ECCLESHALL PARISH COUNCIL – POLICY AND RESOURCES COMMITTEE – Wednesday, January 4^th 2023

A meeting of the Policy and Resources Committee was held on Wednesday, 4^th January 2023, following the Enhancements committee meeting, at 9.10pm.

Present were:-

Councillor P. Jones (Chair)                        Councillor R. Taylor

Councillor S. Perren                                    Councillor C. Wilkins

Councillor G. Dale                                      Councillor L. Dale

Councillor A. Reid

Mrs S. J. Worden (Clerk)

No members of the Public

Observer: Cllr. D. Hill

1).   Apologies:-

Apologies were received from Councillor J. Jones

2).    Minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday September 7th 2022:-

The minutes, which had previously been noted by the Council, were agreed and signed.

3).   Budget update 2022/23:-

Prior to the meeting, the Clerk circulated an updated report detailing balances and expenditure to date against the budget.

This report was discussed and accepted by members.

4).   Consideration and recommendation for the budget and associated precept 2023/24:

Members were provided with a draft budget and a document detailing a number of options with regards to the precept and how it would affect the Council’s financial position. The budget incorporated a 10% nominal rate of inflation in areas where costs were not confirmed. The draft budget presented was £108,823.00, with an increase in EMR of £6,855 to rebuild areas of recent expenditure and to ensure funds are available for unexpected expenses and future projects.

Members discussed the current challenging financial climate and did not wish to create any additional financial burden to residents. In order to set a precept that would not result in an increase, the committee agreed on a £4,000 reduction to the proposal which would be found by a combination of budget reductions and reducing new contributions to the Earmarked Reserves. It was resolved to approve this course of action. The Clerk will provide an updated draft budget to reflect these changes, which will be brought to the Parish Council for its approval on the 18^th January.

Based on these planned reductions, it was resolved to recommend a precept of £85,950 be levied for 2023/24. Whilst this is a slight increase of 0.4% in income, due to an increased tax base (number of taxable households) the net increase to residents will be 0%.

5).   To provide an update to the bank account switch and consider adding an additional signatory to the account.

The new bank accounts with Unity are up and running. In order to ensure payments are processed promptly, it was requested that the committee approve an additional signatory. Cllr. L. Dale requested to be removed from the signatory list.

It was resolved to recommend Cllrs. Taylor and Reid be added as signatories and Cllr. L. Dale be removed.

6).    Consideration of Grant Requests:

• Broughton WI – Croxton Community Well Dressing Festival
• Eccleshall Community Amateur Dramatics
• Katharine House
• Eccleshall Tennis Club

£1,314 is available within the grants budget to be allocated for this financial year, which does not cover the total amount requested by all of the organisations. Some organisations may have greater opportunities to approach multiple sources of funding/national funding sources and this was considered in the deliberations.

It was resolved to recommend allocation of the remaining grant budget as follows:

• Broughton WI – Croxton Community Well Dressing Festival – £400
• Eccleshall Community Amateur Dramatics – £500
• Katharine House – £200
• Eccleshall Tennis Club – £200

It was noted that further applications could be considered in the next financial year.

7).   To consider the quotations received for the Parish Council insurance policy

Members considered the 2 quotations received. It was resolved to recommend continuation of the current policy with Gallagher and to enter into a 3 year Long Term Agreement to retain the competitive price. The Clerk advised that as the renewal date of the policy is the 21^st January and very close to the next council meeting date it will be prudent to proceed with acceptance and payment under the delegated authority currently in place in order to ensure continuous cover.

8).   Items for next meeting:-

Any items for the next meeting can be forwarded to the Clerk

9).  Date of next meeting:-  Wednesday 1^st March 2023, following the planning committee meeting.

There being no further business, the Chairman declared the meeting closed at 9.45pm.