MINUTES of the Meeting of THE FINANCE & GOVERNANCE committee held at 8.00pm on Thursday 13 February 2020 in the Village Centre, Trinity Road, Hurstpierpoint

Committee Members present:

Malcolm Llewellyn (Chairman) Stephen Hand Rodney Jackson Duncan Ranger Julia Shorrocks

Also present: Andy Beams – Clerk to the Council

F19/081 Apologies for absence and declarations of interest: Apologies for absence were received from Cllrs Allan Brown, Seth Jee, John Lowman and Claire Majsai. There were no declarations of interest.

F19/082 Minutes of the meeting of Finance & General Purposes Committee of 9 January 2020: The minutes were received and accepted and signed by the Chairman.

F19/083 Adjournment for questions from the public: There being no members of the public present the committee was not required to adjourn the meeting in accordance with Standing Orders.

F19/084 Parish Action Plan: The committee reviewed action no. 26 and agreed this remains on hold until the arrival of the new Clerk.

F19/085 FINANCIAL MATTERS:

F19/085.1 Payments and receipts: The committee was asked to:

(1) NOTE payments of £33,369.08 for month 10 (January 2020) (Ref: Payments month 10 schedule attached)

(2) NOTE receipts of £25,479.46 for month 10 (January 2020) (Ref: Receipts month 10 schedule attached)

(3) APPROVE payments of £94.96 (Ref: Payments for authorisation month 11 schedule attached)

RESOLVED: The committee noted payments of £33,369.08 and receipts of £25,479.46 for month 10 and authorised payments of £94.96 for month 11

F19/085.2 Financial monitoring: The committee noted the accounts records for Month 10 (January 2020), in accordance with the Financial Regulations of the council, as follows:

RESOLVED: The bank reconciliations were signed by Cllr Shorrocks.

F19/085.3 Deposits and investment: The committee noted that the council was holding the following funds on the dates shown.

Statement Date Amount Bank Account Type Maturity Date

31/01/2020

55,770.42 Unity Bank Current n/a

31/12/2019

66,179.19 CCLA Shares n/a

31/03/2019

53,517.14 Nationwide 95 Day Savings Account 95 days’ notice

31/03/2019

33,249.04 Nationwide 2 Year Fixed Term Bond 11 Feb 2021

14/05/2019 50,850.00 Cambridge & Counties 3 Year Fixed Term Bond 10 May 2021

19/11/2019 35,770.00 Cambridge & Counties 3 Year Fixed Term Bond 14 Nov 2021

TOTAL £ 295,335.79

F19/086 Contracts and leases: (No report)

F19/087 Financial risk and insurance:

F19/087.1 Savings and Investment Policy: The council is required to publish an Annual Investment Strategy and recommended to adopt a Savings and Investment Policy (Ref: Briefing note – Savings and Investment Policy Feb 2020, Draft Savings & Investment Policy Feb 2020 attached)

RECOMMENDATION: The committee RECOMMENDS the Savings and Investment Policy incorporating the Annual Investment Strategy for approval by Council.

RESOLVED: The committee agreed to RECOMMEND the Savings and Investment Policy incorporating the Annual Investment Strategy for approval by Council.

F19/087.2 Alternate savings and investments: At the December 2019 committee meeting, the Committee advised that the Clerk should investigate potential other accounts for putting the remaining additional funds of approximately £200,000 to be received from developers in respect of Hurst Meadows for the January 2020 meeting. An assessment of available options has been prepared for review by the committee (Ref: Briefing note Alternative Savings and Investments Feb 2020 attached)

RECOMMENDATION: The committee approves the recommendation and delegates the Clerk to make the arrangements for opening the accounts once the s.106 funds are received.

RESOLVED: The committee APPROVED the recommendation and delegates the Clerk to make the arrangements for opening the accounts once the s.106 funds are received.

F19/088 Compliance with Financial Regulations: (No report)

F19/088.1 Financial Regulations: The committee is to consider amendments to Financial Regulations to reflect the latest NALC model (July 2019) and changes in the payment authorisation process as agreed by the committee in December 2019 (F19/064.4) (Ref: Draft Financial Regulations February 2020 Attached)

RESOLVED: The committee made some minor amendments and agreed to RECOMMEND the Financial Regulations for approval by Council.

F19/089 2020/21 budget and precept: The committee noted that following approval of the budget and precept amount of £252,021 at the council meeting on 23 January, the precept request was sent to Mid Sussex District Council on 24 January and acknowledged as received on 29 January 2020.

F19/090 Staff Matters: (No report)

F19/090.1 National salary award: The committee noted that the National Joint Council for Local Government Services (NJC) has yet to agree the new pay scales for 2020-2021 to be implemented from 1 April 2020. An offer of 2.0% has been rejected by the unions, and further discussions are to follow to reach an agreement. An estimate of a 2.5% increase was used to support the budget setting process for 2020/21.

It was agreed to arrange a Staff Panel meeting for shortly after the arrival of the new Clerk to review the appraisal process and agree amendments to harmonise staff contracts.

There being no other business the Chairman closed the meeting at 8.55pm.

Chairman