LANGHAM COMMUNITY COUNCIL
Minutes of a Finance Committee Meeting
held on 15th July 2019 at 7.30pm.
Present Alan Cadman, Liz Winter, Maureen Shouksmith, Martin Bottwood, Sue Armstrong.
Apologies Liz Schofield
Before the meeting began, Alan reported that, while undertaking his Monday checks at the hall, he had discovered that the inside of the Club room wall adjacent to the foyer was very damp to a height of about a metre and to the extent that the plaster was bulging and likely to fall off. This is presumably due to leakage from our own central heating system and not that of the Pre-School and is very worrying.
Matters Arising from meeting on 17th June 2019
VAT reclaim by the Parish Council
Prior to this meeting, a brief meeting had taken place with Carol Harbach, Parish Clerk, and Martin Bottwood to discuss the position regarding VAT on the proposed installation of a new heating system at the Langham Community Centre. (SA not in attendance.)
Carol had researched the relevant passages on HMRC’s website. VAT notice 749 para 7.3 states that VAT may be recovered if
1. You (i.e. the PC) place the order; receive the supply; receive a VAT invoice addressed to you; pay.
2. Remain owner of the goods or services.
3. Use them, or make them available, for your own non-business purposes.
4. Keep sufficient records for us to easily identify the goods and services you have bought and your reasons for buying them.
Carol felt that point 2 might be a problem as the PC could incur costs in years to come for maintenance/replacement of any items they had purchased. Liz Winter suggested that the Langham Community Council could provide some kind of written indemnity against such a claim, pointing out that we always took responsibility for ongoing maintenance.
The next Parish Council meeting is in early September but there could be discussion meanwhile among the councillors to elicit their views.
The Langham Community Council members thanked Carol for meeting them and sharing her findings. EW
Chairman’s Report
Heating consultant, John Barran, has returned from his extended holiday and is now catching up with his work. Alan cannot say when a report will be forthcoming.
The delay means that we shall have to book in the wiring work with Chris from Future Electrical in order for the new heating to be in place in the Pre-School for the Autumn term. We need to commission Lam Brothers to undertake the installation prior to September.
At the short Trustee meeting of 23rd May, it was agreed that the Finance Committee could go ahead with the Pre-School installation only if a written report recommending this was to hand. There is no time to wait for John’s report. Liz W will e-mail all Trustees to explain the position and ask them whether they agree to this work being done without such a report.
EW
Treasurer’s Report
Maureen had circulated full and simple profit and loss accounts for June. After a loss in May owing to payment of half the bill for the floor work due in August and the music licence, we had made over £2,000 profit in June and, with more hire payments being made this month, the current account tonight stands at £10,000.60.
With reference to the qualifying VAT turnover for the last 12 months of £68,557, Martin enquired about the possibility of the Langham Community Council becoming registered for VAT. This had been discussed in the past and discounted as it would involve a lot more work for Sue, increase our hire charges and require the paid services of an accountant to comply with the necessary regulations.
Martin also raised the question of whether our funds in the savings account should, under the terms of our governing document, be held by the PC as custodian trustee.
Marketing Manager’s Report
Sue circulated draft copies of proposed increases in hire rates from 1st September. She and Maureen had agreed on RPI plus 1%, rounded to whole pounds. On this basis, some will remain unchanged and some rise by £1. The committee was happy with these and Sue would check the figures, carry out a comparison with other halls and submit the final figures to the Trustee meeting on 1st August.
While painting the balcony, Terry had reported some damage to the parapet and the course of bricks at the north end. Alan had checked their stability but agreed that repairs needed to be effected. Terry had quoted £220. Sue was asked to accept this quote on our behalf.
SA
Grant funding for heating system
Liz was filling in two applications which both required completion by mid-August. If we now needed to replace the main hall heating system urgently, it is important to get some funding confirmed. As we need to install an electrical system, it would also be useful to have confirmation from an expert that we cannot fit solar panels to the roof, as this would be a desirable thing to do. Cliff Jones was in office when this advice was given and Sue would contact him. Liz W would contact a solar panel installer and try to get them to come out and give their opinion with written confirmation.
Liz then went through the list of required documentation for the Enovert application and would phone Angela Haymonds to see if there was any way the Pre-School work could be included. SA/EW
Electricity with BGLite
After contacting BGLite and forwarding them a VAT Certificate, the amount of VAT on May’s bill had been adjusted, so that 49 per cent is rated at 5%VAT and 51per cent at 20%VAT. These percentages were taken from the last Eon bill. Maureen and Liz need to find the time to check whether they need updating. BGLite have since credited £53.55 to our account. MS/EW
Andrew Craig had asked for an explanation of how the Shop’s electricity is calculated. Alan confirmed that it is done according to a formula originally agreed with John Jones. It appears that the first 750 kWh are charged at a cheaper rate than the remainder and no VAT is then added.
Any Other Business
Macmillan charity have once again asked us to run a café for them. For the past two years we have agreed, but Liz W and Sue feel that we are so busy at present that, if we are running a café, it should be the Langham Community Centre which benefits from the proceeds. As they are a national charity and not a local one, there is a query as to whether we should be fund-raising for them under the terms of our governing document.
It was decided not to agree to run the café for Macmillan but to ask Mimi, who have the shop stall, whether they would like to bring their wares and perhaps run a raffle within the café, from which proceeds could go to Macmillan. They did this at last year’s event. SA
Date of next meeting
The date would be decided at the Trustee meeting on 1st August.
There being no further business, the meeting closed at 9.10 pm.