Finance Minutes 3rd June 2024
Finance Committee Meeting 3rd June 2024 (Zoom meeting)
Attendees: Phil, Gil, Chris, Jonathan, David Apologies: none
Minutes of last meeting (7th May) - approved.
Action points from last meeting:
Council agreed to adopt the practice of paying certain grants monies direct in order to reclaim VAT if apppropriate. This will only be possible if we can make online payments as it is not possible to have a debit card with an HSBC charity account (need for authorisation).
Two quotes for bench maintenance received (three other contractors either failed to reply or show up at arranged meetings). Bit of a range: either £120/bench or £180 for seven benches! Quote attached for approval.
Insurance policy: Council decided to not pay the additional premium and take a decision on which fixed assets to insure at the next renewal date (end-August).
Investment Strategy - see item 5
May transactions and bank reconciliations
Review of May transactions. Bank reconciliations checked by Jonathan.
Audit Timetable
The Annual Return was approved and signed off by council and has been submitted to Audit Wales.
Timetable for public inspection of accounts​ by 16 June 2024, publish the attached audit notice on a noticeboard in the area AND on the Council’s website for a minimum of 14 calendar days; and
after the 14 calendar days referred to above, make appropriate arrangements for the public to inspect the accounts and supporting documents for a total of 20 working days to from 01 July to 26 July 2024.
house.
Investment Strategy
Review of interest rates available to councils is in progress; the need for dual authorisation severely limits the range of accounts. Interest rates on HSBC term accounts are below the 2% currently earned on our Money Manager account.
Minimum deposit for Public Sector Deposit Fund is £25,000. The fund is ultra-safe but not part of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
Financial Documentation
All documentation complete and approved at the AGM.
Given recent difficulties in complying with our rules we reviewed the current ‘three-tier’ system for obtaining quotes.
We felt that part of the problem was due to the use of the word ‘Quotes’ and recommend that this is replaced in Financial Regulations with the phrase ‘quotes and/or comparative prices’:
We did not feel that it was necessary to change the lower limit or to allow greater individual discretion at this time. However, the second tier was overly wide and we recommend reducing it to £2,000.
The three tiers would now be:
up to £250: no quotes required, still need to check comparative prices;
from £250 to £2000, we should strive to obtain three quotes and/or comparative prices;
above £2000 we need three quotes.
Councillors are obliged at all times to seek the best value for money. This does not necessarily mean ‘lowest price’ where other issues such as service quality are equally important.
The Financial Regulations would then need to be updated as follows: Orders for Work, Goods and Services (section 10.3):
All members and officers are responsible for obtaining value for money at all times. An officer issuing an official order shall ensure as far as reasonable and practicable that the best available terms are obtained in respect of each transaction, usually by obtaining three or more quotations or estimates from appropriate suppliers, subject to any de minimis provisions in Regulation 11.1 below. We have adopted a ‘three-tier’ approach as follows: up to £250 (no quotes required, still need to check comparative prices); from £250 to £2,000 (strive to obtain three quotes and/or comparative prices); above £2,000 three quotes required).
Banking arrangements and Authorisation of Payments (Section 5.9):
Regulation 10.3 regarding the need to obtain value for money applies equally to persons and organisations submitting grant and/or funding requests. Above £2,000 three quotes are required; where the value is below £2,000 but above £250 the applicant shall strive to obtain three quotes and/or comparative prices. Below £250 the Council will use its discretion regarding the nature of the request. All invoices for such payment shall be examined and certified by the RFO to confirm that the work, goods or services to which each invoice relates has been received, carried out, examined and represents expenditure previously approved by the Council. All payments are subject to ratification by resolution of the Council. The RFO will maintain a spreadsheet of grants and funding requests outstanding and include this information in the monthly Finance Report.
The summary Financial Regulations will require similar changes.
The Grant Request Form needs updating to comply with the Welsh Language Policy:
‘In the information that is sent to those intending to apply for financial assistance towards local activities, the Council will make it clear that there is need for applicants to describe how they intend to reflect the linguistic nature of the community and their audience in the activities for which they require financial support. When considering applications, the Council will ensure that applicants have appropriately reflected the linguistic nature of the community and their audience in their application.’
Any other business
Need to vire the Noticeboards (contingency fund). Brief discussion on the need for longer-term planning. This is already on the agenda for the next council meeting.
Playground maintenance. We have a one-to-one meeting with the ‘Town and Community Council liaison’ people from Conwy Council on 25th June. At present Sylvia and David are attending; we should open this meeting to other councillors and/or collect questions together for presentation. Details attached.
Enrolpay. It was suggested at the last council meeting that we cancel this service and use the free HMRC service instead. On consideration, the RFO strongly feels that the value of the excellent helpdesk provided by Enrolpay more than justifies the £6 monthly cost (e.g. recent automatic submission for entitlement to £5,000 NI allowance).
June 15th Picnic. General disappointment that council has not been better organised. David to send out an email asap to gain approval for £250 to be available to spend on fliers and ‘freebies’.
Next meeting: Monday, the week before the next council meeting.