R. Dawe in the Chair, Mr. A. Head, Mr. C. Mason, Mr. A. Mullard, Mrs. L. Wheatley and Mrs. A. Worthington-Leese.

19.    Apologies for Absence were received from Mr. J. Sanson (holiday).  The reason for absence was duly APPROVED.

20.    To Receive Declarations of Interest from Members.  There were no declarations of interest from Members.

21.    To Approve and Sign the Minutes of the last Meeting held on the 18th June, 2007.   These minutes were duly AGREED to be a correct record of the proceedings thereat and were signed by the Chairman.

22.    Matters Arising :-

(a)    Minute No. 6: Storrington Parish Church.  H.D.C., were to make safe the headstones in most urgent need.

(b)    Minute No. 12: Out-Turn Report.  The heading ‘hedges and fences’ should be changed to ‘fences’ and the hedges element should be accounted to the Grounds Maintenance section as of the next financial year.

(c)    Minute No. 18: Undulations in the Football Pitch.  To-date no monies had been paid to Edburtons in respect of the drainage works to the football pitch.

23.    To Consider the Year to Date v. Budget and Provisional 2008-9 Budget.  Some Members expressed concerns about the presentation of the report and felt that there was a need for a list of key items that needed to have tight budgetary controls over.  They would prefer a set of figures that they could understand.  It was wondered whether certain categories could be re-examined.  Mrs. Wheatley Proposed and it was AGREED :-

    That there should be an additional column showing the variance between the six month actual and budget.

24.    Insurance.  The Hampshire County Association had negotiated insurance cover for town and parish councils with Norwich Union via Came & Co., Insurance Brokers.  Councils that have gone down this route have saved around 15% compared with Zurich and AON plus the fact that public liability cover of £10 million comes at no extra cost.  It was AGREED :- 

The Clerk should obtain a comparative quotation from this company when the current contract with AON was due for renewal, i.e., completion of the 5-year period agreed to.

25.    Sussex Associations of Local Councils Annual Subscription Renewal, 2008/09.  SALC had written explaining the proposed increase in subscriptions which would now be 22p per elector for SALC and 0.0493p per elector for NALC.  A ceiling of £1,500 had been set for the largest councils and unfortunately this Council was one of those.  This was NOTED and AGREED. 

26.    Report from Clerk re: Treasury Reserve Account.  The Clerk had circulated a copy of her report prior to the meeting.  A total of £4,022.36 interest had been received so far this financial year.  This was duly NOTED.
   
27.    To Consider the Bank Reconciliations for July, August and September.  These were duly NOTED.

28.    To Consider the Draft Working Group Report on Office Accommodation.  Mr. Head explained the draft report.  This presented the implications of the available options to enable a way forward to be decided.  There were a number of options, including building another pod on the outside of the building, but there seemed to be two practical options :-

(i)    To utilize the Skylight Room – this was the cheapest option but has poor access.  It would provide more space, but separates the office team.

(ii)    A combined open play office in the right location would be accessible and provide opportunities for staff flexibility.  Making use of part of the corridor to the kitchen would add cost, but provide useful extra space, however, there were structural difficulties.  It would be possible to get rid of the two ‘V’ shapes either side of the entrance door, which would create more space.

It was considered that the current situation was a totally unsatisfactory situation for staff to work in.  Overall it was recommended that the internal alternations to the building were most acceptable.   It was AGREED :-

    This topic should be placed on the agenda for next week’s Council Meeting in order to decide what to do.

29.    To Consider Request from Storrington & District Museum Society for a Grant for the Coming Year.  It was AGREED :-

A letter had been written to Cllr. Mrs. Liz Kitchen, Leader of H.D.C., stating that the Council understood that £330,000 was spent on Horsham Museum and therefore wondering whether they could possibly spare say £1,500 for the Storrington Museum.  It had been pointed out to her that this was the Storrington and District Museum that covered Pulborough, West Chiltington, Ashington and Amberley and not just Storrington.

30.    Chairman’s Announcements.  There were no announcements.

There being no further business the meeting closed at 8.00 p.m.