COOKHAM   PARISH   COUNCIL

 Minutes of a Meeting of the

 FINANCE & GENERAL PURPOSES COMMITTEE

PRESENT:            M. Wellman (Chairman)

Cllrs: P. Brockwell, M. Coker, S. Fairlie, G. Harris, R. Piercey

and H.J. Woodbridge.

1.                  APOLOGIES AND DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST: Apologies were received from Cllrs Barnes, Prichard and Stretton. There were no Declarations of Interest.

2.                  REVIEW OF DRAFT ACCOUNTS IN LAST FINANCIAL YEAR 2004/5: The Chairman confirmed that there was approx. £50,381.38 in the bank account at the end of the financial year. Once the reserved funds of £15,200 had been subtracted, this left a total of  £35,181.38. He said the accounts were high for a variety of reasons which would be seen in the individual committees. Basically our income was higher and our expenditure slightly down on the previous year.

Cllr H.J. Woodbridge requested that the Reserve Funds should be called the Strategic Reserve Funds in the future. This was AGREED.

The Chairman then went through the draft final accounts for the 04-05 financial year. One major expenditure item that had not been received by the end of the financial year was the Office Maintenance bill from RBWM. The bill was now in the office but was queried due to Cookham Parish Council being charged business rates. Cllr Fairlie queried the cost of the Xmas Trees and the Chairman reminded the Finance Committee that £800 had to be taken from the total as Michael Shanley’s contribution towards the lights for the tree at Cookham village. The other reason the Xmas trees were over budget was due to the disputed installation and taking down costs from SEC – a topic that had been spoken about in detail at previous meetings. Cllr Woodbridge queried the cost of the RBWM Summer Scheme and was reminded that the Scheme was funded by the £1,000 “Grand in the Hand” grant from RBWM along with £500 from Cookham Youth Project.

The Chairman noted that the income had increased over the year and the income from burials had more than doubled from £6,180 to £12,228. Cllr Coker queried the £300 received from the Environment Agency – this was reimbursement for the removable locking gate-post on the Causeway to allow the commoners to cut the grass.

In the light of the excess funds, it was AGREED to add two sums to the Strategic Reserve Funds: £500 for Office Maintenance and £1500 for Light and Energy. The Chairman also wished to create three new Strategic Reserve Funds : £1,000 for Picnic Seats on the Alfred Major; £5,000 for edging the footpaths at the Cemetery; and £1,200 for new Street-Lighting. This would add £9,200 to the total Strategic Reserve Funds and bring the Bank Account down from £35,181 to £25,981 at the start of the new financial year.                                                                                                               

3.            REVIEW THIS YEAR’S BUDGET 2005-2006: The Chairman mentioned several things to be aware of throughout the year: Office Maintenance may need to be increased by £500; the Summer Scheme would cost us £500 again and repairs and maintenance of Cemetery Cottage may need an extra £500 in the budget. The grass cutting on the Alfred Major may need more funds along with the Regular Clearance. The Chairman also said he would try to find more money for projects, particularly the cemetery. Cllr Brockwell said she would try to get some firm figures for the paths.

4.         TO REVIEW CONTRACT FOR CEMETERY COTTAGE: The last agreement on the Cottage was dated 26^th July 2002 although the Parish Council had reviewed the rent regularly. It was noted that the market trend was down at the moment. The Chairman proposed that the agreement was kept unaltered for another year. This as seconded by Cllr Woodbridge and AGREED unanimously. The Clerk would write to the tenants to notify them of this decision.

5.         TO APPROVE ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION RENEWALS FOR 2005: The Committee reviewed the annual batch of subscription renewals. The most expensive was the BALC/NALC at £735.90. It was AGREED to renew this subscription despite the problems that the Clerk was having with their advice recently. It was felt that this was the only Association that Councillors can turn to independently of using the Clerk – and as such should be retained. Other subscriptions agreed for renewal were: CPRE at £25. It was agreed not to renew the subscription to LAANC. The Parish was on the edge of the area most affected and the Parish Councils nearer to Heathrow regularly reported back via the Borough and DALC meetings.  It was also AGREED to join the Community Council for Berkshire (CCB) as they may be able to help us with the forthcoming Parish Plan.

6.                  TO APPROVE THE NEW CONDITIONS OF SERVICE FOR CLERKS OF LOCAL COUNCILS IMPLEMENTED BY NALC AND SLCC AND TO AGREE A PROFILE FOR COOKHAM PARISH COUNCIL AND A TEMPORARY SCP SALARY FOR THE CLERK FROM APRIL 2005: NALC and SLCC have negotiated a new National Agreement on terms and conditions of employment for Clerks and other officers of town, parish and community councils. This agreement replaces the agreement established in 1996 and was adopted on 1^st January 2005 with implementation approved from 1^st April 2005. The main provisions of the Agreement include: a new basis for calculating salary – replacing the former population-based scales with new salary ranges based on evaluated benchmark posts; a new model contract; a guide to Good Employment Practice and a mechanism for individual evaluation through joint evaluators using the Local Government Job Evaluation Scheme.

The Committee members had been sent a copy of the four different profiles used to establish the salary scales. It was AGREED that Cookham Parish Council most resembled Profile 2 (Small or medium Parish) with elements of Profile 3 (Large parish/small town). It was also agreed that an independent adjudicator would be needed to assess the Clerk’s duties and the appropriate points awarded to her work load. After much discussion it was proposed by Cllr Woodbridge and seconded by Cllr Fairlie to put the Clerk temporarily on the lowest salary scale for Profile 2 at £20, 295. This would then be adjusted if necessary later in the year after the assessment was complete.

The meeting ended at 8.50pm.