Finance and General Purposes - 29 Arpil 2009

MINUTES of the MEETING of the FINANCE AND GENERAL PURPOSES COMMITTEE held on 29 April 2009 in the COMMITTEE ROOM, KNEBWORTH VILLAGE HALL
At 8.00 p.m.
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Present: Mr Anthony Titmarsh (Chairman), Mr John Bantick, Dr Graham Fothergill, Mr Ian Gilmore, Ms Elisabeth Smith and the Clerk

Apologies: Mr Haigh due to work commitments
Mr Hall due to a prior commitment


1. Declaration of Interest

There were no declarations of interest.

2. Minutes

It was proposed by Dr Fothergill, seconded by Mr Gilmore and

RESOLVED “that the Minutes of the Meeting of the Finance and General Purposes Committee Council, held on 11 March 2009, are approved and signed.”

Unanimously agreed.

3. Stationery

The committee discussed different styles and fonts for the letter heading. Triographics is to prepare a few layouts for the Parish Council to consider.

4. Financial Review

Interest income has reduced for the quarter but has exceeded budget. A grant of £550 has been received from NHDC towards the purchase of multimedia equipment. Expenditure at £42,183 is 20% under budget. At the end of the year the Council has approximately £100,000 in the bank, which ensures that it is in a robust financial position.

5. Report on Parish Damage

The Tennis Hut has been damaged. Youths have started small fires in the recreation grounds and the police have been informed. The bollard lights on the footpath from New Close have been vandalised again.

The Community Police now set three specific targets per quarter to focus on. The three for the next quarter are car crime on Pondcroft and Milestone Roads, antisocial behaviour in the Recreation Ground on Friday and Saturday nights and inappropriate use of the footway on Pondcroft Road, Milestone Road and London Road.

6. Road Signs

Mr Jack has inspected the road signs but has not reported his findings.



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7. Milestone

Milestone 29 located between Knebworth and the Roebuck has been inspected by Councillors Titmarsh and Fothergill and the manager of Odyssey. The fly tipping material is to be removed, the fence repaired and the area cleared prior to any work being undertaken. Art Van Go may repaint the milestone.

8. Office Equipment

The laptop has been purchased; the projector and screen are in the process of being ordered.

9. Village Website

There had been some interest to continue maintaining the village website. The committee discussed the merits of combining the village website with the Parish Council website. No costs had been obtained regarding maintenance costs of the website. Woolmer Green Parish council’s website is maintained by a parish councillor. Local knowledge would be helpful to anyone maintaining the website. The Clerk is to contact Mrs Weaver to discuss possible council involvement in maintaining the website.

10. Report on Short Term Funds on Deposit

There is currently £135,000 on an instant deposit account bearing 0.1% interest rate. This is a flat rate across all Barclays bank accounts. Treasury deposit minimum is £500,000 for one month or £100,000 for six. Barclays currently has a six month bond paying 1.35% with a minimum deposit of £20,000. A suitable sum is to be placed on deposit for six months.

11. Christmas Lights

The lights have been inspected, the tree lights on St Martins Green are working, and remedial work on decorations, power supplies and PAT testing will cost £150. Lamps and Tues are to proceed with the repairs.

12. Fidelity Guarantee

The external auditor recommends that the guarantee is set at the balance at the end of the year plus 50% of the precept which would result in the guarantee being set at £150,000, currently £100,000. The committee gave consideration to the recommendation but in light of the length of service of the clerk, the figure is a maximum, and reduces by approximately £10,000 on a monthly basis. The increase would cost £130. After due diligence the committee accepts that the risk is minimum and agreed to leave the guarantee at £100,000.

13. Notice board

The notice board in Station Approach has been refurbished, and it was agreed that the Planning board would be removed and to be improved in line with the other boards. A header board is to be purchased from Ternex at a cost of £130.

14. Congestion Charge

Mr Titmarsh wished to propose that Knebworth levies a congestion charge, with funds ploughed back into the village. There have been parking and traffic problems in Knebworth for over 35 years and he did not believe that residents should pay for
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commuters to park in Knebworth. The A1 is to run on three lanes using the hard shoulder, together with the traffic lights on the A1 slip roads, there will be more congestion through the village. Following a fatal accident last year the north bound carriageway of the A1 (M) was closed for thirteen and half hours.

The committee considered the proposal unrealistic, Manchester has recently opposed congestion charging.

15. Meeting Dates

It was suggested that all meetings should be held on Wednesday, with Village Hall meetings to follow Planning Meetings which would leave F&GP meetings on their own. Consistency of start times of meetings was requested. This is to be discussed at the next Parish Council meeting

16. Any Other Business

16.1 NHDC Scrutiny Committee
The chairman informed the committee that he had attended a scrutiny committee on CCTV cameras. Knebworth is the only village to have CCTV and he considered it to be successful especially with the number plate recognition camera.

16.2 Complaint from New Labour
A letter has been received from the agent for New Labour reporting that he had received a complaint from a resident that the Parish Update has been delivered enclosing a Conservative party newsletter criticising the Labour government. The agent believes that this implies that the Parish Council is supporting the Conservative party/ candidate. He has reported this to the Electoral Services. The clerk has informed Electoral Services that the Council relies on volunteers and was not aware that this had happened, and will endeavour to avoid it recurring. The clerk is to write to the agent.

16.2 Recycling for Flats
NHDC is to introduce recycling for flats across the district once its trial is completed in August 2009.

16.3 Station Pub
The Station Pub is regularly leaving a hoarding on the pavement pushing pedestrians into the road. The clerk is to write to the landlord requesting a stop to this practice.

16.4 Rubbish Old Knebworth Lane
The clerk is to contact NDHC to clear the rubbish in the lay-by in Old Knebworth Lane.

The chairman thanked the committee members for their support throughout the year.

There being no other business the meeting closed at 09.55 pm.