July 2021 Minutes Finance Committee
SWINESHEAD PARISH COUNCIL
PARISH OFFICE
Swineshead Pre-School Centre
North End
Swineshead
PE20 3LZ
EMAIL: swinesheadpc@gmail.com
WEBSITE: www.swineshead.parish.lincolnshire.gov.uk
CHAIRMAN: Councillor Carl Gibbard
TEMPORARY CLERK: Natalie Grant
MINUTES FOR THE MEETING OF THE FINANCE COMMITTEE SWINESHEAD PARISH COUNCIL
Monday 5th July September 2021
Present: C Carl Gibbard, C Chelcei Trafford, C Sean Trafford, C Georges Cornah
Also Present: None
The Clerk explained to the committee that she could not find a record of who is Chairperson for this committee. Cllr CT proposed that due to the high turnover of Councillors on the Committee, Cllr CG should chair the meeting until more formal plans were in place. This was seconded by Cllr ST and resolved.
Cllr CG took over as chairperson for this meeting.
21/001 To receive apologies for absence and reasons given
Apologies from Cllr RH as he is on holiday. Cllr CG proposed the absence and reason were accepted. This was seconded by Cllr CT and resolved.
21/002 To receive any declarations of interest in accordance with the Localism Act 2011
No declarations were made.
21/003 To review the Terms of Reference for the Finance Committee and agree a recommendation to the Full Council
Councillors reviewed the Terms of Reference which were based on the latest LALC model. Cllr ST proposed that they could be presented to the Full Parish Council as they were without any amendments, this was seconded by Cllr GC and resolved.
OUTCOME: RECOMMEND TO FULL COUNCIL THAT THE TERMS OF REFERENCE SHOULD BE ADOPTED
21/004 To review the Financial Regulations and agree a recommendation to the Full Council
Councillors reviewed the Financial Regulations which were based on the latest LALC model. A number of changes were proposed, mainly reviewing recommendations from LALC and confirming limits for payments. Cllr ST proposed that the proposed changes should be presented to the Full Parish Council with a recommendation to adopt the new Financial Regulations. This was seconded by Cllr GC and resolved.
OUTCOME: RECOMMEND TO FULL COUNCIL THAT THE FINANCIAL REGULATIONS SHOULD BE CHANGED AS PRESENTED AND ADOPTED
21/005 To consider accounting package “Scribe” and formulate a recommendation to the Full Council
The clerk made a brief presentation about the accounting package and the time / cost savings that she believed the council would benefit from. She highlighted that it would made the accounting and finances more robust in terms of possible data loss, sharing information, etc. Cllr CG proposed that it should be recommended to full council that the Parish Council should move their accounting to Scribe as soon as possible. This was seconded by Cllr GC and resolved.
OUTCOME: RECOMMEND TO FULL COUNCIL THAT SCRIBE SHOULD BE ORDERED AND WE SHOULD START USING IT ASAP
21/006 To discuss the “Earmarked Funds” and agree a way forward with managing these pots of money
Following some discussion around the Earmarked Funds: Mackey’s Pit, Play Area, Library, Street Lighting, Elections, Asset Sales. It was decided that this matter should be carried forward to the next meeting so that more research into the necessity of the “pots” could be done, and how/where the money in them had come about. Cllr CG asked the clerk to look into this matter before the next Finance Committee meeting.
OUTCOME: NO RECOMMENDATION TO FULL COUNCIL, CLERK TO RESEARCH FURTHER
21/007 To review the Asset Register and consider a new system for maintaining it
The clerk suggested that the new accounting package had an asset register add-on that was free to use, and that this should be explored further before looking into other asset register management software or systems. Cllr CG proposed that this should be recommended to Full Council. Cllr GC seconded and it was resolved. The Clerk suggested that Councillors need to get their heads together to review the current assets and see if there was anything missing.
OUTCOME: RECOMMEND TO FULL COUNCIL THAT SCRIBE IS CONSIDERED FOR ASSET REGISTER MANAGEMENT
21/008 To review the recommendations from the Internal Audit and agree a recommendation to the Full Council
Councillors discussed the outcome of the internal audit in detail. The advice regarding the Financial Regulations and Standing Orders being reviewed more regularly had already been addressed within this agenda. Cllr CG proposed that the matter of a second internal audit should be recommended to Full Council as stated by the Internal Auditor in her report. This was seconded by Cllr CT and resolved.
OUTCOME: RECOMMEND TO FULL COUNCIL THAT A SECOND ANNUAL INTERNAL AUDIT SHOULD BE CARRIED OUT GOING FORWARD, MOST LIKELY AFTER THE 2nd QUARTER OF EACH YEAR.
21/009 To consider whether an HR/Personnel sub committee is required and agree a recommendation to the Full Council
Councillors discussed the need for a separate HR / Personnel Sub-Committee. Cllr CG proposed that with the Finance Committee being so small, that there would be no real need or purpose to having a Sub-Committee to deal with HR and Personnel and these matters should be discussed by the Finance Committee as a whole. This was seconded by Cllr ST and resolved.
OUTCOME: RECOMMEND TO FULL COUNCIL THAT NO HR / PERSONNEL SUB-COMMITTEE IS REQUIRED