PAPER A
MINUTES OF RYDE TOWN COUNCIL’S FINANCE & COMMUNITY RESOURCES
COMMITTEE HELD ON
TUESDAY 12 JANUARY 2021 at 4PM VIA THE ZOOM MEETING FACILITY
Present:
Cllr Phil Jordan
(Chair), Cllr Henry Adams, Cllr Adrian Axford, Cllr
Charles Chapman, Cllr Diana Conyers, Cllr Michael Lilley, Cllr Sue
Lyons, Cllr Malcolm Ross, Cllr Lou Temel, Cllr Tim Wakeley, Cllr Wayne
Whittle
In Attendance:
Liz Dutton (Committee and Admin Assistant), Tonia Voller (Administration
Assistant), Gareth Hughes (RFO) Jon Baker (Committees and Ryde Place
Plan Co-ordinator)
PUBLIC QUESTION TIME - A question was received and the Chairman confirmed that the
question would be read out and an answer provided at the next meeting of the
Acquisition and Commercial Committee to be held later in the week
1/21 APOLOGIES
Apologies were received from Cllr Karen Lucioni.
2/21 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
There were no declarations declared at this stage
3/21 MINUTES
The minutes to the previous meeting held on 1 December 2020 were reviewed.
RESOLVED:
THAT the Minutes of the meeting held on 1 December 2020 were
approved as a true and accurate record and were signed off by the
Chair.
4/21 MEMBERS QUESTIONS
Cllr Temel asked a question regarding the purchase price of St Thomas’s Church
and the Chairman responded accordingly.
5/21 RISK ASSESSMENT
A - 1
Consideration was given to the Risk Assessment. The report was noted.
6/21
ASSET REGISTER
Consideration was given to the Asset Register. A question was asked concerning
whether any of the Christmas Lights had been decommissioned as they appeared
in four different lines. The Clerk agreed to email a response to members. The
report was noted.
7/21
INTERAL AUDIT PLAN
Consideration was given to the Internal Audit Plan. A question was asked relating
to the appointment of the Internal Auditor and the RFO agreed to bring a paper to
the next meeting of the Committee to review the appointment of the Internal
Auditor. The report was noted.
8/21
BUDGET AND PRECEPT SETTING 2021-22
The Responsible Financial Officer introduced his report and confirmed that figures
in appendix A had not included an amount for the estimated first year costs for
Ryde Town Hall or for the 2 new requests for annual funding that had been
received. Members went on to discuss the issues over sand collecting at the
entrance to the harbour and on the beach. The Chairman suggested the issue
could be raised and included in the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that
was currently being negotiated with IWC and also to request the BDM to explore
possible solutions with Alex Minns from IWC. Members noted pressures on this
year’s budget as the Town Council had committed to a number of different projects
and recognised that a Covid recovery budget which encouraged growth was
important. It was noted that the level of reserves should also be considered during
the budget setting process due to new investments and services being taken on
and a reserves policy would be helpful in going forward.
It was agreed for the RFO to put forward a number of options showing different
levels of increases in the precept, namely 5% increase, 7.68% increase (as the
budget report currently showed) together with further options allowing for other
funding initiatives. A final option would include an increased level in reserves.
RESOLVED TO RECOMMEND TO FULL COUNCIL:
That the RFO bring a budget paper setting out a range of options as
outlined above for further discussion.
9/21
DATE OF NEXT MEETING
RESOLVED:
THAT the next meeting of the Finance and Community Resources Committee
will be held on Tuesday, 9 March 2021 at 4pm
A - 2