MINUTES OF THE FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING

held on 3 July 2006 at 7.30pm in the Library Room

PRESENT: Cllrs Mrs Gregory, Mrs McKechnie, McPartland, Peeler and Worth

07/25 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Cllrs Gridley, Weston and Mrs Myers was not present due to illness.

07/26 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
Cllr Gridley declared an interest on any items concerning the Churchyard Care Committee.

07/27 MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 5 June 2006
It was AGREED that the minutes were a true record of the meeting and they were signed by the Vice Chairman. Proposer: Cllr Worth, seconded by Cllr McKechnie.

07/28 RESPONSIBLE FINANCE OFFICER'S REPORT
a) General Reserves; the RFO noted that reserves should be ear marked for auditing purposes. It was AGREED to ear mark more funds for new lighting columns, these could then be vired, if needed, at a later date.

b) The Lighting and Highways Committee had requested that last year's budget under spend be transferred to their 2006/7 budget (£10,817.00). It was also requested that the ear marked reserves for new columns be increased to cover the 2005/5 spend of £3,270.00). This was AGREED proposed by Cllr Peeler, seconded by Cllr Mrs McKechnie.

c) The Recreation Ground Committee had requested that last year's under spend be transferred to the 2006/7 budget (£8,339.00). This was AGREED proposed by Cllr Peeler, seconded by Cllr Mrs McKechnie.

d) The RFO requested clarification on whether the reserves allocated to the Memorial Hall Car Park refurbishment would allow for bike racks. It was AGREED that the Memorial Hall Committee would raise this at their next meeting and report back to Council.

e) The Finance Committee AGREED that a sum of £800 be released from the budget of the Property Management Committee, in order to replace the unreliable fax and printer in the Clerk's office. Also for a laptop computer to be bought. Proposed by Cllr McPartland, seconded by Cllr Mrs McKechnie.

f) The RFO reported that she was in discussions with the Churchyard Care Committee to explore whether any money could be saved on their expenses or advise of additional funding that might be open to them.

07/29 The matter of tendering for services was discussed. The RFO explained that in some instances, actions were being delayed due to the tendering process, where there were not enough suppliers interested in quoting. It was AGREED that the RFO would be allowed to award tenders under £1,000, upon discussion with the Chairman, or Vice Chairman, where delays were unacceptable.

07/30 MATTERS OF REPORT
None were received

07/31 CLOSURE OF MEETING
There being no further business, the Chairman closed the meeting at 7.50 pm.

Signed:
Date: 7 August 2006

(Chairman)