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Minutes of FINANCE, POLICY & RESOURCES COMMITTEE meeting held on Monday 28^th June 2010, at the Pavilion,

Vaggs Lane, Hordle.

Present: Chairman Cllr. Peter Smith and Cllrs. Bowring, Ironside, Terry, Wareham and Wells.

Also in attendance: Mrs Susan Whitcher – Clerk and Sandy Smith, - Minutes Clerk.

1. Apologies for absence

None

2. Declarations of interest

Cllr. Smith – prejudicial interest on item 22 - payment schedule.

3. Minutes of the meeting held on 24^th May, 2010

These were accepted and confirmed

4.To confirm payments schedule for June 2010

The Clerk clarified item 14 of the schedule and it was then unanimously accepted. The total was £49, 088.27 including the Tiptoe Green contribution of £35,000.

5. To confirm the reconciled bank statement

The bank statement reconciled up to the 14^th June with a balance of £84,799.40 this was unanimously accepted and confirmed.

6. To review points arising from the Internal Audit for 31 March 2010

The Clerk informed the committee that some minor items had been picked up by the internal audit and the variance between the Quick Books accounting system and HMRC re payroll and pensions has been causing problems for the accounts.

7. To consider our replacement of our internal accounting system

Sage accounting package has been suggested as probably compatible with HMRC to replace Quick Books and there is an add-on payroll package if required. The Clerk was requested to provide costings and details for the various levels of Sage support and find out if there are budgeting and forecasting facilities. The Clerk also suggested exploring the costs for outsourcing the payroll as compared with using Sage and a possible add-on in-house.

8. To receive the recommendations from the Community Engagement Strategy subcommittee for the CES action plan.

This report has not been finalised and so will not be received at this meeting.

9. Correspondence received and Clerk’s report

9.1. Clerks report

9.1.i. I have ordered the new model standing orders parts 1 & 2 to assist us in reviewing our standing orders. Also I have booked a place to attend the Clerk Forum on the 20^th July where there are to be speakers from NALC and HALC regarding issues raised in the model orders. I would therefore suggest that the first meeting of the subcommittee is set for after the 20^th July 2010.

9.1.ii. We have received a request from the Tiptoe Green Trust to use our Gazebo this was agreed as there will be a councillor attending, therefore it will be covered by our insurance.

9.1.iii. Paying off the Public Works Loan early will incur some financial penalty but will still save the council about £1,500 in total and it was agreed to present the proposal to Full Council.

9.1.iv. No response has been received from the police to any e- mails sent regarding meetings with councillors. The Chairman will contact him to see if some type of meeting can be arranged.

9.2. Correspondence

9.2.i. Request from Mr Smith, Hordle Lake, for the council to confirm in writing that the existing access agreement can be transferred to a new owner providing the existing conditions are complied with. The Clerk was requested to check with HAPTC for the legal details that need to be included to ensure the current licence details are adhered to.

9.2. ii. Letter from CAB concerning internal re-organisation but existing offices will remain.

9.2.iii. The Tiptoe Green open day has been arranged for 18^th July and all councillors and staff are invited.

10. Chairman’s report.

10.1.The Chairman hoped the re-organisation would take place smoothly and facilitate a stable and effective council for next May. He will be away for the first of the re-organised meetings and Cllr. Wareham will Chair in his absence.

10.2. He thanked the Chairs and Vice-chairs for their help and efforts.

11. Councillor’s reports

11.1 .Cllr.Ironside invited all councillors to attend the Everton PMC AGM on 9^th July.

11.2. Cllr. Terry observed that the repaired road opposite Kings Brook (Everton Road) has broken up around the cover and is now a hazard and that the SID is in place again, facing west.

11.3. Cllr. Wells stated

i) He has received a report from Cllr. Hayes that a local resident has offered his services and equipment, free of charge, for any fencing hedging and ditching work at Tiptoe Green.

ii)He also was contacted by a parishioner that barbeques are being used adjacent to the cycle path and a rope swing had been thrown into the trees. – he will investigate. This area will be included in the open space review.

iii) He reported that the VDS group have decided that it is a feasible project and would like to work in partnership with the council. Malcolm Warne-Holland was elected chairman and Sue Bailey vice-chairman. They will aim to produce a simple document by the end of this council – April 2011. This proposal is to be added to the next council agenda. It was agreed to see if there was any money left over from the vision WP which could be transferred to the VDS group. Cllr. Smith thanked Cllr. Wells for acting as interim chair of the VDS group.

        12. Public Session.

A member of the public reported matted willow seeds on the cycle way

13. To consider how to include Finance Policy and Resources items within the new full council meetings.

It was suggested and agreed that the planning element of the new meetings should be held first, with finance as the second element and amenities and general issues to be the third part. Proposals will be included in the agenda in the order in which the Clerk has received them within these categories. There was some discussion as to when the public session should take place within the meeting this will be dealt with within the CES document. There is a sub-committee looking at standing orders but HALC has advised councils to make no changes until the legal queries have been sorted out by NALC. This was agreed by the committee. It was discussed as to whether all documents for agenda items should be circulated in advance of the meeting. Cllr. Wells will operate the laptop for the planning applications at the first meeting to assist the Clerk. It was suggested that the actual against budget figures and bank reconciliation will be dealt with in the first monthly meeting and the payment schedule in the second monthly meeting.

The meeting closed at 9.05 p.m.