Finance & Policy Minutes (Draft) 14-12-2020
Minutes of a Meeting of the Finance & Policy Committee held on Monday 14th December 2020 at 7:00pm via Zoom
Attendance:
Councillor M Jeffreys (Chairman) Councillor C O’Neill
Councillor A Appleby Councillor K Yarrow
Councillor J Borda
Also Present: D Baines – Town Clerk, C Whitaker – RFO, J Ashton – Minute Assistant, T Harding – Discover Newmarket and 3 Members of the Public.
F/20/12/1 Chairman to Announce that Proceedings are being Recorded and Advise that all Participants will be Muted by the Host of the Meeting who will Unmute the Individual the Charman has Invited to Speak
The Chairman opened the meeting and announced that proceedings are being recorded and to advise that all participants will be muted by the host of the meeting who will unmute the individual the Chairman has invited to speak.
F/20/12/2 Apologies for Absence
Apologies were received from Cllrs Drummond, Hood and Kerby. Cllr Bowen was absent.
F/20/12/3 Declaration of Member’s Interests and to Remind Councillors of the Need to Keep up to Date their Register of Member’s Interests and to Consider any Requests Received for Members Dispensation
None noted.
F/20/12/4 To Confirm the Minutes of the Meeting Held on 16th November 2020 and any Matters Arising
Members received the minutes of the Finance & Policy Committee meeting held on 16th November 2020 and the following was agreed:
F/20/12/4.01 Resolved
That the minutes of the Finance & Policy Committee meeting held on 16th November 2020 be adopted and signed as a true record by the Chairman of the Finance & Planning Committee.
There were no matters arising.
F/20/12/5 Public Open Session
Resident, Douglas Hall spoke to the Discover Newmarket item lending his support and wishing them every success. He also spoke to item F/20/12/11 – review of Standing Orders.
F/20/12/6 To Receive a Presentation from Discover Newmarket
Tracey Harding advised that she had circulated a summary report prior to the meeting and explained that Discover Newmarket was an official Destination Management Organisation representing Newmarket. Although COVID-19 had a massive impact on visitor numbers, they were managing to say afloat and were looking to come back stronger next year with tours commencing in mid-February 2021. Their plans included increasing the membership of stakeholders, working with the community and introducing a new online booking system which should see huge improvements to visitor numbers. Tours will also cover Newmarket history, food & drink and authors. Newmarket has a very strong USP and she welcomed the opportunity to work closely with NTC.
The Mayor confirmed that Discover Newmarket had the full support of NTC and thanked Tracey for her presentation.
T Harding left the meeting.
F/20/12/7 Submission of Schedules of Payments for Information CB1 – CB4 for (November 2020)
Members reviewed CB1 – CB4 and the following was agreed:
F/20/12/7.01 Recommendation
That the ratification of the schedules of payments for the period 01/11/2020 – 30/11/2020 (Cash Book 1 – 4) be received and adopted.
F/20/12/8 To Confirm the Bank Statement Balances & Related Bank Reconciliation have been signed by the Chairman of F&P Committee
The Chairman of the Finance & Policy Committee confirmed scrutiny of the bank reconciliations relating to the end of 30/11/2020 (month 8) for the Town Council’s Current, Petty Cash, Salaries and Barclaycard Cashbooks.
F/20/12/9 To Receive the Income and Expenditure for November 2020
The Income and Expenditure reports for November 2020 were received and noted.
F/20/12/10 To Receive and Note the Conclusion of the External Audit
The conclusion of the External Audit was received and noted and the following was agreed:
F/20/12/10.01 Recommendation
That thanks be given to the RFO for an excellent External Audit Report.
F/20/12/11 Town Council Constitution – To Review Policy Documents
The merging of C2 – Social Media Guide for Councillors, P6 – IT Website and E-mail policies were reviewed and the following was agreed:
F/20/12.112.01 Recommendation
That the policy C2 Social Media & Electronic Communication Policy be adopted and be reviewed in two years’ time.
A Working Group report on the Internal Control and Corporate Strategy review would be presented to a future meeting.
It was proposed that a Working Group be set up to review Standing Orders and the following was agreed:
F/20/12/11.02 Recommendation
That a Working Group be set up comprising of Cllrs Jefferys, O’Neill, Appleby and Yarrow and Douglas Hall representing the Public, with a remit of reviewing Standing Orders and reporting back to a future meeting.
F/20/12/12 Health & Safety
The monthly Health & Safety reports for November 2020 were received and noted.
F/20/12/13 Correspondence
None noted.
F/20/12/14 Date of next meeting
Monday 18th January 2020 via Zoom.
F/20/12/15 Items for the next agenda
Report of the Internal Control working group and an update of the Corporate Strategy.
Meeting closed at 7:26pm
Signed ______________________________ Date _________________________