Finance & General Purposes Committee Agenda

HARWICH TOWN COUNCIL
Guildhall, Church Street, Harwich, Essex CO12 3DS
Tel: 01255 507211
email: info@harwichtowncouncil.co.uk

A meeting of the
FINANCE & GENERAL PURPOSES COMMITTEE
to be held at
The Guildhall, Church Street, Harwich CO12 3DS

 On

 Tuesday 10th December 2024 at 7pm

 

Public Question Time:
15 minutes will be available for members of the Public to ask questions in relation to items on the agenda only.

AGENDA

1 Apologies for absence
To receive apologies for absence
2 Declarations of members’ interests
To receive any ‘pecuniary’ or ‘Other Registrable’ interests relating to items on the agenda
3 Minutes of last meeting
– To approve as a correct record the Minutes and Confidential Minutes of the meeting of the Finance & General Purposes Committee held on Tuesday 24th September 2024 (circulated separately)
4 Matters arising from the minutes

MIN F43/24 – To give update on replacement Guildhall cleaner.

MIN F47/24 – To give update on CCTV at skatepark project.

5 Matters arising from previous minutes

MIN F015/24 – To confirm Mental Health Workplace First Responder training has been completed for the Clerk and Asst. Clerk.  The Managing Difficult People and Conversations training is yet to be secured.

6 Grant requests
To consider requests for grant funding as listed in the attached schedule.
7 Estates Supervisor Report
To give a report on the progress of current works since the last meeting.
8 Independent Review of the Accounts

To report findings following an independent review of the accounts and bank reconciliation for the periods Jul-Sep.

9 Christmas 2024 Guildhall Closure
To agree dates for closure of the Guildhall and Council offices over the Christmas period.
10 SLCC membership

To consider renewal of Clerk’s membership for 2025 at a cost of £300 to be expended from the Subscriptions budget.

11  Data Audit and Data Protection Policy

• To consider the data audit for Harwich Town Council.

• Data Protection Policy for review and adoption.

12 Leisure Season 2025

• To consider opening dates/times for 2025 season.

• To agree to proceed with recruitment of Seasonal Leisure Attendants for the 2025 season and set an hourly rate.

• To consider necessary repairs/purchases as per attached schedule.

13 Hill School Restoration Project

To report on progress to carry out recommended works following receipt of a condition report in early 2017.

14 Health & Safety and Fire Safety

• To review the following policies/Risk Assessment and adopt with amendments as necessary:

Health & Safety Policy

Fire Safety Policy

• Health & Safety Risk Assessment (Guildhall)

15 Wellbeing Policy

To adopt policy for Harwich Town Council.

16 CCTV Maintenance at the Hill School Site

Ref: MIN F57/21 – To review service and consider extending agreement for CCTV maintenance services for a period of 3 years commencing in April 2025 at a cost of £292.50 per annum, to be expended from the Hill School Repairs & Maintenance budget.

17 IT

• To review service provision and consider renewal of IT support services with current provider on an ongoing basis, commencing 2025/26 on an adhoc basis chargeable at £22 per hour or £160 per day.

• To consider moving over to a gov.uk domain with the following costs:

1.    Registration of the domain name £10 per annum

2.    Ruby Hosting Package £110 per annum

3.    Work by IT consultant to move over emails, estimated at 3 hrs @ £22 p/hr

4.    Work by Web editor to move website and associated work, estimated at £50

• To consider options for acquiring WiFi extender in the Chamber.

1.    Purchase temporary second-hand extender at a cost of £60

2.    Purchase new extender at a cost in the region of £300

18 Accounts Maintenance and Support

• To consider continuation of maintenance support agreement for RBS accounts in 2025-26 at a cost of £589 for up to 5 users.  To be expended from the Website/Accounts budget.

• To consider options for year-end close down support

19 Financial Regulations

Ref: MIN F038/24 – To consider adopting new model Financial Regulations as reviewed by the working party on 11th October 2024.

20 Mobile Phone

To be approve renewal of contract for mobile phone at a monthly cost starting at £11.20p/m (to be increased annually each April) on a 2/3 year-contract to include a new handset, unlimited calls/text and 10GB of data.

21 Illumination of the High Lighthouse

Ref: MIN 82/24 – To agree to proceed with project to illuminate the High Lighthouse and expend up to £3760 from the High Lighthouse Illumination EMR to cover costs for materials/equipment identified in the survey.

Garry Calver

22 Budget/Precept 2025/26

• To consider and recommend to Full Council, the budget and precept for the financial year 2025/2026

• To agree to the following mid-year virements:

Credit: £6k Hill School Maintenance EMR; £6k Skatepark Festival EMR; £6k Building Maintenance EMR and £6k Community Projects EMR

23 Matters to be reported

• The NJC has/ reached agreement on the 2024-25 pay awards to apply a flat rate payment of £1290 on each scale point and this is implemented with immediate effect for all applicable employees, along with the necessary back pay.  No agreement has been made on the 2025-26 pay awards.

• To note £100 callout charge for fire alarm fault, to be expended from the Fire & Safety budget.

• To note expenditure of £15.82, authorised by delegated authority, for the purchase of a new light sensor for the lobby, plus £42 for fitting, to be expended from the Consumables & Maintenance budget.

• Interest rate on the Business Premium Account (Barclays) is reducing by 0.10% to 1.40% from 19th December 2024 and the interest rate on the Income Bonds (NS&I) has reduced to 3.69% from 20th November 2024.

24  Matters received in the post or information raised by members
Letters of thanks for grants received from: Harwich Quay Fireworks, Harwich & Dovercourt Partnership and Electric Palace TrustEvaluation form following grant received from:
25 Date for next meeting
The date of the next meeting of the Finance and General Purposes Committee is scheduled for 7pm, on Tuesday 18th March 2025.
26 Exclusion of public and press
Pursuant to Sub-Section 2 of Section 1 of the Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960 the meeting is closed to the press and public for the transaction of the under-mentioned business:

  • Personnel – Salary Reviews
27 Salary Reviews

• To conduct a review of staff salaries


Dated: 4th December 2024

Ms Lucy Ballard
Clerk to the Council

 

 

APPLICATIONS FOR GRANT FUNDING

FINANCE & GENERAL PURPOSES MEETING 10th DECEMBER 2024


Applicant Name:
Spring Meadow Primary School

 

Contact:
Danielle Cooper

(Music and Performing Arts teacher)


Purpose of Grant:
To contribute towards the cost of putting on a production of ‘Annie’ for the community.Benefits:
Inclusivity and accessible to all ages and members of the community.

Open to all.

Develops teamwork, communication, time management and creativity.

 


Total cost of project:
£1345
Grant Requested:
£819Funds from other sources:
£526 – Own resources

  


Applicant Name:
Parish of the Harwich Peninsular

Contact:
Janet Goodall

(Churchwarden)


Purpose of Grant:
For the provision of hives, bees, beekeeping suits and equipment and educational materials.Benefits:
Local schools will be invited to learn about bees and their importance to the environment and will have the opportunity to understand and experience beekeeping skills.

 

 

 


Total cost of project:
£3000
Grant Requested:
£1000Funds from other sources:
£1000 – own resources

£1000 – Rotary

  

Schedule of Repair Costs for the Putting Green

Presented to F&GP Committee on 10th December 2024

ITEM

COST

• Pétanque terrain – new wood frame/edging and stakes

£500

• New clock

£70

• Putting Green Hut – new wood for repairs to shutters and paint

£27 and £67

• New ‘Open’ flag

£20

 

 

 

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