Minutes of the Staffing, Finance & General Purposes Committee held in the Mayor’s Parlour, Town Hall, Bideford on Thursday 21 October 2010 at 5.30 pm

 

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PRESENT:

North Ward:

Councillor Ms E L Farrington (Substitute for Mrs P Davies)
Councillor T J Johns

South Ward:

Councillor P J Pester (Town Mayor)
Councillor D M Ratcliff (Chairman)

South Ward (Outer):

Councillor A T Powell

East Ward:

Councillor Mrs C B Church
Councillor R W Vanstone

IN ATTENDANCE:    Mr G B McLauchlan (Town Clerk)
Mr R Coombes (Assistant to the Town Clerk)
3 x Members of the Public

042    APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Councillors S E L Clarke OBE (East Ward – Holiday), A T Inch (South Ward – Holiday) and Mrs P Davies (East Ward – Personal)

043    DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST ON ITEMS ON THE AGENDA

Councillor Mrs Church declared a personal interest in agenda item 5 (Citizens Advice Bureau – Council’s representative, Woodcare – Patient at Wooda Surgery and Bideford Railway Heritage Centre – Owns house in local vicinity).

Councillor Pester declared a personal interest in agenda item 5 (Bideford Amateur Rowing Club – Member and Woodcare – Patient at Wooda Surgery).

Councillor Powell declared a personal interest in agenda item 5 (Bideford 500 – Member and Jigsaw – Client of employer).

Councillor Vanstone – Woodcare – Patient at Wooda Surgery).

044    PUBLIC PARTICIPATION PERIOD

The Chairman and Manager of the Citizens Advice Bureau updated members on the activities and funding of the Bureau.

045    MINUTES – STAFFING, FINANCE & GENERAL PURPOSES COMMITTEE

The Minutes of the meeting held on 16 September 2010 were approved and signed as a correct record.

046    GRANTS TO LOCAL ORGANISATIONS

a.    Copies of the grant applications had been circulated to members with the     agenda.  Members noted the content of the report which is attached and forms     part of these Minutes.

b.    On the motion of Councillor Powell, seconded and:

RESOLVED:  That the Council approves the following amounts     totalling £62,635.00 to be paid by way of a grant for the Financial Year     commencing 1 April 2011 and that in accordance with its powers under     Section 137 of the Local Government Act 1972 should incur further     expenditure in the sum of £7,550.00 which, in the opinion of the     Council, is in the interests of the area or its inhabitants and will benefit     them in a manner commensurate with the expenditure:

£
Army Cadet Force (Bideford Detachment)    500.00
Atlantic Village Tourist Information Centre    1,500.00
Bideford Amateur Boxing Club    2,400.00
Bideford Amateur Rowing Club    3,000.00
Bideford Cricket Club    1,500.00
Bideford & District Community Archive Council    575.00
Bideford Area Club Learning Disabled    160.00
Bideford Buzz Newsletter Group    500.00
Bideford Christmas Committee    5,000.00
Bideford Festival Committee    12,500.00
Bideford Film Society    1,000.00
Bideford 500 Project    8,000.00
Bideford Ladies Club    200.00
Bideford No 1 Branch OAPs    500.00
Bideford Phoenix Morris    100.00
Bideford Pilot Gig    1,000.00
Bideford Railway Heritage Centre    1,500.00
Bideford St John Ambulance    950.00
Bideford 2nd Scout Group    500.00
Bideford Street Pastors    500.00
Bideford Town Band    1,500.00
Bideford Youth Pipe Band    2,500.00
Harbour Bideford    1,000.00
Home-Start Torridge    2,000.00
Kenwith Company of Archers    2,000.00
Port of Bideford Regatta Committee    4,000.00
SWITCH Youth Action Team    3,000.00
Tarka Child Con tact Centre    1,500.00
Torridge Community Transport Association     6,000.00
Torridge, Mid Devon & Bude CAB     2,000.00
Westward Ho! Family Fest    250.00
Wouldcare (Patients Volunteer Group)    750.00
WHA – Grow@Jigsaw    1,800.00

(Councillor Johns left the meeting)

c.    The applications for the Bideford & District Sea Cadets and the Pollyfield Community Association were outside the scope for this type of grant.    Representatives will be invited to a meeting of the Council to give detailed presentations before any decision making contributions are considered.

(Vote – For:  6,  Against:  0)

d.    The Town Clerk advised that he had received a letter from the Town Band requesting the Council to consider increasing its offer by a further £25,000.00     towards the purchase of a new Band building and a further loan of £25,000.00     on terms to be mutually agreed.  It was emphasised that other parties were     interested in purchasing the building.  Proposed by Councillor Ms Farrington,
seconded and

RECOMMENDED:  That the Council increases its grant to £50,000.00 and makes a loan of £25,000.00, subsidised over a specified period of time by way of grant funding.  The terms and conditions to be mutually agreed by both the Council and the Band.

(Vote – For:  6,  Against:  0)

047  ACCOUNTS

a.    Payments for Approval

Proposed by Councillor Powell, seconded and
RESOLVED:  That the list of payments be approved.

(Vote – For:  6,  Against:  0)

b.    External Auditor’s Certificate of Opinion

The members received the External Auditor’s Certificate of Opinion on the     Accounts for the Financial Year 2009/2010.  It was noted that the Council had     not provided evidence that it had carried out a review of the effectiveness of     its internal controls, which supports the assertion in statement 2 of the Annual     Governance Statement (Section 2).  The review of the effectiveness of internal     audit relates to point 6, which the effectiveness of the internal audit carried out at Section 4.  The 2010 Practitioners’ Guide contains guidance on this area.     Two other matters, not affecting the opinion of the External Auditor, but     wished to draw to the Council’s attention was the level of the fidelity guarantee insurance cover and consolidated stock.

Proposed by Councillor Pester seconded and

RESOLVED:  That the External Auditor’s report be noted and that a Working Group is set up with three members from the Committee to review the effectiveness of the Council’s internal audit controls on an     annual basis.

(Vote – For:  6,  Against:  0)

(Councillor Powell left the meeting)

048    ALLOTMENTS - LAND AT HANDY CROSS

The members noted the content of the report which is attached and forms part of these Minutes.  Proposed by Councillor Mrs Church, seconded and

RECOMMENDED:  That the Council accepts the offer of the Bridge Trust.

(Vote – For:  5,  Against:  0)

049    INFORMATION BOARD

The members noted the content of the report which is attached and forms part of these Minutes.  Proposed by Councillor Pester, seconded and

RESOLVED:  That the Council purchases the notice board with funding from the contingency budget.

(Vote – For:  5,  Against:  0)

050    FORD HOUSE WOODLAND

The members noted the content of a letter from Grenco Ltd, which had been distributed with the agenda, regarding the continued slippage of small amounts of falling earth in the vicinity of Ford House.  Proposed by Councillor Ratcliff,  seconded and
RESOLVED:  That the Council seeks technical advice to assess the situation as a matter of urgency.

(Vote – For:  5,  Against:  0)

051    WINTER SERVICE – DEVON HIGHWAYS

Members noted the content of a letter from Devon County Council, which had been distributed with the agenda, regarding precautions being considered for the winter and proposing ways in which towns and parishes could offer assistance.  Proposed by Councillor Ratcliff, seconded and

RESOLVED:  That the Council retains the status quo regarding responsibility for maintaining the road networks during the winter months.

(Vote – For:  5,  Against:  0)

The business of the meeting having been completed, the Chairman thanked the members for their attendance and the meeting concluded at 8.15 pm.