Minutes of Meetings

Held in the Community Room on Tuesday, 26^thJuly 2005 following the Planning Meeting and Extra-Ordinary Council Meeting commencing at 9.12pm.

In attendance: Andrew Streat (Maidenhead Advertiser) and one member of the public.

The meeting was adjourned at 9.05pm to allow the Extra-Ordinary Planning Council Meeting to take place. The meeting resumed at 9.12pm.

3. TO REVIEW QUERIES FROM BARRIE DANCER’S INTERNAL AUDIT: The Committee reviewed the list provided by Mr Dancer. Most of the queries related to improving the minuting of financial decisions taken at the meeting.

· Future Section137 spend should be clearly indentified and approved by the Full Council. The allowance rose on 1^st April 2005 to £5.30 per electoral head.

· The Clerk’s salary and admin staff salary should be minuted and approved annually in Part II confidential minutes. The last major chance to the Clerk’s salary was embracing the new terms and conditions brought in by SLCC and NALC – this was discussed and approved in April 2005.

· Minutes should confirm annual review of all parish fees. The Council should formally review every fee including rental of the Alfred Major by Cookham Rise Primary School and Cookham Dean Football Club.

· Fidelity Guarantee insurance cover should reflect the year end cash balance plus half the precept. The Chairman proposed increasing the cover as recommended by the Internal Auditor.

· Cheque signatories should be a minimum of two Councillors – the Clerk is a signatory because the bank demands this, but she never signs cheques.

· In future we need to minute when David Armstrong carries out office cover for the Clerk.

4. TO REVIEW 1^ST QUARTER ACCOUNTS FOR CURRENT FINANCIAL YEAR 05-06: The Clerk confirmed that the next set of figures will show the Allotments under the Footpaths & Open Spaces Committee. The Chairman queried the precept and Grant figures which have been affected by the new way of presenting the accounts. The Clerk said she would make the necessary adjustments to incorporate those missing figures. The Chairman also had concerns regarding the budget for the Christmas trees and the RBWM Summer Scheme. The Chairman concluded that the bank account once the reserves had been subtracted remained at around £35,000.

5. TO DISCUSS THE CHARGING OF BUSINESS RATES ON THE PARISH OFFICE: The Chairman was unsure whether this charge was legal. A letter had been sent to Mark Taylor asking them to review the success of the library and to look at other avenues for funding the extra hours. No reply had been received as yet. The Clerk was asked to ring NALC and ask them about the legality of charging a Parish Council for business rates on a Parish Office.

6. TO CONSIDER THE REQUEST FROM ELIZABETH HOUSE FOR FINANCIAL HELP WITH PRUNING SOME TREES: Cllr Woodbridge proposed to pay the bill for Elizabeth House. He said we could claim back the vat which would bring the cost down to £240 and said that the Council did little else to support Elizabeth House apart from the hanging baskets every year. This was seconded by Cllr Brockwell. VOTE: IN FAVOUR = 5, AGAINST = 2.

7. TO CONSIDER HELP FOR COOKHAM’S CHRISTMAS TREES AND LIGHTING: Cllr Prichard said that the Shopkeeper’s Charity Shopping afternoon was a well supported event that raised over £5,000 for local charities last year. Continued support by providing their Christmas Tree was always appreciated. It was agreed to look for other quotes for installing the lights rather than paying such a large amount to SEC. The Chairman had also arranged a meeting with Old Windsor Parish Council to see how they power their Christmas tree. It was agreed to include this item on the next Financial Agenda by which time we should have gathered some quotes for next Christmas.