F&GP 3 October 2023 report

CHEPPING WYCOMBE PARISH COUNCIL

Finance and General Purposes Committee

Report of the meeting held on Tuesday 3 October 2023 at 7.30pm  at the Council Office, Cock Lane, Tylers Green, High Wycombe Bucks  HP10 8DS

 

The meeting is open to members of the public and press

 

 

Present:                                Cllr I Forbes – Chairman                                   Cllr J Herschel                     

Cllr A Barron – Vice-chairman                         Cllr R Wilks

Cllr L Willis                                                            Cllr C Dodds

                                              Cllr H Darch                                                        Cllr K Wood

                                              Cllr L Webb                                                        Cllr D Johncock (ex-officio)

 

 

FGP/23/001        Apologies for absence

Apologies for absence were received and approved from Cllr Jordan (Ill)

 

FGP/23/002        Declarations of members’ interests in agenda items

A personal interest was declared by Cllr Darch having an expenses cheque 11180 for payment under agenda item 13.

 

The chairman of committee suspended Standing Orders with the agreement of the committee and welcomed a representative from Christ Church, Flackwell Heath to give feedback on the Community Pantry that supports vulnerable people within the ward/parish, with a view to making a further request for funds.

 

FGP/23/003        Ms Hammond presented feedback advising how the funds already given to the Community Pantry had been used and how the project was hoping to proceed in the future.  Links had been made with Helping Hands and One Can Trust, also with St Peter’s Church, Loudwater who were also undertaking similar projects to support vulnerable people within the parish.

 

                                A recommendation would be taken to full Council on 19 October to match the original funding of £5,000.

 

Ms Hammond thanked members and left the meeting at 8.10pm

 

FGP/23/004          Staff Matters

1  Staff Absence Report

Members were asked to receive a verbal report from the clerk on the sickness absence of staff since the last committee meeting in April.

 

The clerk advised that a total of 10 days had been taken off as sick leave by the 3 members of grounds team since the last meeting.

 

FGP/23/005        Health & Safety Report of any incidents

Members were asked to note that there had been one incident since the last committee meeting in April. On 7 July a member of the grounds team turned his right foot while taking a contractor around King’s Wood.

 

FGP/23/006        Policies and Procedures

1  Councillor-Officer Protocol

Members were asked to consider the above policy received and recommended by National Association of Local Councils (NALC) with a view to recommending to full Council for adoption.

 

It was RESOLVED that;

The Councillor-Officer Protocol be recommended to full Council for adoption.

 

2  Financial Regulations

Members were asked to note that the NALC is working with The Parkinson Partnership LLP to update its 2019 Model Financial Regulations for England and Wales and to this end NALC is seeking views on the technical aspects of the regulations.  The submission date is 5 November 2023.

The current Financial Regulations are to be taken to the Informal meeting on 24 October so that comments can be gathered for submission.

 

3  Risk Register

Members are asked to note that the Register will be reviewed on approval of the Councillor-Officer Protocol.  Members will be asked to comment of Risk/Severity and offer suggestions on mitigation.

 

FGP/23/007        Grants

Members were asked to note that the budget line for Grants had been set at £5,000 for the year, an awarded of £2,000 had already been made to Tylers Green Frist School leaving an unused balance of £3,000.

 

Members were asked to consider the following requests;

 

Loudwater Bowls Club – had amended their original request due to being let down by a contractor and having to obtained a further quote for the necessary works.  The revised application was for £1,000.00 grant towards lighting in the clubhouse and a new stopcock. 

 

It was RESOLVED that;

An award of £1,000 be recommended to full Council for approval.

 

Cllr Herschel abstained from the vote.

 

Flackwell Heath Minors FC – the parish council had already awarded £10,000 from CiL towards the car park project; however, the club were now requesting a further £5,000.

 

It was RESOLVED that;

The award should remain at £10,000 and the extra £5,000 be declined.

 

FGP/23/008       Publicity

Members were asked to note that a meeting will be arranged to discuss the content of the next newsletter.  Members of the Publicity Group to be advised.

 

FGP/23/009       Legal

1   Land at Knaves Beech (Hedley Green, Loudwater)

Members were asked to note that the parish council had been approached by Aviva Legal Services on behalf of Aviva Life & Pensions who are the freehold owners of the land.  The parish council has been maintaining this site as a public open space and has a 99 year lease which ends in 2079.

 

It was RESOLVED that;

It was recommended that the clerk to undertake further investigation.

 

Cllr Herschel left the meeting as 8.30pm

 

FGP/23/010       Community Board

Members were asked to note the report from Cllr Barron on any progress with the current projects as attached.

 

Cllr Herschel returned to the meeting at 8.35pm

 

It was noted that the yellow lines in Tylers Green near the schools were still pending.  It was also noted that the Highways Committee were unable to proceed with any new projects this year due to the change in contractor.

 

FGP/23/011       Neighbourhood Action Group (NAG)

Members were asked to note the minutes from the last NAG meeting held on 31 August 2023 along with the report from a meeting held about the future of the mobile vehicle activated signs.

 

It was noted that due to a lack of volunteers to move the MVAS it would be prudent to look at fixed site signs.  An article, however, would be put in the next newsletter updating the parish on the MVAS and asking for volunteers.  It was decided to reconvene the sub-group for further discussion on the way forward.

 

FGP/23/012        Budget

1  Precept Timetable

Members were asked to note that the next cycle of committee meetings would be the start of the new financial year budget setting process.  The committee budgets would be taken to the next Finance & General Purposes committee meeting in November before final approval by full Council on 19 December 2023. 

 

Proposals for this committee need to be with the Clerk by 14 November. This will allow time for any minor changes prior to 30 January when the precept request needs to be with Buckinghamshire Council. 

 

Members were asked to note that the second and final precept payment for this financial year had been received in the bank account on Friday 15 September in the sum of £193,266.16.

 

2  Committee Finances (Period 5) August

Members were asked to note the summary of income and expenditure by committee. 

The clerk highlighted the level of interest already received.

 

3  Council Finances (Period 5) August

Members were asked to note the summary of the Council’s financial position.

 

4   Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL)

Members were asked to note that the budget line for CIL currently stands at £83,590.56; from this

balance £10,000 had been committed to the Flackwell Heath Minors for the car park project.  These

funds are to be used for community benefit and need to be spent within a timeframe as below:

 

£56,171.56           2025/26

£27,419.00           2026/27

 

5  Five Year Plan

Members were asked to receive the amended overview of the likely major funding schemes by the Chairman of committee.

 

It was noted that the MVAS line had been removed, however following on from earlier discussion this may need to be re-instated as a match funding line with the Community Board.

 

FGP/23/013        Questions from council members and the public

There were no questions.

 

FGP/23/014        Accounts for Payment

Accounts for payment were circulated at the meeting for consideration by councillors.

 

It was RESOLVED that;

the accounts for payment be approved and cheques numbered 11175 to 11181 and a BACS payment to Barclays Payflow along with direct debit payments to E-On Next, Grenke and a bank transfer to CoulPoint Group be approved and signed.

 

 

Date and time of next meeting: Thursday 30 November @ 7.30pm

 

 

 

 

Report to F&GP 03/10/2023 on “our” Community Board (BCWCB) by Alec Barron

 

There has been very little activity on the BCWCB over this year. The last meeting attended was on the 28/06/23. This was a general meeting with a few presentations from interested parties.

 

• Community Matters (David Skinner): Talked about potential Heritage sites, and that Bucks was looking for “Brownfield sites” for development to meet housing needs.
• Scam awareness was mentioned – Elderly particularly at risk from telephone scams.
• Play Streets initiative announced following successful trials – allowing Children to play in the street and promote community cohesion! Website to see if your selected street is suitable for such activities!
• Ultrahigh speed broadband is continuing to be rolled out particularly for business!
• Bucks Film Office has a database of land available for filming – a kind of signposting service!
• Environment (Deberah Faraday): Mentioned “Clean up our air initiative” referencing Nitrous Oxide monitoring – 40 micrograms per cubic metre of air is the limit. This is being rolled out to schools as part of the idling engines initiative. (You may have also been aware of our own Councillor D. Johncock photo opportunity at Juniper Hill School).
• Highways and Transport had a mention in relation to verge parking. There are now A5 flyers and posters available for schools to highlight this antisocial activity.
• The last meeting of HAT group was on 19/04/23 and mention was made of new contractors for the County. The handover from one contractor to the other has meant that several projects have been delayed.

Jonathan Walters (Chairman) requested for new ideas to promote the Community Board.

It has been noted that the Environment Group has had little support resulting in some cancellation of meetings.

Similarly, the Welfare Action Group has also had dwindling support.

 

I also attended a Parking meeting with 8 other Unitary Authority attendees including David Johncock.

Alan Cecil of Hazlemere indicated that a lot of time and effort had been spent on yellow / double yellow lines – drivers were still parking on these. There is very limited enforcement!

Julie Rushton has been recruiting to improve the Unitary support for parking issues. There is a requirement for these actions to be self-financing. Of the 380 schools in Bucks, 288 have parking issues.

 

Alec Barron. 21/09/23