Agenda and draft minutes

To sign and confirm the minutes of the last meeting, held on 29^th November 2017.

The minutes of the meeting held on 29^th November 2017 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

To receive apologies for absence.

There were apologies for absence from Councillors Paul Gleeson and Yvonne Stevens.

To receive declarations of interests in respect of any item on the agenda.

Councillor Martin Griggs declared membership of the Skirbeck St. Nicholas Community Centre group and would not take part in the discussion of the centre’s small grant application.

(Inspector Andy Morrice will be in attendance to discuss any policing issues with Members.)

Inspector Morrice was not in attendance.

(A report by Maddy Eyre, Local Communities Development Officer and BTAC Grant Administrator)

The Committee received a report by the Local Communities Development Officer & BTAC Grant Administrator, which presented the comments made by the Small Grants Working Group, in accordance with the Committee’s Small Grant Scheme, in respect of applications received for the current round.

The Committee was asked to consider the comments made by the Working Group in respect of eligible applications, approving or rejecting each accordingly.  Six applications had been received in Round 2 of the scheme; of the six, four were eligible.  Eligible applications and supporting documents are available to Members from the BTAC Grant Administrator.

The Vice-Chairman, who had chaired the meeting of the Small Grants Working Group, went through the applications.

The Committee commended the work of all four applicants. 

Bear FC

Application: £911.07 pump priming funds to purchase equipment for use by 2 junior football teams

The working group considered this a strong application; the applicant had demonstrated the direct impact of the project within the BTAC area and kick-start funding was exactly the purpose of the grant scheme.

In response to a question, it was reported that Bear FC was a recently established junior football club providing coaching and equipment for under-7s and under-10s of lower ability.  The club, which wanted to develop and extend provision to children of other ages, had provided figures indicating that the majority of the number of children were from the BTAC area or just outside.

Skirbeck St. Nicholas Community Centre

[Councillor Martin Griggs declared that he was a member of the community centre group and took no part in the discussion of this application]

Application: £1,000 contribution to the cost of car park resurfacing/access path into the building

The working group was satisfied this application met the scheme criteria of and suggested it be approved.

Lincolnshire Police – Mini Police Project

Application: £619.00 to purchase additional equipment in the furtherance of this project

The working group considered that as BTAC had already pledged support for this project by awarding funds in Round 1, and as this was a high profile flagship project for Boston and Lincolnshire, the group was keen to continue support.  However, the applicant would be advised not to apply to the scheme again in the current financial year.

Friends of Boston Cemetery

Application: £208.00 to produce promotional material about the group. 

The working group was satisfied this application met the criteria of the scheme and suggested it be approved.

In response to a question, it was explained that the group was in its infancy and wanted to use  ...  view the full minutes text for item 71.

(A report by Paul Julian, Head of Financial Services)

The Head of Financial Services presented the Draft BTAC Revenue Budget Report with estimates for 2018/19 to 2022/23. 

The Committee was asked to make a recommendation to Cabinet and Council on the precept and Band D Council Tax levy for properties in the BTAC area for the 2018/19 financial year.  The report set out the current position and the proposed levy for the Council to approve for 2018/19.  Cabinet would consider the report and recommendation on 21 February and make a recommendation to Full Council on 26 February when the budget would be approved.

In summary, the main points of the report were that:

·         A proposed BTAC precept requirement for 2018/19 of £648,327;

·         The adjusted tax base for 2018/19 would be 9,095.50;

·         Council Tax was proposed in 2018/19 to be £71.28 at Band D (compared to £69.93 in the current year)

·         The cost per week in 2018/19 would be £1.37 at Band D, compared to £1.34 this year, with the majority of households paying less;

·         Projected level of reserves at 31 March 2018 estimated at £55,020

The report set out Council Tax projections and implications for the Committee’s resources if there was an increase in 2018/19 of 2%, 5% or 6% in 2018/19, followed by annual increases of 2% per annum to 2022/23.

The impact on Council Tax payers of the proposed 2% increase would be that BTAC’s Band D annual charge would go up by £1.35 per annum, or 3 pence per week.  Almost 70% of BTAC households are in bands A and B, meaning that their weekly increase, before taking Council Tax Support into account, would be approximately 2 pence in each case.

For clarification, it was explained that the Band D charge of £76.94 quoted in the report referred to the highest parish charge in the borough in 2017/18.  Also, the figures charged by local towns were listed for comparison purposes. 

During Members’ debate, it was generally considered that an increase of 3% would be preferable in view of the current Retail Price and Customer Price Indices, to ensure new initiatives could be afforded, particularly as more houses were being built and more people were moving into the area.  One Member felt that this increase might not be enough and proposed an increase to 5%; however, this was not seconded.

The Head of Financial Services advised the Committee that an increase of 3% would result in a BTAC Band D annual charge of £71.98 in 2018/19, making approximately £6,300 additional funding available to the Committee above the illustration in the report. 

The Chairman reiterated the significant improvements the Committee had achieved with the precept increases of the last two years, including maintenance of the public toilets, the employment of two town centre operatives, development of open spaces and provision of events; these were all significantly improving Boston and the Committee should continue this work.

(The Committee’s work programme for the current year for discussion and/or updating.)

Members considered the work programme.  It was confirmed that a report on Christmas in Boston would be scheduled when the group’s information was available.