MELBOURN PARISH COUNCIL MINUTES
Minutes of the Finance and General Purposes Committee
held on Monday 14th January, 2013 at the Parish Office,
Melbourn Village College, The Moor commencing at 7.15pm.
Present: Cllrs. M.Townsend (Vice-Chair) I. Bloomfield, R. Gatward, J. Hales, M. Sherwen, C.Stead and P. Simmonett.
In attendance: The Clerk, Cllr V.Barrett and 1 member of the public
F&G26/12 Apologies for absence: Cllrs. Crosby and Mowatt
F&G27/12 Declarations of Pecuniary and Non-Pecuniary Interests: None
F&G28/12 Minutes of the meeting held on 5th November, 2012: It was proposed by Cllr. Gatward seconded by Cllr Sherwen and agreed that the minutes were a true record of the meeting.
F&G29/12 Matters arising: F&G21/12: No action on Little Hands Nursery. The Clerk to write to arrange a meeting between the owner and representatives of the council to discuss some outstanding issues.
F&G20/12: Every councillor to receive copies of all minutes.
ACTION: The Clerk
F&G30/12 To receive a report on Income and Expenditure: All committee members were given a print-out of Income and Expenditure which covered the period up to December, 2012.
The Clerk explained that part of the cost for the demolition of the garages and the erection of the fence at the rear of the car park is going to be reclaimed from SCDC.
Cllr Sherwen pointed out that part of the rent from Little Hands Nursery has always been ear-marked for repairs.
ACTION: The Clerk
F&G31/12 To consider the Precept for 2013/14: This item was moved to the end of the agenda as some aspects needed to be held in camera whilst some could be discussed in open session and it was felt that in order not to inconvenience the member of the public in attendance, the committee should consider it at the end and them exclude the member of the public for aspects relating to staffing.
F&G32/12 Correspondence: None
F&G33/12 To consider any review of Standing Orders: The Clerk suggested an amendment to Clause 44 of the Standing Orders> The present wording to be deleted and replaced by the words: ‘Every committee shall elect a Chairman and Vice-Chairman at the Annual Meeting who shall hold office until the next Annual Meeting of the council’ IT WAS PROPOSED BY CLLR SIMMONETT AND SECONDED BY CLLR HALES THAT THE PROPOSED AMENDMENT BE APPROVED. This was CARRIED with one member abstaining.
Amendments were proposed to 42 (f) to read ‘Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the other committees…’; 42(g) to read ‘5 consecutive years…’;
42(h) delete the present wording and insert to read ‘Each member of the council shall be a member of a minimum of 3 committees of the Parish Council with the exception of Finance and General Purposes. This not including the provision of Clause 43’ These were accepted by the committee as it represented a tidying up of existing practices.
Amendments were proposed to 75(b) c(ii) & c(iii) to read ‘his/her’ to comply with Equal Opportunities.
Amendments were proposed to 75 (b) to read ‘£750 excluding VAT’; c(i) to read ‘£3,000 excluding VAT’; c(ii) to read ‘£3,000 and up to £8,000 prior approval of the responsible committee will be required subject to a minimum 70% attendance at the meeting at which such expenditure is approved’; c(iii) to read ‘£8,000 excluding VAT prior approval of the Parish Council will be required subject to a minimum 70% attendance at the meeting at which such expenditure is approved’. These amendments were accepted by the committee.
F&G34/12 Urgent matters: None
F&G31/12 To consider the Precept for 2013/14
The Clerk presented his Report together with the spreadsheet prepared by Cllr Hales. The Clerk took the committee through all the Cost Centre Headings and the Budget Headings within those Cost Centres. After discussions after each cost centre, the committee accepted the report which proposed an overall Precept of £176,734.00.
[At this point in the meeting, it was proposed by Cllr Hales, seconded by Cllr Bloomfield that items regarding council staff be considered in camera. This was approved. The member of the public left the meeting]
There being no other business the Chairman closed the meeting at 9.58pm