FINANCE & GENERAL PURPOSES COMMITTEE

20^th January  2009 at 7.30.p.m.

Sally Lewis, our One Cornwall Parish Liaison Officer gave a brief update on One Cornwall events and a summary of the new Charter.

The Localism Service has a Head of Service and the staff is being built up, there is a hope that the Community Network Managers would be in place by the end of March but there were problems with the budget. Unfortunately of all those appointed so far lived in the west of the county. It was hoped the four to be placed shortly would come from this end of the county.

The recent survey on CAN boundaries had favoured option 2b which still gives Callington its own CNA. A final decision would be made on the 29^th January.

A diagram was circulated showing how the CNA’s would work. There had to be a slightly different plan for every area as they all differed. An Area Action Plan had to be drawn up by the various bodies contributing to the CNA and also a service delivery plan would be compiled which would fit in with the action plan.

There would probably not be elections for the new 123 One Cornwall Councillors until 22^nd October. This depends on the Boundary Commission review. A special governmental order could allow the existing 86 county councilors to continue until the elections.

Apologies were received from Cllr Thomas, Cllr Ellard.

Present: Cllr Long [in the Chair], Cllr R Lumley [Portreeve & Mayor], Cllr Mrs Coakley, Cllr Mrs K Gold, Cllr H Jones, Cllr Mrs Winfindale, Cllr J Gist, Cllr M Green,

Officer: Lynda Small CEO

Members of the Public:  

2.           Minutes

            The minutes of the meeting of 9^th December 2008 were approved as a correct record of proceedings and duly signed.

3.         Clerk’s Report

              CCTV Funding

MP Colin Breed did respond to my request for information on where to get the funding he was telling everyone about. “I am making further enquiries as I am aware there are Home Office funds which are biddable and as soon as I have any further information I will come back to you.” Caradon have informed us that Liskeard and Saltash used money from the Caradon Community Fund towards their CCTV, we had used it on promoting the town.

Leaflets. All four leaflets and the folders have now been signed off and have gone off to the printers, should be back within a couple of weeks.

Parking Enforcement - Callington Latest response from County. There are many issues to explore before the County makes a decision regarding the use of CCTV for enforcement - for example there is the need to use specific CCTV cameras that have been approved for use by the Department for Transport, there is the need for trained officers to use the images to carry out enforcement and there is the fact that they can only be used for certain types of restrictions.

We try to visit towns on a variable basis so that people do not become accustomed to our presence on a certain day. I have, however, asked the enforcement team to ensure that next time they visit on a Saturday it is in the morning.

We do have the power to deal with people who park on the zig-zag markings adjacent to pedestrian crossings. (The police also have the power, it is the only example of a contravention that both organisations can enforce). I have reminded the officers to ensure that such contraventions are dealt with. I would remind you, however, that they can only deal with the contraventions that they witness. Kate Dixon

4.         Policing Issues

              a) Any reports. Cllr Gist reported that there was nothing forthcoming on the CCTV monitoring. Notices were going up on the cashpoint machines that parking on the zig-zag lines was an offence.

5.         Information & Issues for Decision

a) One Cornwall and CNA activity. Any update on this and actions to be taken.

The Clerk explained that on the previous Thursday when some final annotated plans had arrived, and she has immediately requested the full specifications, a telephone call had revealed that the One Cornwall team were not aware of what ‘specifications’ were.

As the work was scheduled to proceed on the 5^th February, the only way round this was for the One Cornwall team to delegate to the Clerk in Consultation with the Chair, all on site decisions. Adam Birchall of the One Cornwall team has indicated this would be satisfactory. A meeting with the Portreeve, Clerk and Adam Birchall had been planned for Thursday.

Errors in plans:-

          The office desk layout was incorrect in the plans.

          The granite shelf remains and another shelf is placed to the left of the hatch.

          The office door opens inwards and must be the same quality as the existing.

          There are built-in cupboards in the cloakroom.

          The main entrance door was to be single DDA width.

Resolved. It was proposed by Cllr Gist seconded by Councillor Long and unanimously agreed that the submitted plans be accepted with the modifications outlined. That the work can only proceed if One Cornwall delegate all on-site decision to the Town Clerk in consultation with the Portreeve.

Photocopier.  The Clerk explained that the suggestion was that the County put a leased photocopier into the office. This would do colour as well, unfortunately it would more than double the cost of our photocopying from .055p to 1.2p per sheet.

Resolved: That the Clerk continue to negotiate on this issue.

              b) Regeneration of Callington. Any actions to be taken resulting from visits of Caradon officers.  Cllr Long reported on the results of a meeting many months ago with Malcolm Garrington and negotiations were underway. Agenda next month.

              c) Workplace Nursery. Report from Cllr M Coakley on meeting regarding the Workplace Nursery. There was a request that the Town Council would be involved with this but it was felt that the Town Council did not have the areas of expertise or the funding available to be involved in education matters, especially when the new operation was a private business scheme.

              d) Location of Minute Books. Consideration on location of archive Minute Books currently at CRO Truro. The Clerk queried the most convenient location for the old minute books as she needed to refer to them at present and there had been a couple of times in the last few years when they were needed. At present they were deposited at the CRO. Clerk to arrange a visit to record office on a fifth Tuesday.

              e) Murals. Issues relating to amount of work that can be done within budget and permissions.

              It was agreed to send a letter to Mr J Constable regarding the celtic knot mural asking  if he would provide an update.

              Clerk to talk to Jane Black and Celwyn Richards regarding the artists and copyright holders.

6.         Financial Report

a) Receipt of statement of accounts. The statement of accounts to the end of December was received.

b) Approval of payments. It was resolved to make the following payments:-

Cllr Winfindale declared an interest

c) Acceptance of internal auditors report.

The end of year accounts 2007/08 sent to the District Audit have now been signed off. They made three unofficial suggestions which were given to Councillors. One was that the internal auditors report be approved and minuted by the whole Finance Committee, previously this has just been passed to the Chair & Vice-Chair.

Resolved. It was proposed by Cllr Long, seconded by Cllr Winfindale and approved by the majority that the internal auditors report as circulated be accepted.

Ken Abraham has been booked to attend on 22^nd Feb. so that anything I need to answer or sort out can hopefully be tied up and thus make the end of year easier for Mr Anderson.

7.         Session Closed to the Public

              a) Confidential staff issues

The meeting closed at approximately 9.45.pm