Minutes
Minutes of a meeting of the FINANCE & GENERAL PURPOSES COMMITTEE held at 7.30pm on Wednesday 26th June 2024 in The Mountfitchet Exchange, Crafton Green, 72 Chapel Hill, Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex
PRESENT Cllr J O’Brien (Chair). Cllrs M Caton, S Ghosh, P Jones and A Khan
ATTENDING Mrs Ruth Clifford – Parish Clerk, Mrs Emma Philbrick – Deputy Clerk, 1 member of the public via Zoom
71 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Sell – Away for work.
RESOLVED To approve the apologies for absence from Cllr Sell.
72 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST – None
73 TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 15TH MAY 2024
RESOLVED To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 15th May 2024 as a true and accurate account.
74 TO RECEIVE AN UPDATE ON ACTION POINTS SINCE THE LAST MEETING
31 – Clerk to speak to auditors on 3rd June and report back at the next meeting – Auditors advised that the Public Works Loans Board is not the only option for borrowing and that they can go to any legitimate UK source of funding as long as the correct process is followed.
33b – Clerk and Cllr O’Brien to discuss the light in Lower Street – Along with Cllr Jones, the three of them are still having discussions and trying to decide the best way forward.
35 – Ask the contractor to disable the light for 6 months and discuss at the meeting on 4th December 2024 – Light disabled and will bring any comments to the meeting in December.
36 – Contact Let’sTalk Stansed and request updated documents. Email to Committee for approval – Documents received and the committee unanimously agreed that the grant can now be approved and paid.
36 – Arrange meeting re application from Stansted Millers – Meeting took place and it went to the last Full Council meeting.
75 TO RECEIVE A REPORT FROM THE CHAIR, CLLR O’BRIEN
Just when we have seen inflation fall to 2%, we are sure to face a period of uncertainty following the results of the General Election in 9-days’ time. It is with satisfaction that our Internal Auditor has praised our financial controls and I thank our Clerk, as Responsible Financial Officer, for her skill and diligence. To add to our financial controls, we are now able to implement a two-step verification safeguarding process for payments through Barclays bank.
‘Caution’ must now become our mantra and the need for an accredited status for Cyber Security has recently been seen as essential, at a time of increasing cyber-attacks on institutions. Committee will discuss further measures.
The new server for the CCTV system has been installed but brings with it the need to keep the electronic equipment safe and operating in a stable environment. It has been recommended that air conditioning equipment is needed to provide this.
Finally, it is also time for the Committee to consider the appointment of an Internal Auditor for recommendation to Full Council. REPORT ENDS.
76 LIGHTING
- a) TO RECEIVE AN OUTAGE REPORT
The Clerk advised that a resident has reported that a couple of lights at the bottom of Chapel Hill are out but we don’t know which ones. She asked if Councillors passing could have a look and let the office know.
- b) TO RECEIVE A GENERAL REPORT ON LIGHTING
The part-night lighting scheme is now finished with the last of the lights done this week. Cllr O’Brien asked if we had got any further trying to get access to WR5 which is in the garden of a property and the Clerk advised that she is in touch with the company who are renting the property out.
77 FINANCE – TO APPROVE THE LIST OF PAYMENTS
Cllr Jones checked the invoices against the schedule before the start of the meeting. With no questions, the list of payments was approved.
78 TO CONSIDER AUTHORISING THE CLERK TO UPGRADE THE COUNCIL’S SECURITY SYSTEMS TO ACHIEVE CYBER ESSENTIALS ACCREDITATION
A report from the Clerk was circulated with the agenda giving details of why we wanted to go ahead with this, and the quote received from our IT company. She gave further details at the meeting and advised in her opinion that the Committee should be minded to proceed.
Cllr Khan explained that this is something they have introduced in his workplace and that we need to consider the implications on councillors accessing the server. Everyone will need to have Windows 11 on their devices and all phones will have to be the latest Android and iPhone if accessing Parish Council emails and attachments. Councillors will also need to sign a Bring Your Own Device Policy. The Clerk confirmed that she will speak to the IT company regarding this extra information and report back at a future meeting.
79 TO CONSIDER GRANT APPLICATIONS RECEIVED
An application received from Uttlesford Community Travel was circulated to members with the agenda. After discussions between members and having been proposed by Cllr Caton and seconded by Cllr Ghosh, it was unanimously
RESOLVED To reward Uttlesford Community Travel a grant of £1,000.
80 TO CONSIDER QUOTES FOR AN ADDITIONAL AIR CONDITIONING UNIT IN THE DATA ROOM
A report from the Clerk was circulated with the agenda explaining why this was needed and detailed quotes received. Having been proposed by Cllr Jones and seconded by Cllr Caton, it was unanimously
RESOLVED to accept the lower quote received.
81 TO MAKE A RECOMMENDATION TO FULL COUNCIL FOR THE APPOINTMENT OF AN INTERNAL AUDITOR
A report from the Clerk was circulated with the agenda. The Clerk explained that the third company contacted for a quote only came back to her today. The delay was due to them already being at capacity with work, but they now feel that could take this work on. Despite the Clerk advising of the Council’s precept, their quote did not cover working for a Council of this size precept and she had not had a response from them having queried this. She advised that she was concerned by their response and lack of correct quote information.
Cllr Khan asked if we had used any of the companies before and if they were known to us. The Clerk confirmed that no, we haven’t and no, they are not but that they had come recommended by other Parish Councils. The two quotes received are very similar in price and had no differences in what they were offering so it was agreed that the Clerk would seek references for both companies and then bring it back to the Committee for them to then decide which company to recommend to Full Council.
82 WINDMILL – TO RECEIVE ANY UPDATES
Cllr O’Brien reported that the Millers are currently seeking volunteer helpers for their bank holiday fete. He has sent an email to councillors to see if there is anyone they know who can help.
They are in the process of working with the Scheduled Monument Commission regarding the lime mortar that will be used for the repointing project.
83 STAFF MATTERS – TO RECEIVE ANY UPDATES
Nothing to report
84 YOUTH MATTERS – TO RECEIVE ANY UPDATES
Youth Club: Cllr Caton reported that It’s going really well and a monitoring meeting with the supplier of the service is scheduled for Friday so there will be further updates at the next meeting. We are getting good feedback regarding the service, and she paid a visit to them a couple of weeks ago and the kids are enjoying the range of different activities. The Youth Club leader is going to be joining the Twinning Committee and hopefully arranging for some of them to go on the visits to Rungis.
Youth Council: Cllr Caton advised that this is tricky as currently some members are taking exams or planning on moving on to college etc so it has been difficult to get hold of the Chair and Secretary during this period. Due to this, the next scheduled meeting has had to be cancelled. Some of the Youth Club members have shown an interest in taking some of the positions on the Youth Council. The planned trip to the Southend Youth Council has been postponed until the membership of the Youth Council has been sorted out.
Meeting closed at 8.04pm
ACTION POINTS
78 Clerk to seek further information from our IT company
81 Clerk to seek references and bring back to the next meeting
Agenda
Members of the Committee you are hereby summoned, and members of the public and press are hereby invited, to attend a meeting of the FINANCE AND GENERAL PURPOSES COMMITTEE which will be held at 7.30pm on Wednesday 26th June 2024 in The Mountfitchet Exchange, Crafton Green, 72 Chapel Hill, Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex where the following business will be transacted:
1 To receive apologies for absence
2 To receive declarations of interest
3 To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 15th May 2024
4 To receive an update on action points from the last meeting
5 To receive a report from the Chair, Cllr O’Brien
6 Lighting:
- a) To receive an outage report
- b) To receive a general report on lighting
7 Finance: To approve the list of payments for authorisation – to be tabled
8 To consider authorising the Clerk to upgrade the Council’s security systems to achieve Cyber Essentials Accreditation – see attached Clerk’s Report
9 To consider grant applications received – see attached Clerk’s Report
10 To consider quotes for an additional air conditioning unit in the data room – see attached Clerk’s Report
11 To make a recommendation to Council for the appointment of an Internal Auditor – see attached Clerk’s Report
12 Windmill – to receive any available updates
13 Staff Matters – to receive any available updates
14 Youth Matters – to receive any available updates
Parish Clerk – 20th June 2024
Any intention to record, film or take photographs during a meeting must be notified to the Clerk prior to the start of the meeting.