Dover Town Council

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Mrs L D Young.


718. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Councillor D Lloyd made a declaration of interest in Item 5d as he was a member of Dover Athletic Supporters Society Ltd. Councillor R Frayne made a declaration of interest in Item 5f due to a personal friendship. Councillors concerned did not vote on these items.


719. MINUTES

RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the meeting of the Finance & General Purposes Committee held on 13th February 2008 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.


720. PRESENTATIONS

The Chairman welcomed representatives from Dover Athletic Supporters Society Ltd, Support Act, White Cliffs Country Tourism Association, the 3rd Dover Scouts and personal applicants Miss C Gist and Mr G Wanstall to the meeting and invited them to give a short presentation concerning their application for financial assistance. After a short question and answer session the Chairman thanked the applicants for their interesting and informative presentation.


721. ORDER OF BUSINESS

RESOLVED: That, under Standing Order 20d, the application from Dover Town Centre Management Company Ltd be deferred for consideration until after item 13 of the Agenda.


722. VOLUNTARY ORGANISATIONS AND APPLICATIONS FOR FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE*

The Committee considered 7 applications for financial assistance.

RESOLVED: a) That a grant of £500 be made to Miss C Gist in respect of expenses connected with the Paradise Revealed Arts project in Dover Town subject to appropriate publicity being given to the Town Council’s financial assistance and the inclusion of the organisation on the Town Council’s Public Access Database, the cost to be met from the grants provision in the Committee’s 2007/08 budget;

b) That consideration of the application from Relate East Kent be deferred until a member of the organisation is available to make a presentation to the Committee;

c) That a grant of £500 be made to Dover Athletic Supporters Society Ltd in respect of the replacement of the Centre Spot Complex subject to appropriate publicity being given to the Town Council’s financial assistance and the inclusion of the organisation on the Town Council’s Public Access Database, the cost to be met from the grants provision in the Committee’s 2007/08 budget;

d) That Councillor D Lloyd and Councillor R Frayne investigate the application from Dover Athletic Supporters Society Ltd and report to a future meeting of the Committee or Town Council concerning the full amount of grant support applied for;

e) That a grant of £500 be made to Mr G R Wanstall in respect of the erection of a flagpole in Connaught Park subject to appropriate publicity being given to the Town Council’s financial assistance and the inclusion of the organisation on the Town Council’s Public Access Database, the cost to be met from the grants provision in the Committee’s 2007/08 budget;

f) That a grant of £500 be made to Support Act in relation to a production of ‘Sword in the Stone’ in support of the 2008 Festival of Dover subject to appropriate publicity being given to the Town Council’s financial assistance and the inclusion of the organisation on the Town Council’s Public Access Database, the cost to be met from the grants provision in the Committee’s 2007/08 budget;

g) That a grant of £1500 be made to the White Cliffs Country Tourism Association in respect of the Dover Market Square Welcome Service subject to appropriate publicity being given to the Town Council’s financial assistance and the inclusion of the organisation on the Town Council’s Public Access Database, the cost to be met from the grants provision in the Committee’s 2007/08 budget;

h) That a grant of £557 be made to the 3rd Dover Scout Group in respect of the purchase of new camping equipment subject to appropriate publicity being given to the Town Council’s financial assistance and the inclusion of the organisation on the Town Council’s Public Access Database, the cost to be met from the grants provision in the Committee’s 2007/08 budget.

RESOLVED TO RECOMMEND: That the Town Council express its support of the Dover Athletic Supporters Society Ltd’s project to replace the Centre Spot and that, subject to a further report, (see 722 d above) the Town Council support an additional grant in respect of the project .


723. SCHEDULE OF PAYMENTS

The Committee noted that the schedule of payment by the Town Council for January 2008 were approved by the Town Council at its meeting on 27 February 2008.

The Committee considered the schedule of payments by the Town Council for February 2008.

RESOLVED: That the schedule of payments for February 2008 totalling £42,704.25 be laid before the next meeting of the Town Council in accordance with Standing Order 52c.


724. TOWN COUNCIL INTERNAL AUDIT

The Committee noted McCabe Ford Williams letter of 12th February 2008 following the Internal Audit visit.


725. CHILD PROTECTION POLICY

The Committee considered the Project Development Officer’s report concerning a Child Protection Policy for Dover Town Council (handed out at the meeting).

RESOLVED TO RECOMMEND: That the draft Child Protection Policy be adopted by the Town Council.


726. STAFF TRAINING

The Committee considered the Town Clerk’s report of 26th February 2008 concerning attendance at the Annual conference of the National Association of Local Councils.

RESOLVED: That the Deputy Town Clerk be authorised to attend the Annual Conference of the National Association of Local Councils the cost to be met from the Staff Training provision in the Committee’s 2008/09 budget.


727. TOWN COUNCIL LAND

The Committee considered the payment of Kent County Council’s invoice of 7th February 2008 concerning legal fees for the sale of Town Council land at Edgar Road.

The Committee considered the Deputy Town Clerk’s report of 7th March 2008 regarding transfer of land at Knight’s Templar.

RESOLVED: a) That Kent County Council’s invoice of 7th February 2008 in respect of legal services in the sum of £390.81 be paid;

b) That the recommendations of the Town Council’s Solicitor in respect of the transfer of land at Knight’s Templar be accepted in principal and the Solicitor instructed to proceed to prepare the detailed licence.


728. LEGAL SERVICES HOURLY RATES 2008/09

The Committee considered and noted Kent County Council’s letter of 20th February 2008 concerning Legal Services Hourly Rates 2008/09.


729. COUNCILLORS’ FORUM

The Chairman reported to the Committee concerting the second Councillors’ Forum held that day. He considered that the Forum had been very successful and that considerable progress had been made. He noted that the facilitation consultancy provided by Telos Training Ltd had been excellent.




RESOLVED: That the Town Clerk, in consultation with the Chairman of the Committee, make arrangements for Telos Training Ltd be retained to provide consultancy services to the Town Council in respect of the Corporate Plan, the cost to be met from the Councillor Training provision in the Committee’s 2007/08 and 2008/09 budgets as appropriate.


730. EXCLUSION OF THE PUBLIC

RESOLVED: That in view of the confidential nature of the business about to be transacted it would be advisable in the public interest that the public be temporarily excluded and they be requested to withdraw.


731. DOVER TOWN CENTRE MANAGEMENT COMPANY LTD

The Chairman reported that he understood that Dover Town Centre Management Company Ltd were in the process of ceasing to trade and that their grant application had, therefore, been withdrawn. He informed the Committee that the Town Clerk, in consultation with himself, had made two urgent decisions (UD07/08 078 and UD07/08 079) in respect of the Company. UD07/08 078 authorised the Town Council to accept payment from Dover Town Centre Management Company Ltd of funds of approximately £6,500 ring-fenced for expenditure in relation to the River Dour. UD07/08 079 authorised the Town Council to store various Dover Town Centre Management Company Ltd belongings in Maison Dieu House on a temporary basis.

The Committee considered the situation.

RESOLVED TO RECOMMEND: That the Town Council’s retention and expenditure of monies received from Dover Town Centre Management Company Ltd in relation to the River Dour be subject to the formal approval by the Town Council of the detailed terms and conditions of the grant to be supplied by Dover Town Centre Management Company Ltd.


732. TOWN COUNCIL STAFF

The Committee noted the Chairman’s report regarding the Personnel Working Group meeting of 5th March 2008 (handed out at the meeting).

The Committee noted the Deputy Town Clerk’s report of 5th March 2008 concerning the Administration Apprentice.

The Chairman noted that this was the last scheduled meeting of the Municipal Year and thanked the Clerk for her support of the Committee. Councillor Mrs D G Smallwood thanked the Chairman for his hard work and leadership of the Committee during the Municipal Year



The meeting closed at 7.30pm










Councillor D Hannent
CHAIRMAN