PARISH COUNCIL OF NEWLANDS
MINUTES OF THE FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING HELD ON THURSDAY 7 JANUARY 2021
VIA A ZOOM TELECONFERENCE COMMENCING AT 7.30 pm
Members: Cllr F Tingle (Chair) (P) Cllr O Barneveld
Cllr A Berry Cllr A Carden (P)
Cllr D Crichton (P) Cllr A Kirby
Cllr J Parry (P) Cllr L Price (P)
Cllr M Read (P)
Also present was Tony Daniells, Clerk to the Council and Karen Seear who recorded the meeting.
039/21F Apologies: Apologies were received from Cllr A Berry, Cllr O Barneveld and Cllr A Kirby.
040/21F Declarations of Interest: Cllr M Read declared a personal interest as a Ward Member for Winchester
City Council.
041/21F Minutes of the Previous Meeting
The minutes from the Finance Committee Meeting dated 5
th November 2020 were received. It was
unanimously RESOLVED that the minutes of the Finance Committee meeting be accepted as
an accurate record and were duly signed by the Chair.
042/21F Matters arising and outstanding matters from Previous Minutes
a) Update from Grainger regarding utility bills: Cllr David Crichton is waiting for an update on the
share of the cost of the utility bills the council will be expected to pay. Due to the present co-vid
situation, the Community Hall is being used very occasionally and only for office use. Once the hall
is able to be operational again and used for hire, the costs for utility usage will need to be considered.
The clerk has asked Jenni Upstill from Grainger for a revised copy of utility bills and for an idea of
what she will expect the costs to be. Utility costs have been factored into the council’s budget. It is
expected that the costs of running the community hall will come out of the income generated from
hire of the hall.
b) Fire extinguishers: The clerk gave an update. As Grainger had installed the fire extinguishers, it
may be expected that they are to maintain them, this is yet to be confirmed. The Chair wished to
ensure the extinguishers are maintained for insurance purposes. At present with so little going on in
the community building there is not requirement for this and it was decided that the subject be
revisited once the building is in action again.
c) Estimate of charges: Cllr M Read had received an estimate of charges from Winchester City
Council. Cllr M Read asked for the figure to be made available for budget reasons. If the council
were to need to hold a by-election extra charges will be payable. Budget reserves will allow for this.
There is no change to the precept.
043/21F Public Participation: There was no requirement for a public session.
044/21F Finance
a) Orders for Payment: It was unanimously RESOLVED that the payments detailed on the
Orders for Payment (list 12) should be APPROVED in the sum of £487.70 including VAT
and that further payments of £118.40 were ratified and that NIL receipts are noted.
b) Bank Statement: The December Bank statement had previously been circulated. The
statements were reviewed and the balances as of 30th December 2020 were agreed. The
statements will be signed by the Chair at a later date.
c) Accounts: Cllr M Read noted that four payments had exceeded their budget. The clerk
explained that some payments had increased and some had not been budgeted for.
• Subscriptions have increased as the council now includes a subscription to Parish
Online, which was not originally budgeted for.
• Telephone payments now also include a Zoom subscription which also had not been
budgeted for.
• Web hosted is now chargeable as the clerk switched from a free hosting version to a
chargeable version, this also was not budgeted for.
• Payroll and admin had been estimated, an accurate figure is now available. Plans
regarding the budget need to be considered if another member of staff is recruited.
To note.
045/21F Investment Strategy: The Clerk summarized the Strategy which prioritized security and liquidity of
any investments over return. A Strategy was required prior to receiving commuted sums for open
space adoption. Cllr M Read referred to a list of approved investments for public funds which he
hopes to source for the council.
It was AGREED to defer consideration of the Strategy until the next meeting of the Full
Council.
046/21F 2021/2022 Budget
a) Consideration of the Amenities budget: The upcoming precept figures require submitting shortly.
The amenities budget was discussed. It was AGREED that there was no need to consider an
amenities budget prior to the precept demand as the any spend will come out of reserves and
further considered at the next amenities committee.
047/21F Other reports:
• Cllr D Crichton asked if there is national guidance regarding procedures if the council was
to hold a by-election? He wished to know if the council could hold a by-election and if so
how could it be held with regard to current circumstances? What would the process involve
and how could it be in line with national guidelines? Cllr D Crichton will find out more from
Cllr L Price, who although was in attendance at the meeting, had microphone problems. Cllr
M Read had also asked Winchester City Council questions regarding elections during the
pandemic. He had asked which polling stations are likely to be used, as some polling stations
are held within sheltered accommodation. The count also raises questions as to how it could
take place, due to the large amount of people involved.
• Cllr M Read asked for an update on the leaking roof at the community building. Cllr D
Crichton was able to provide an update to Councillors but would now like a further update
from Grainger as to when the council are likely to be able to use the building. Jenni Upstill
from Grainger had arranged a meeting for later on in January, the clerk will check whether
this meeting is still going ahead in the hopes that answers to these questions will provided if
the meeting goes ahead.
The meeting closed at 20:23 pm. The next Finance Committee meeting will be held on Thursday 4
March 2021.
