Minutes 27th April 2009

Minutes of the Finance and General Purposes Meeting of Madeley Parish Council. Meeting held on Monday, April 27th 2009, at Jubilee House, High Street, Madeley and commenced at 6.30pm.

Present:

• Councillors:
  J Jones (Chair)
  D Davies
  D Edwards
  G Green
  S Harrington
  M Shaw
  E Swift
  DP Taylor
  S Taylor
• Clerk to the Council, Project Officer.
• Mick Lloyd and Ella Sipps - Telford and Wrekin Community Volunteer Service (CVS).

F08/49. Apologies for Absence

There were none.

F08/50.. Declarations of Interest

There were none.

F08/51. Remarks from the Chair

The Chair welcomed the representatives from Telford and Wrekin Council for Voluntary Services and invited them to make their presentation.

F08/52. Presentation - Telford and Wrekin Council for Voluntary Services

Following a funding application to Leisure and Community, the committee had requested further information from the CVS. They were invited to attend the next Finance and General Purposes meeting.

Mick Lloyd, Director of CVS informed the meeting about the 'Grassroots' project. It is a fund that supplies small grants to voluntary and community groups. Every £1 that CVS raises for the Grassroots fund is matched by the Government. The effect of this is to incentivise people to donate. This provides a significant level of funding available, on application, to community groups throughout Telford.

Grassroots cannot accept donations from government funded bodies. Special arrangements could be required if Madeley Parish chose to contribute. No other Town or Parish Council have contributed to the fund. Madeley had been contacted at the suggestion of the Chair of Leisure. The Chair was aware that the grants budget had been under subscribed for 2008/2009. He suggested the value made through making a donation to Grassroots would be a good use of remaining monies.

Other members were concerned with the principle of donating to another organisation. The redistribution of those funds would be outside the control of the Parish Council. Assurances were given by CVS that donated funds would be reallocated within the donor parish. While efforts to ensure this were made, no guarantees could be given.

There was also a level of disquiet regarding the legality of such a donation. Members need to be confident that such a decision would be within the power of the Parish to resolve. They also need to be confident of CVS acceptance.

It was (agreed) that the Clerk would check the legal position before a decision is made.

F08/53. Public Discussion

No members of the public were present.

F08/54. Minutes

It was (resolved) that the minutes of F&GP Committee meeting February 9th 2009 be confirmed and approved for signature.

F08/55. Reports

• To receive Committee reports for information and consideration of referred items.

55.1 Leisure and Community Committee

The report of the Leisure and Community Committee meeting held on March 9th 2009 was presented for information. It was noted.

Continued update on the Sutton Hill Village Green proposal was requested.

55.2 Personnel Committee

The report of the Personnel Committee meeting held on March 23rd 2009 was presented for information. It was noted.

55.3 Environment Committee

The report of the Environment Committee meeting held on April 6th 2009 was presented for information. It was noted.

F08/56 Budget and Finance

• To effectively monitor and control the council's budget to ensure best value for the community.

Business Plan Report

The Business Plan was presented for Councillors information (Appendix B). It was noted.

56.1 Expenditure Approval List

• To approve expenditure transactions.

The Clerk presented the Expenditure Transactions Approval List report for the period to March 2009.

It was (resolved) that the expenditure transactions recorded be confirmed and approved for payment.

56.2 Financial Summary

• To note Financial Status report

The Responsible Finance Officer (RSO) presented the Financial Summary - Cashbook report for the period April - March 2009 for information.

The report is an unreconciled Receipts and Payment report showing opening and closing bank balances. It also shows total receipts and total payments (for each committee) for the period.

56.3 Financial Budget Comparison Report

The report notes actual monies received and spent compared to 2007/08 budget.

The RSO presented the Financial Comparison Report for the period to March 2009. It was noted.

56.4 Risk Management

The Clerk presented a report (Appendix A) which outlined the progress to date. It also outlined the challenges in formulating a system that would be effective and easy to maintain. Changes to the policy were recommended (to be ratified at a later date). A simplified Risk Register form was presented for Councillor's information. The report was noted.

F08/57. Assets

• To continuously improve all Council owned and managed properties and to provide facilities that are safe, well maintained and welcoming.
• To publicise these facilities effectively and to deliver an efficient, value for money service.

Business Plan Report

The Business Plan was presented for Councillors information (Appendix B) It was noted.

The Services Officer was congratulated on quality of information and design of the Jubilee House leaflet that she had produced.

57.1 Public Conveniences

The Clerk presented a report (Appendix C), which outlined three options for considering the future of the Public Conveniences. These being:

• To close the facilities once Tesco's has opened
• To leave the facilities open and continue to run them in the same way
• To find an alternative use for the building.

At the last F&GP meeting Councillor Green had outlined an idea for converting the building into a bus waiting area. Since that date further meetings had been held with Martyn Withnall from Telford and Wrekin Council. The information received was that the cost of conversion would be up to £100,000. The majority of the costs would have to be met by Madeley Parish Council.

The meeting agreed that costs would not be justified in terms of value to the community and use of funds. Other uses for the building need to be considered. Any change of use was subject to agreement in varying the terms of the lease.

Councillors agreed that the facilities should remain open. They accepted that some maintenance was currently needed to bring the facilities back up to an acceptable standard.

It was (agreed) to spend the necessary monies to redecorate the facilities. The decision on the future of the building to be made at a later date.

F08/58. Partnerships

• To develop effective working partnerships with other agencies and organisations.
• To ensure a co-ordinated approach towards the achievement of common goals to consider and evaluate more major projects requiring funding.

Business Plan Report

The Business Plan was presented for Councillors information (Appendix B) It was noted.

58.1 Motion - Councillor D Edwards

This Council should investigate and prepare to change its title from that of Parish Council to Madeley Town Council.

Councillor Edwards raised the issue firstly at Finance and General Purposes Committee. It was with the knowledge that further discussion at Full Council would be required. He sought preparation toward a name change and was not requesting a commitment from F&GP at this stage.

The meeting felt that the motion should be properly debated at the meeting. The motion was therefore seconded by Councillor Liz Swift.

Various points were raised:
For the motion there was the view that a change of name to Town Council could bring increased status. This would be appropriate to the importance of the regenerated centre. It would clarify the position with members of the public. There was occasional confusion with the church and/or the Parochial Church Council and the Parish Council.

Against, there was the view that a name change would be a distraction. It was felt that 'Town' was not necessarily the appropriate description of Madeley. Telford is a Town and Madeley is an area within the town. 'Neighbourhood Council' or 'Community Council' are also options which should be considered if a change of title is sought. It is also a matter of conjecture as to whether the title of 'Parish' is disadvantageous to the organisation.

The motion was put to the vote:
For the motion 2
Against the motion 6
Abstentions 1

The motion was defeated.

58.2 Community Leadership Fund

The Deputy Clerk had prepared a report (Appendix D) that outlined a suggestion previously discussed at Full Council. Members felt that this item was a strategic matter.

It (referred) the Community Leadership Proposal to the Strategy Review meeting, to take place in September 2009.

58.3 Urban Parishes Climate Change Group

The Deputy Clerk had prepared a report (Appendix E) which summarised the work of the Climate Change Group. The work is organised by Telford and Wrekin through the Urban Parishes Forum. Little has been achieved to date.

It was (recommended) to cease participation in the Climate Change Group until reconvened with a proper mandate and budgetary support.

F08/58. Correspondence

There was none.

F08/59. Information

There was none.

F08/60. Date of Next Meeting

The next meeting of F&GP is scheduled to take place on Monday, July 6th 2009, commencing at 6.30pm.

There being no further business the Chair declared the meeting closed at 8.30pm