Agenda and minutes

Boston Town Area Committee (BTAC) - Thursday, 26th September, 2024 6.30 pm

Venue: Committee Room - Municipal Buildings, West Street, Boston, PE21 8QR. View directions

Contact: Democratic Services  Email: demservices@boston.gov.uk

Note: Public access to this meeting is available via between the hours of 6.15pm – 6.30pm via the main door of the Municipal Buildings on West Street, Boston 

Items
No. Item

22.

Apologies for Absence

To receive apologies for absence.

Minutes:

Prior to seek apologies for absence the Chairman welcome the new committee clerk Beatriz Aguilar Soto to the meeting.

 

Apologies for absence were tabled for Councillors Paul Gleeson, Lina Savickiene and Alison Austin.

23.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 101 KB

To sign and confirm the minutes of the last meeting.

Minutes:

With the agreement of the committee the Chairman signed the minutes of the previous meeting held on the 1 August 2024.

 

A member questioned an update on lighting of the car parks and was advised that a full report would be returned to the next scheduled meeting.

24.

Declarations of Interest

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

Minutes:

Councillor Andy Izard declared that he was a trustee of the Local Community Club, which was a recipient of a grant within the first item of business on the agenda.

25.

Update on Actions from the Minutes of the Last Meeting

To report progress on outstanding actions from the minutes of the last meeting, for information only.

Minutes:

The Lead Officer for the Committee – The Assistant Director for Leisure and Culture, noted four updates from the previous meeting:

 

  • Confirmation that a site visit had been scheduled for the green Flag Working group to Boultham Park in Lincoln, on Friday the 18th of October to enable the working group to see how Lincoln had achieved Green Flag status.

 

  • A more detailed and concise report on Footway Lighting would be returned to the next meeting of the committee to enable members to make an informed decision.

 

  • Following concerns raised by Councillor Alison Austin in respect of rough sleepers on Garfitts Lane, a notification was received that the person sleeping in the tent left the site and the Rough Sleepers Intervention Team continued to liaise with the remaining sleepers on that site.

 

The Buildings and Property Services Manager, was now in negotiations with Anglian Water following members wishes from the last meeting concerning the excess charge.

26.

Public Questions

To answer any written questions received from members of the public no later than 5 p.m. two clear working days prior to the meeting – for this meeting the deadline is 5 p.m. on Monday 23 September 2024.

Minutes:

No public questions were tabled.

27.

Public Speaking Time

To allow members of the public to address the Committee.

Minutes:

No member of the public addressed the meeting.

28.

BTAC Small and Empowering Healthy Communities Grant Scheme pdf icon PDF 261 KB

A report by the BTAC Grants Administrator

Minutes:

The Lead Officer for the committee- The Assistant Director for Leisure and Culture presented the report and confirmed the decisions made by the BTAC Grants Working Group, on 3rd September 2024 in round 2 24/25.

 

Applicant

Scheme

Project

Amount Requested

Lincolnshire Youth Mission Ltd. – RoadHOG Youth Bus Project

BTAC Small Grant Scheme

To contribute towards the cost of providing RoadHOG Youth Bus services and on board RE Curriculum to schools within the BTAC Wards of Boston

£936.00

Boston Preservation Trust

BTAC Small Grant Scheme

To contribute towards the cost of providing disabled access and welfare facilities at Fydell House, Boston

£1,000

The Local Community Centre

BTAC Small Grant Scheme

To contribute towards the cost of installing a fire alarm system at The Local Community Centre

£1,000

Boston Preservation Trust

BTAC Empowering Healthy Communities Grant Scheme

To contribute towards the cost of building a dedicated space in the grounds of Fydell House for volunteers and staff.

£1,000

 

Members comments included the following:

 

A member voiced concern at the amount of funding granted in round one and questioned the possibility of all the funding being exhausted.  Further comment referenced the two grants to Fydell House which the member noted that whilst they were in order, they questioned whether those members of the public who were also entitled to submit for the funding, were aware of the resource.

 

The Chairman advised that he felt confident that the resource would not be exhausted and reassured members of the rigorous vetting of each application prior to the working group considering the submissions.  

 

Resolved:

 

That the BTAC Committee endorsed the decisions made by the BTAC Grants working Group.

29.

BTAC Financial Position as at 30 June 2024 pdf icon PDF 207 KB

A report by the Strategic Finance Manager.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Prior to the report being tabled the Chairman welcome two new officers to the BTAC Committee. The new BTAC Finance Officer Jenny Mackin and the new Finance Officer Carl Holland.

 

The BTAC Finance Office presented the report and confirmed that appendix A outlined the details of the income and expenditure relating to BTAC for quarter 1 2024/25, along with any identified variances.

 

The forecast position was an overspend of £36,258 which had been offset by a contribution from reserves to ensure a breakeven position.  The overspend was made up of minor cost variances in business rates and electricity, along with a small amount additional income for Mayfair.  The overspend included the efficiency savings target of £36,455 which was yet to be identified.

The opening balance of the BTAC reserve on 1st April 2024 was £207,611.  After considering the S151 Officer’s recommendation of a minimum reserve of £70,000, the available usable reserves were £137,611.  Details of the use of the reserves for 2024/25 were outlined in Appendix A.  The final forecast balance of reserves following the detailed spend outlined in Appendix A was £77,552. Further outlined in appendix A were the further details stating the basis of calculations for any recharge costs to BTAC, as requested by the committee at the previous meeting.  As an example, members were advised the recharge costs in relation to repairs and maintenance were budgeted based on historic costs, but the outturn was based on the actual costs for the year.  Recharge costs relating to finance support services were based on estimated percentages of staff time and any personnel support services costs were calculated based on FTE’s.

 

Members comments included the following:

 

On questioning who the responsible body was for agreeing any spending of the BTAC reserves, a member was advised it was the Section 151 Officer.  In response members questioned why such a decision was not made through the committee with a number of members along with the Chairman stating that they felt that any future decision in respect of spending of BTAC reserves, be tabled through the committee, for their input and decision making as the responsible body.

 

Concerns were tabled by Members regarding lack of justification on the figures and charts. The Chairman requested that the Finance Officers revise the figures and resubmit a more detailed report. BTAC Financial Officers noted Members requests and reassured them that Q2 reports and further reports moving forward would be tabled in a more transparent and meaningful manner.

 

At this point in the procedures, a Member tabled an additional recommendation to the report in that moving forward the Committee agree to delegate its authority to make urgent decisions, to the Chairman (and in their absence, the Vice Chairman) be consulted, in liaison with the Portfolio Holder for Finance and the Section 151 Officer, on any spend from the reserves.

Further comment questioned the change of amendments in respect of their position within the constitution with a suggestion that the constitution be reviewed. The Chairman  ...  view the full minutes text for item 29.

30.

Work Programme - Standing Item pdf icon PDF 61 KB

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

Minutes:

The Lead Officer for the committee, the Assistant Director for Leisure and Culture noted that the next meeting on the 28th November would address three items: the BTAC Small Grants round three, the Events Budget report and the detailed Footway Lighting report. It was noted that the budget setting and financial position will be added to the program on the 30th of January 2025.

 

Members comments included the following:

 

Having requested a report on the value of BTAC Assets a member was advised that BTAC was a committee of the Borough Council, and as such, the only assets it held were those of play equipment within the play areas of the BTAC wards. Members were assured that a full inventory of the responsibilities of BTAC would be provided at the January 2025 meeting.