Finance Committee Minutes 24th November 2011

Minutes of a Meeting of Amble Town Council Finance Committee held on Thursday, 24^th November 2011 at 6.30pm in The Council Office, The Quayside, Amble.

1. PRESENT: Councillors Mrs Lewis (Chairman), Arckless, Bilboe, Hinson and Palin; together with the Clerk- Miss E Brown.

2. ACCEPTANCE OF DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST: None.

3. APOLOGIES: Cllr Weir – Holiday

These were accepted by Councillor Mrs Lewis, seconded by Councillor Bilboe and agreed.

4. RFO’s REPORT:

4.1: Netball posts purchased for Amble Ladies Netball Club on Government Procurement card

4.2: Spring bulbs order purchased for Pride in Amble on Government Procurement card.

4.3: Donation letter sent to RNLI (Amble Lifeboat Fundraisers) confirming donation and to arrange presentation.

4.4: Letter sent to Amble Ladies Netball Club confirming donation and to arrange presentation.

4.5: Letter sent to Children and Families First stating a grant cannot be provided on this occasion but to apply in the future for a particular outing/project.

4.6: Letter to Santander re: change of signatories 14/11/11

4.7: npower direct debit set up for future charges

4.8: BT credit on account for £20.27 following enquiries.

4.9: Internal Audit being carried out

5. COMMUNICATIONS:

5.1: Letter of thanks from Amble Christmas Lights

5.2: Letter of thanks from Royal British Legion

6.ACCOUNTS PAYABLE & RECEIPTS:

6.1: The following cheques were signed in advance of the November meeting having been approved at the 27^th October meeting.

6.2: The following cheques were signed out of meeting and retrospective approval was given on the proposal of Cllr Mrs Lewis, seconded by Cllr Bilboe and agreed.

Cllr Mrs Lewis suggested taking regular meter readings to monitor energy use in the meeting room.

6.3: The following payments have been made/ received using petty cash.

6.4: The accounts for the month were presented and cheques signed on the proposal of Cllr Bilboe, seconded by Cllr Arckless and agreed.

TOWN COUNCIL

CEMETERIES MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

6.5: The following amounts have been paid by standing order/direct debit showing on bank statements                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 at 31^st October 2011

6.6: Government Procurement card purchases

The approval of cheque number 102525 for the purchases made using the Government Procurement card was proposed by Cllr Mrs Lewis, seconded by Cllr Arckless and agreed.

                                                                                                                                      Total £887.99

6.7: The following amounts have been received since the last Meeting and will be presented for information:

                                                                                                                                                Total £351.51

The Clerk informed that RC0112 had not preciously been recorded in the minutes but was received on 13/04/11.

6.8: Acceptance of SPENd/Budget Figures – YTD plus bank reconciliation:

The figures for the month of October and November 2011 were presented; copies are available on application to the Clerk. 

7.  REQUESTS FOR GRANT AID:

None.

8.  AGENDA ITEMS:

8.1: Consideration of rules of submitting expense claims

Cllr Mrs Lewis proposed that any travelling expenses be claimed within 28 days of the date the expense was incurred and that any printing/stationary claims be submitted by February 28^th for each financial year of the claim would be lost.  This was seconded by Cllr Bilboe and agreed.

The Clerk informed that due to an error on the YTD £850 had been spent on Christmas Lights rather than the budgeted amount of £750.  Cllr Arckless formally proposed that pursuant to Local Government Act 1972 s. 144 that this additional £100 be authorised.  This was seconded by Cllr Cllr Mrs Lewis and agreed.

9. DATE & TIME OF NEXT MEETING: The next Meeting was scheduled to be held on Thursday, 15^th December 2011 following the meeting of the Cemeteries Management Committee (approx. 6.15pm) in The Council Offices, Warkworth Harbour Commissioner’s Building, The Quayside, Amble

The meeting closed at 6.50pm