Brixham Signal April 2019
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BRIXHAM SIGNAL Issue 45 Brixham Town Council April 2019 SUPPORT FOR COMMUNITY Bank Closures PRIORITIES TO CONTINUE IN 2019-20 Santander will be closing their Brixham BRIXHAM TOWN COUNCIL BUDGET branch on 30th May 2019. Brixham Town Council has set their budget for 2019/20 Did you know that cash withdrawals, cash and demonstrated their continued support for key and cheque deposits for current & organisations in the community. business accounts of most high street banks can be made at the local Post The precept will increase 9.65% compared to 2018/19 Office? and represents a weekly rise of 9p per household based on a Band D property. For more information see page 23 or visit www.postoffice.co.uk/branch-services Presenting the proposals to members of the Finance and General Purposes the Committee Chair said that the public had once again shown a great interest in both the online and street budget consultation and that the outcome reflects both their feedback and the Council’s determination to safeguard its key organisations and groups. While Torbay Council continues to move headlong towards providing only its statutorily required services, we have resisted the temptation to burden our community with paying for the non-statutory items beyond those that we agreed with them last year. The Town Council is continuing to back Brixham Does Care with £17,000 of funding, Brixham Heritage Museum with £10,000, Shoalstone Pool with £10,000 and Youth Genesis with £8,680. Members at the Full Council meeting rejected a recommendation from the Finance and General Purposes Committee that Shoalstone Pool should not be funded in the 2019/20 budget following a successful year when the Management team had not called for any of the budget that had been set aside for its use in 2018/19. Arguments were accepted that Shoalstone Pool is one of our community’s most iconic and popular features and with so many major challenges ahead members felt that it would be premature to remove its funding at this stage. The Town Council also heard that the Torbay Lengthsman Service Development Agency have recently imposed an increase of 50% to the Service Level Agreement The Town Council will shortly be increasing the charges that the Council pays to them for the Town Lengthsman to a full time Service. provision of a Facilities Management Officer / Hall Keeper to look after the Brixham Town Hall We can carry out work such as vegetation complex. control, hedge cutting, grass strimming, general, graffiti removal, maintenance and Therefore, the Council has decided to investigate minor repairs for public seats and benches. the direct employment of a person in this role and moved the expenditure from its current heading in If you are aware of work that is needed the budget to staff salaries to reflect the potential in the community, please contact the new situation. Town Council office on 01803 859678 or For full details of the budget, please see pages 2 [email protected] and 3. 1 Town Council 2019 / 20 Budget Expenditure Income Budget 2019/20 General Administration Audit £2,500.00 Bank Charges / Bank Interest £92.00 £1,000.00 Civic Award £100.00 Courses £800.00 Information Technology £1,850.00 Meetings £1,900.00 Member Allowance £2,250.00 Newsletter £11,800.00 £4,000.00 Post and Carriage £500.00 Professional Fees £1,000.00 Salaries: Cost of Employment £145,000.00 Stationery £2,000.00 Subscriptions £8,500.00 Travel £400.00 £178,692.00 £5,000.00 £173,692.00 Community Projects Brixham Does Care £17,000.00 Brixham Heritage Museum £10,000.00 General £5,000.00 Youth Genesis £8,680.00 Foodbank £2,000.00 Town Hall Regeneration £10,000.00 £52,680.00 £52,680.00 Council Services Lengthsman Equipment / Materials £5,000.00 Vehicle Insurance / Maintenance £1,500.00 Salary: Cost of Employment £21,000.00 £27,500.00 £2,200.00 £25,300.00 Information Point Salary: Cost of Employment £16,500.00 Office Supplies £1,500.00 £18,000.00 £1,800.00 £16,200.00 Community and the Environment Allotments £3,500.00 £4,000.00 Community Events £10,000.00 Grants £14,000.00 Seasonal Displays £20,000.00 £2,000.00 Shoalstone Pool £10,000.00 £57,500.00 £6,000.00 £51,500.00 Continued on page 3 2 Town Council 2019 / 20 Budget Continued … Expenditure Income Budget 2019/20 Premises Town Hall: Health & Safety / Fire Prevention / Scheduled Inspections £16,000.00 Insurance £4,500.00 Rates £12,000.00 Repairs and Renewals £17,500.00 Service Level Agreements £3,000.00 Utilities £25,000.00 £78,000.00 £70,000.00 £8,000.00 Total 2019 / 20 Budget £412,372.00 £85,000.00 £327,372.00 Less Reserves £10,000.00 2019 / 20 PRECEPT £317,372.00 Directory of charities / community groups / organisations in Brixham Brixham Library, Brixham Community Builders and Brixham Town Council are working together to produce a Directory of charities/community groups/organisations in Brixham. There are a rich variety of voluntary groups in Brixham which bring great benefit to the town. They range from beavers and brownies to canoeing and chess. They provide activities, information or support to others. They run Shoalstone Pool, they have shops to raise funds and keep Brixham looking good. Many are based on volunteers but they may have paid workers as well. Tell us the name of your group and what does it do? (include details of dates / times /venues – continue on another sheet if necessary) ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Contact details for your group: ……………………………………………………………………. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Is there a fee? Please provide details ………..……………………………………………………………………… Website: ………………………………………………………………………………………………... Social media pages: …………………………………………………………………………………. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Please return the completed form to Brixham Library or Brixham Town Council office or email to [email protected] 3 Evaluation Committee The Evaluation Committee consists of the Chairperson of the Council, Vice Chairperson (who chairs this committee) and the Chairpersons of the other committees. Its role is to evaluate the overall performance of the Town Council and its Committees. One of the roles is to consider personnel issues. Funding has been included in the 2019/20 budget for the Town Council to increase the Deputy Clerks hours to full time and the Lengthsmens hours to full time equivalent. Revised job descriptions for these 2 posts as well as for the Receptionist / Information Assistant and Buildings and Facilities Officer were approved. Recruitment for a Receptionist / Information Assistant to cover maternity leave commenced in March. The Service Level Agreement for Brixham Foodbank was discussed and agreed and a Funding Agreement for Brixham Theatre C.I.O. was discussed and agreed. At a future meeting a Service Level Agreement or Funding Agreement for Shoalstone Pool C.I.C. will be discussed. Members of the Evaluation Committee continue to review and develop required policies and procedures which the Council needs to have in place. We considered and agreed a Paternity policy, Grievance policy and Portable appliance testing (PAT) policy. At each meeting members consider reports on training attended and agree what training Councillors and staff can attend. Elections and Timetable for May 2019 At the time of going to print, the notice of elections had been announced and the Town Council began the pre-election or ’purdah’ period. Nominations for new Councillors deadline is 4pm on 3rd April and on 4th April we will see the publication of persons nominated. This year, you have the opportunity to vote for Torbay Ward Councillors, Brixham Town Councillors and the Neighbourhood Plan Referendum. Have you registered to vote? If not, you only have until midnight on Friday 12th April. The easiest way to register is online by visiting www.torbaygov.uk/council/voting-and-elections/ register-to-vote. You will need your National Insurance Number. If you need a paper form, please call Torbay Council on 01803 208008. Polling day will take place on Thursday 2nd May. So what does this mean for Brixham Town Council? Pre-election period or Purdah means that the Town Council will be prevented from making announcements which could be seen to be advantageous to any candidate in the elections. For us, this means that Purdah will run from 19th March until 3rd May. This usually means that we go a little quiet with public announcements, but we are still working hard behind the scenes! During this time, all contact details for existing Councillors will be removed from our website and have been removed from this newsletter. However, if you do need to contact a Councillor, please get in touch with the Town Council office and messages will be passed on. On 7th May, the current Councillors retire and the newly elected Councillors take office. The annual meeting of Brixham Town Council will take place on 16th May at 7pm in the Function Room of the Town Hall As soon as practically possible, we will update our website with photos of our Councillors. So if you want to know who they are, please keep an eye on www.brixhamtowncouncil.gov.uk/ members.php. We will of course announce the names of the Councillors after the Count on Friday 3rd May. 4 This year is not just about elections, we also get an opportunity to vote on the Brixham Peninsula Neighbourhood Plan. What is a Neighbourhood Plan? The Neighbourhood Plan is a way of helping local communities to influence the planning of the area in which they live and work. It can be used to: • Develop a shared vision for the community. • Choose where new homes, shops, offices and other development should be built. • Identify and protect important local green spaces.