BURTON BRADSTOCK PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of the Finance Meeting held at 6.00 pm on 4^th January 2010 in the Reading Room Burton Bradstock

Present:

Councillors, S Pett, P Dutton, D Batten, G Moody & J Hill (RFO)

Apologies

	ACTION
1. Declarations of Interest Sheila Pett declared her interest in the Post Office expenditure being a trustee of the Village Society. 2. Minutes of Last Meeting The minutes of the meeting of 13^th November 2009 were agreed and signed by the Chairman of the Finance Committee as a true record.
3. Matters arising All items covered below as agenda items
4. Financial Report The RFO presented the expenditure for 2009/10. There is little change from the report issued at the last meeting and it is expected that there will be a surplus of £3k for this year. This is based on the assumption that work will commence on the reading room before the end of March. If this work is delayed the surplus will be £5k. The £1500 contribution towards the PO repairs has been received from the Village Society. The loan for the allotment has been repaid in full. It was agreed that Peter Dutton would investigate if it was possible to get a grant towards the cost of maintenance of the reading room. 5. Vat Recovery The RFO has established that since the council has very little taxable income that it may no longer be able to claim back vat on its supplies. It was agreed that the RFO should prepare a short report on this matter	PD ACTION RFO
6. Confirmation of the Precept for 2010/11 The RFO distributed the revised budget following the Parish Council’s decision to set the precept at £21,500 in December. There followed a discussion on whether a general maintenance fund should be set up and whether we needed to change the precept for the vat findings ( item 5 above), it was agreed that the RFO would contact the DAPTC to find out whether there could be a general fund for maintenance. It was recommended that the Council reconfirm the Precept at the February Council meeting.	RFO SP
7. Broadmayne Charity Darren Batten gave a presentation on his findings on this charity. The Charity commission’s records show that it was no longer active from 11^th November 2008. The last known bank entry was 30th October 2007. The RFO to confirm that all banking matters are in order	RFO
8. PO Expenditure The RFO presented figures showing the expenditure from 2006 including spend on legal fees and advertising for new tenants. This would be used in discussions regarding increasing the rent. Sheila Pett would request that Archie Mackie supplies this committee with a copy of the PO lease so that a full review could be actioned	SP
9. Risk Assessment The RFO reviewed each risk. Generally the risks were being addressed and the RFO would add a further column to state whether the actions listed were being carried out. It was agreed that for the 2 risks where there was a high impact and high probability that these items would be reviewed at the Council meeting. These being damage to third parties and tendering. Sheila Pett would ask the Clerk to distribute the findings of the inspection recently carried out on the playground equipment. On tendering Graham Moody volunteered to prepare a draft document of how tenders should be reviewed and this could then be considered by the council. It was also agreed that a record of sending the precept was required and that the Clerk should send this by recorded delivery.	ACTION RFO SP SP GM SP
10. Asset Register Peter Dutton has now established sufficient evidence to support the registration process for 6 plots of land. The land registry will now check the legality of this evidence before formally registering the council as the official owner RFO to check that the asset register includes these plots of land	RFO
11. Grants It was necessary to record that following the presentation by the playgroup at the last Council meeting the Council decided to give £500 to this group.
12. Correspondence A request had been made to the RFO to send details of the expenditure on the PO. The RFO will check with Archie Mackie before issuing any details. Interest is being paid net on the high interest bond. A form needs to be completed to receive it gross.	RFO
13. Any Other Business The RFO raised the fact that the council is paying a lot for the BT land line and broadband supplier. It was agreed that this would be reviewed	RFO
14. Date of Next Meeting 6.00 PM 19^th April 2010	ACTION
15. Democratic Half Hour 2 members of the public were present. The question was asked about the process for requesting a grant. The Council is allowed to give a certain amount in grants based on the population. Applicants for grants apply by writing to the Council stating their needs. It is then up to the Council to decide if it feels it should support that group.