Present:
| Members | Present | Apologies | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chair: Cllr G Darrington | ✓ | ||
| Deputy Chair: Cllr P Brown | ✓ | ||
| Cllr C Barnes | ✓ | ||
| Cllr P Darrington | ✓ | ||
| Cllr C Morgan | ✓ | ||
| Cllr C Prestedge | ✓ | ||
| Cllr E Uttley | ✓ | ||
| Cllr R Wood | ✓ |
Officers:
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) – Ryan Hayman
Executive Assistant – Tracey Bayliss
Parks & Open Spaces Manager – George Brooker
Venue Manager – Kerina Keir
Gateway Manager – Claire Cormack
Also Present:
Cllr S Durden
Cllr L Dyball
Cllr K Mitchell
Public: NONE PRESENT
MEETING COMMENCED: 20:06
12073 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
NONE
12074 MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING
To approve as correct the Minutes of the Meeting held on Wednesday 20th September 2023.
APPROVED AND SIGNED
12075 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
NONE
12076 TO RECEIVE THE MONTHLY FINANCES
Civic Centre
4903 – Insurance Claims. It was asked what the £866.44 spend was for. It was confirmed that it was the replacement for the top barrier and gate at the Birches car park after it was damaged.
4906 – Grantsh – General. It was asked what the £2,700 amount was for. It was confirmed it was the Sevenoaks District Council grant towards various projects including the skatepark graffiti art, floodlights, flowers and to replace two trees in the town centre.
4900 – Investment Income – It was noted to see the increase in the investment income. CEO confirmed that the precept payment had now been paid into the CCLA.
4800 – Town Crier Advertising Revenue. It was mentioned that the revenue was down on last year’s figures. It was noted that this was due to one issue not being published because of the purdah period for the elections and the current version has not yet been billed because it has not yet been published. It should show in next month’s figures.
4605 – Court Hire: Netball. It was noted that the court hire was down on last year’s figures but noted that 4612 – Court Hire: Tennis figures are up over the same period last year and over the expected target for the whole 2023/2024 budget already which is very encouraging.
5038 – Light up the Town. It was asked if the £7,342.34 spend was for the Christmas displays. CEO confirmed that it was.
7600 – Legal Fees. It was asked why there was an amount of £1,140 shown in red. CEO confirmed that it was due to drawing up a new lease with the Oaks and the new partners chose a solicitor who is not currently practising to carry out their legal work. STC’s solicitors are practising and cannot accept money from a non-practising solicitor. This is a payment for our solicitor carrying out the legal work for the new partners and the non-practising solicitor had to pay us directly. This amount will be paid out and it will neutralise.
7702 – Equipment Leasing. It was asked what the £5026.39 figure was for. CEO referred this to the Responsible Finance Officer (RFO) to respond to on his return.
8204 – Insurance. It was asked what the £1,643.10 figure was for. CEO confirmed that this was for the plant & lift machinery insurance.
8207 – Conference Events. It was asked what £787.50 figure was for. CEO referred this to the Responsible Finance Officer (RFO) to respond to on his return.
8208 – Grants. It was asked what the £2,900 grant payment was for. CEO confirmed that this was for subsidising the £2,700 grant from SDC for the skatepark graffiti art, floodlights, flowers and tree replacement.
Alexandra Suite
5020 – Equipment/Machinery. It was asked what the £355 spend was. It was mentioned that it was for the EPOS system.
7807 – Keys, Locks & Chains. It was asked what the £58.50 spend was. Venues Manager confirmed it was for new keys for the Pavilion.
The Olympic
7803 – Premises Expenses. It was mentioned that last year’s budget was set at £12,322 but the budget for this year is only £2,000 why is this.
CEO confirmed that new pumps were budgeted for, but this year due to the new projects list separately, going forward the premises expenses budgets will be smaller than historically because a lot of the costs will be contained within the projects.
4125 – Venue Event Income. It was asked what the £490 spend was for. CEO referred this to the Responsible Finance Officer (RFO) to respond to on his return.
5020 – Equipment/Machinery. It was asked what the £101.56 spend was for. It was suggested that it was possibly for the new EPOS system.
Swanley Park
4023 – Rent – Nursery. It was asked if the £2,166.66 payment was the first payment from Dawn to Dusk Nursery. It was confirmed it was.
4710 – Car Parking. It was noted that the car parking was quite low for September. It was mentioned that we are trialling a new system and there has been an issue getting the data from Creative Car Park. This has now been rectified and we are just now invoicing for August and September. These figures will show next month.
7012 – Security Staffing. It was noted that the budget has nearly been reached over two months for the 2023/2024 budget, what is this being used for. It was confirmed that the park has now entered the quiet period and security staffing was being used over the summer months at the park to help prevent vandalism. Costs have increased for security, and it is still within budget. Security staffing has now finished for this season at the park.
7702 – Equipment Leasing. It was asked what the £933.14 amount was for.
CEO referred this to the Responsible Finance Officer (RFO) to respond to on his return.
7805 – Small Tools. It was asked what the £109.21 spend was for. It was confirmed that it was for paint supplies for the Barnyard.
7837 – Park Signs. It was asked what the £108.61 spend was for. CEO confirmed it was for new soft play signage.
Housing Stock
It was noted generally that there are still erratic rental payments being received. It was asked what security was in place. CEO confirmed that all tenants paid one months deposit as standard. Rental payments are now up-to-date, and one property is slightly in credit.Property #4 – 7800 Repairs & Maintenance. It was asked what the £378.05 spend was for. It was confirmed that it was for fence repairs.
Swanley Link
8203 – Training. It was asked what the £119 spend was for. It was confirmed that it was for fire marshal training.
Bank Reconciliation
It was noted that there is a good balance in the bank account. CEO mentioned that CIL funding is being received shortly alongside the precept payment.
Projects
Lounge Area/Reception. It was mentioned that the lounge area project was 29% over budget and it was asked why this was the case. It was confirmed that there were other aspects of projects included to try and obtain value for money for a larger project. Overall costs were higher than anticipated generally.
Boating area. This was 55% over budget but was offset by installation of a new door frontage and flooring to the café which only used 48% of the budget.
It was asked when the on-hold projects are now likely to be started. It was confirmed that the Tractor Shed Bricked up project is a winter project and will be coming to Full Council soon for approval for bricklaying work. The Café project to replace existing flooring is hoped to be coming in under budget.
CEO mentioned that a new five-year maintenance plan for all sites is currently being worked on which will form part of the budget moving forward which may mean that the project sheet may be changed slight to reflect this and may also change the projects that are on hold.
Housing Stock Statement of Accounts
It was asked for the payment of £2,444.16 for rent where the 16p came from. It was confirmed that it was due to the time the payment was paid for half a month and the payment was split.
It was mentioned that the new reports were very useful, and it makes the financial status of each property very clear. The RFO was thanked for producing these reports and it was requested that these were supplied on a permanent basis moving forward.
The RFO was asked to run internal finance training sessions for all Councillors.
RESOLVED – accepted reports A/B/C/D/E/F/G/H/I/J/K
Date of next meeting – Wednesday 15th November 2023
MEETING CLOSED AT: 20:47
SIGNED: 15/11/2023
Cllr G Darrington
Chair of Policy and Finance
