Ref: Finadmin/fagenda 23rd December 2020 TO: ALL MEMBERS OF THE FINANCE, POLICY AND ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE Dear Councillor, A Meeting of the Finance, Policy and Administration Committee will be held on: MONDAY 4TH JANUARY 2021 TO BE HELD REMOTELY AT 7.30 PM Please contact [email protected] for access details The Agenda is attached. Yours sincerely Mr J Whelan Town Clerk Members of the Committee Councillors: Mrs R Bolton, R Deering, Mrs J Goodeve, Mrs S Newton, R Pinkham, A Porrer, P Ruffles, Miss J C S Sartin and T Tarrega Substitutions: Councillors: R Cinnamon, Mrs S Barber, Mrs M Brady, Mrs A Daar, S Hunt, J Lynch MBE TOWN CLERK – JOSEPH WHELAN MBA The Castle Hertford SG14 1HR Tel: 01992 552885 Fax: 01992 505876 Email: [email protected] AGENDA OF THE FINANCE, POLICY & ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE MEETING TO BE HELD ON MONDAY 4 JANUARY 2021 AT 7.30 PM, TO BE HELD REMOTELY 1. RECORDING OF MEETING To establish if it is the intention of any person present to record the meeting. 2. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE To receive apologies for absence. 3. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST To receive Members’ declarations of Disclosable Pecuniary Interests (as defined by the Relevant Authorities (Disclosable Pecuniary Interests) Regulations 2012) where these Disclosable Pecuniary Interests: a) Have not already been entered into the register and b) Relate to a matter to be considered To note that such interests so declared must be formally notified to Town Clerk and the Monitoring Officer at East Hertfordshire District Council of the interest within 28 days. To receive Members’ declarations of Declarable Interests in accordance with Hertford Town Council’s Code of Conduct (adopted 8th April 2013, as amended March 2020). 4. THE MINUTES To confirm as correct the Minutes of the meeting held on 19 October 2020 and to authorise the Chairman to sign the same. 5. ACTION SHEET To note the Action Sheet - PAPER A (page 5) 6. QUESTIONS AND/OR STATEMENTS FROM MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC Members of the public may speak about specific items on this agenda which contain a recommendation, provided they have advised the Town Clerk of their wish to speak no later than midday on the Friday before the meeting (or midday of the last working day of the week before the meeting). A list giving details of the name(s) and relevant 1 agenda item(s) will be circulated to Councillors before the meeting commences. 7. SECOND QUARTER INCOME AND EXPENDITURE 2020/21 To receive a report on the income and expenditure to 30 September 2020 – PAPER B (page 7) 8. FINANCE (a) Draft Budget 2021/22 To consider the draft budget for 2021/22 - PAPER C (page 41) (b) Bank Reconciliations To receive the bank reconciliation summaries for September to November 2020 - PAPER D (page 47) (As agreed at the meeting of this Committee on 16th February 2009, summary sheets only are provided. Bank Statements can be viewed in the Castle at any time (c) Interim Internal Audit for 2020/21 To receive a copy of the first Interim Internal Audit report for 2020/21- PAPER E (page 51) (d) Final External Audit for 2019/20 To receive a copy of the Final External Audit report for 2019/20- PAPER F (page 61) 9. COMMUNITY GRANT APPLICATIONS To consider the following applications under the Community Grant Fund. (a) The Hertford Club (b) Hertford Voices Touring Choir (c) Rotary Club of Hertford (d) Hertford and Ware Air Training Corps PAPER G (page 65) 10. NEW HOMES BONUS GRANT FUND APPLICATIONS To consider the following applications under the NHB Grant Fund. (a) Hertford and Ware Air Training Corps (b) Holy Trinity, Bengeo 2 PAPER H (page 67) 11. PERSONNEL SUB COMMITTEE To receive the minutes of the Personnel Sub Committee Meeting held on 16 November 2020. PAPER I (page 69) 12. REVIEW OF CONSTITUTION To review the following documents within the Constitution a) 1.1 Intro page 73 b) 1.2 Residents and the Council page 79 c) 1.3 Powers and Functions page 83 d) 1.4 Town Clerk and other Managers page 87 e) 1.5 Council’s Assets page 91 13. MUSEUM REPORT To receive the Annual Report from the Museum and funding bid - PAPER J (page 97) 14. FINANCE, POLICY & ADMINISTRATION OBJECTIVES FOR 2019 - 2023 To note the progress on the Objectives 2019-23 – PAPER K (page 129) 15. EXCLUSION OF PRESS AND PUBLIC It is recommended that in view of the confidential nature of the following item, which relates to the business matters of other individuals and organisations, the public shall be excluded while the following item is discussed. This is in accordance with the Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960, as amended by the Local Government Act 1972. 16. HUMAN RESOURCE AND ORGANISATION DEVELOPMENT CONSULTANCY SERVICES To receive a report regarding the award for the contract for Human Resource and Organisation Development Consultancy Services. – PAPER L (page 137) 3 This page is intentionally blank 4 PAPER A ACTION LIST FROM th FINANCE, ADMINISTRATION AND POLICY COMMITTEE MEETING – 19 OCTOBER 2020 ACTION BY DUE DATE STATUS AS AT DECEMBER 2020 No items to report Ref:FinAdmin/ActList/1 5 This page is intentionally blank 6 PAPER B REPORT TO A MEETING OF THE POLICY, FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE – 4 JANUARY 2021 AGENDA ITEM 7 – SECOND QUARTER INCOME & EXPENDITURE 2020/21 1. PURPOSE OF THE REPORT 1.1 This report gives an overview of the Second quarter of the year accounts for the three Committees (Finance, Policy & Administration, Development & Leisure and Community Services). 1.2 All the Councill Committees (also) receive quarterly monitoring reports that provide the financial oversight for the work overseen by the individual committees. 1.3 The total operational income in the second quarter of the Financial Year 2020/21 for the three Committees is £101,571; the income is lower than same period in the last financial year because of the lockdown due to Covid- 19. The areas mostly affected are the hospitality business of venue hire for events and, weddings in the Castle and Mill Bridge Rooms. Operational income for the three committees in the same period last year was £193,637. 1.4 Total overhead expenditure for the three Committees in the second quarter of 2020/21 is £631,687 compared to £698,417 in 2019/20 2. SUMMARY 2.1 At this second stage of the year, the only item deviating from budget is income received in the second quarter. Overall net expenditure in the second quarter of the year is £530,115 compared to £504,780 for the same period last year. 2.2 Officers are working on how to close this gap by doing more marketing of venue hire and trying to secure more bookings. Some recovery on income generation for venue hire may happen before the end of the financial year and this will depend on the circumstances around Covid-19. 2.3 At the time of writing Hertfordshire has moved to Tier 4; weddings and civil partnership ceremonies should not take place and venues including community centres and halls which must close until further notice. The Town and Tourist Information Centre includes non-essential retail and is therefore closed from the evening of Saturday 19 December until further notice. 3. COMMUNITY SERVICES – SIGNIFICANT ITEMS 3.1 The Committee finished the second quarter of the Financial Year 2020/21 with a net expenditure of £74,891 compared to the same period in the Financial Year 2019/20 of £74,852. The details of the income and expenditure for the second quarter are listed in Appendix A. 7 PAPER B Allotment, Public Amenities & Closed Churchyards budget 3.2 The net expenditure on Allotment, Public Amenities and Closed Churchyards in the second quarter of 2020/21 is £37,397 compared to £31,981 for the same period in 2019/20. Cemetery Budget 3.3 The net expenditure in 2nd quarter of the Financial Year 2020/21 is £37,495 compared to £42,871 for the 2nd quarter of 2019/20. SUMMARY 3.4 At this stage of the current year, the projected annual expenditure is £246,583 compared to the budget of £249,549 There is not much difference between the projected outcome and the budget figure. 3.5 An extraordinary cost was incurred in relation to the theft of the van utilised by the Council’s Grounds Staff. These have been absorbed through virements within the Community Services overall budget. These are shown in Appendix 1 at the following budget lines 5120,5240,5340,5342 and 5355. 3.6 COMMUNITY SERVICES BUDGET SUMMARY TABLE 1 ACTUAL ACTUAL ACTUAL Base Projected Base TO TO TO Budget Outcome Budget ALLOTMENTS 30.09.19 31.03.20 30.09.20 2020/21 2020/21 2021/22 TOTAL ALLOTMENT INCOME (5,235) (10,847) (5,473) (11,074) (11,074) (11,196) ALLOTMENT & PAMS (SALARIES) 31,949 66,960 33,797 68,334 68,334 70,509 ALLOTMENT & PAMS EXPENDITURE 5,267 49,846 9,072 63,476 63,505 63,141 ALLOTMENT TOTAL EXPENDITURE 37,216 116,806 42,870 131,810 131,838 133,650 ALLOTMENT NET EXPENDITURE 31,981 105,959 37,397 120,735 120,764 122,454 ACTUAL ACTUAL ACTUAL Base Projected Base TO TO TO Budget Outcome Budget CEMETERY 30.09.19 31.03.20 30.09.20 2020/21 2020/21 2021/22 TOTAL CEMETERY INCOME (21,553) (52,845) (31,772) (59,415) (59,384) (59,886) CEMETERY EXPENDITURE (SALARIES) 50,624 103,113 52,032 105,446 104,599 109,046 TOTAL CEMETERY EXPENDITURE 13,801 32,768 17,235 82,783 80,604 69,430 CEMETERY TOTAL EXPENDITURE 64,424 135,881 69,267 188,229 185,203 178,476 8 PAPER B CEMETERY NET EXPENDITURE 42,871 83,037 37,495 128,814 125,819 118,589 COMMUNITY SERVICES TOTAL CS Total Income (26,789) (63,691) (37,245) (70,490) (70,458) (71,083) CS Total Expenditure 101,641 252,687 112,136 320,039 317,041 312,126 CS Total Net expenditure 74,852 188,996 74,891 249,549 246,583 241,043 9 PAPER B 10 PAPER B 4.