BRERETON AND RAVENHILL PARISH COUNCIL
DISTRICT OF CANNOCK CHASE COUNTY OF STAFFORDSHIRE
Minutes of the
FINANCE ASSET & RISK
COMMITTEE MEETING
Held at: the Parish Hall, Ravenhill Park, Brereton, Rugeley. WS15 1DU
Thursday 4th April at 8.00pm – 9.30PM
WELCOME
Members Present:
Miles Blackham (MB)(Chair),
Kay Paul (KP)(Vice-Chair),
Sue Merriman (SM),
Kev Theobald (KT),
Members Absent: Dana Blocksidge (DB), and Carl Boulton (CB), sent their apologies which were accepted.
In Attendance: J Smith (JS)(Caretaker), L. Featherstone (LF)(RFO), PR Whibley (Clerk),
11. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST IN ANY ITEMS ON THE AGENDA
None.
12. NOTICES FROM THE CHAIR AND CLERK 12.1. An Action Plan addressing the points raised by both the Internal and External Auditors was produced and previously distributed by the clerk to members of the Working Group for their initial input. A further updated plan will be given to FAR committee at this meeting prior to being presented to the Full Council.
12.2. Asset Register (see item 20)
13. AGREEING THE MINUTES FROM THE PREVIOUS MEETING
The minutes were agreed and signed as a true record.
14. MATTERS ARISING
4.2. That the clerk ask the Full Council to agree the alteration in section 11.1 (h) of their Financial Regulations. Completed and Agreed and published on the BRPC website.
4.3a. That the clerk would find out why the external report from Mazars had not been received and inform the Council. Sent in November. Clerk requested a further copy through the Internal Auditors.
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Minutes Approved by Chair / Acting Chair : …………………………………… Date: ………………
4.3b. Resolved: That a working group of KP/DB/LF/C would meet on Thursday 14th 10.00-12.00 to discuss the findings of the Internal Auditors report and Earmarked Funding. Completed. The working group KP/DB/LF/C and SM met but only completed the Earmarked Funding element.
9.1. That the Full Council engage the services of an outside agency (i.e. Bradley’s) to administer the payroll et al for its staff. Agreed at March Council meeting. All individual details have been sent and an acknowledgement has been received.
10.1a. That MB will instruct a solicitor to send a legal letter to the Chair of the previous council requesting the location of all assets. Agreed at March Council meeting. This has not been actioned as the chair has contacted the previous chair and has had assurances that everything will be done to identify and locate the remaining four or five remaining assets. (See Item 20 on this Agenda)
10.1b. That the RFO will update the present Asset List to include those new assets which correctly appear on the insurance policy. Ongoing due to 10.1a above. (See item 20 on this agenda.)
10.1c. That, after an updated list has been agreed with more realistic valuations, the clerk will secure three different insurance quotes and bring to the FAR committee, prior to our present policy expiring. Awaiting final agreed list.
11.1a. That the clerk bring an empty envelope to the next Full Council meeting so that each member can put their council email address and password in and seal. Completed with exception of RP, JG, DB, JJ, CB, RH-D and AC who were absent at the previous Council meeting.
11.1b. That the clerk insert the agreed addition concerning emails into the Risk Assessment document for approval at the Full Council meeting. Completed.
16.1a. That the FAR committee recommend to the Full Council not to include the Hire of the Hall in their submitted Budget calculation for 2024-2025. Completed and Agreed.
16.1b. That the clerk would investigate a savings interest account with Unity Trust Bank. Completed. (see Agenda Item 16)
16.1. Resolved: That CD be recommended to the Full Council as the Data Protection Officer for this council. Completed.
15. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
None.
16. UNITY TRUST BANKING (see attached)
A detailed discussion looked at various alternatives from fixed term, deposits and instant accounts. It was decided to do further investigations and put this on next month’s agenda.
16.1. Resolved: That the clerk would investigate further the Utility Trust Bank accounts.
16.2. Resolved: That the clerk would place this on next month’s FAR agenda.
17. BANK RECONCILLIATION (see attached)
The RFO presented for information and discussion the last three months Bank Reconciliation statements for signature by the FAR committee chair. The council has now been able to produce Bank Reconciliation statements for every month this financial year. An analysis of payments and income followed.
17.1. Resolved: That the RFO file the signed Bank Reconciliations.
18. INCOME .v. INVOICES (see attached)(Receipts and Payments)
It was agreed that the financial processes need to be streamlined further. All invoices must first go to the RFO. Prior to actual payment the FAR committee should be in a position to scrutinise
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Minutes Approved by Chair / Acting Chair : …………………………………… Date: ………………
what is being suggested and which budget stream it comes from to be able to decide whether individual budgets are set appropriately.
Based on the figures the RFO forecasts that we will underspend by some way, even allowing for the fact that there was no allocation in the previous council’s budget for spending on utilities.
The RFO is attempting to produce a user-friendly flow chart for purchasing and the financial oversight needed. When completed it will be presented to the FAR committee for approval.
19. EXTERNAL AUDITORS REPORT (see attached)
A copy of the external auditor’s report which Mazars completed in November had been previously distributed prior to the meeting. (The original report was never acknowledged or available) The fourteen action points highlighted were embolden by the clerk and copied in to a BRPC Action Plan proposal.
20. ACTION PLAN (see attached)
20.1. An Action Plan highlighting the elements needed to meet the requirements of the AGAR had been sent as part of the papers with the Agenda. The Plan covered all the advice from both the Internal and External Auditors for the past two years as well as, the written responses from the AGAR form over this period.
Airing on the side of caution and using a RAG assessment, of the 49 advisory suggestions,
15 are G,
14 are A,
10 are R or RA (6 of these are because the actions needed cannot be completed until after this year’s audit has been completed.)
10 have yet to be fully assessed
20.1a. Resolved: That the Clerk would continue to populate the grid prior to the next Full Council meeting.
20.2. It was acknowledged that an enormous amount of work by both staff and members had gone into the creation of an up-to-date BRPC Asset List. At present there are only 4-5 items that the council are unable to locate. Those few items are presently insured on the Council’s Insurance Policy (Itemised by the previous council) and have been included in previous insurance policies over the years, but their location is still unknown.
20.2a. Resolved: That the Chair would speak to the previous Chair to find out where the missing assets are located.
It is hoped that after the discussions between the (MB)Chair with the previous Chair that this will be easily rectified.
These 4-5 items will be highlighted with an * next to them, so if not found or damaged beyond repair will be written off and removed from our Insurance Policy for the coming year.
20.2b. Resolved: That the RFO would produce a BRPC Asset List.
The list would amalgamate three elements:
1. The known list of all assets held inside the Parish Hall. This will be given a more realistic value of replacement of £150,000 (as advised)
2. The known list of all external assets and their values which has been produced by the present staff and members.
3. The believed list of 4 -5 present and previously insured assets by the outgoing council.
20.3. The RFO had begun to complete the blank financial elements of the AGAR responses and some of the 49 elements of advice.
The clerk and the RFO will continue to populate the Plan ready to present to the next meeting of the Full Council.
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21. MAZARS AGAR AUDIT (see FOUR attached documents)
The RFO has already begun to fill in some responses into the draft AGAR for 2023-2024. However it was stressed by JS (speaking from experience) that all percentage differences from the previous AGAR’s figures must be itemised and explained.
It was agreed that the RFO should be supported with the completion of the draft document. It was impossible to find a convenient time for a working group to meet so it was suggested and agreed that a WhatsApp group could be formed to offer support and advice.
21.1. Resolved: That SM create a WhatsApp working group to support the completion of the draft AGAR.
22. DATE OF NEXT MEETING
Thursday 2nd May 2024 at 8.00pm
Meeting Closed: 9.35pm
PRWhibley
Clerk BRPC