LANGHAM COMMUNITY COUNCIL
Minutes of a Trustee Meeting held on 17th October 2024
at Langham Community Centre

Present
Alan Cadman, Martin Bottwood, Liz Winter, Rob Clark, Charlotte Parker, Raynor Sumner, Bob Schofield, Elizabeth Schofield, Stuart Rudge, Denise Hobday, Cath Hine, Colin Parker, Emma Stevens.

Apologies for Absence
David Druitt, Rob Clark, Carol Grime, Sallie West.

Alan welcomed everyone to the final Trustee meeting of 2024.

Minutes of the Trustee Meeting held on 18th July 2024
These had been circulated to Trustees prior to the meeting. Acceptance as a true record was proposed by Rob Clark, seconded by Maureen Shouksmith and agreed by all present.
Alan signed the minutes.

Matters Arising from them and from the Finance meeting on 16th September are dealt with under the headings below.

Chairman’s Report
Cheryl’s Salary review The Finance Committee had agreed to a suggested increase of 3.1% backdated to 1st June. This was discussed with those present and its acceptance proposed by Liz Winter and seconded by David Druitt. All were in favour, although Maureen asked why the recommendation was so late in coming through. She warned that under forthcoming legislation we might soon be liable to pay sick pay for our employees. Alan apologised for the delay but there had been so many other things to deal with. He confirmed that the increase will be backdated to 1st June.
Car park drains and resurfacing Creasey Drainage had quoted £495 to clear the drains, which had been accepted by the Finance Committee. They were a reputable local company used by other halls and schools. Two vans would come on Thursday 24th October as soon as it was daylight and should be finished within four and a half hours, bringing their own bollards to cordon off areas of the car park as they worked.
Emma’s husband, Rick, is currently getting together a quote for hire of a “whacker plate” and cold tarmac to repair the surface where necessary.
Insurance Alan was contacted by a new WRS agent on Monday to begin insurance negotiations. He asked the secretary to provide him with details of last year’s end of year accounts for this purpose. EW
Anglian Water Alan had received a letter regarding the leakage which occurred from the outside tap during the summer. Carol wondered whether there might be a refund we could claim and would contact Anglian Water. CG



Treasurer’s Report
Liz Winter had circulated the simple profit and loss report for September with hires totalling £2,700.50 and £2,184 received from subscriptions to the 100 Club lottery. She explained that August salaries were paid but September salaries were paid in early October. Two aircon units had been repaired at a total cost of £1,128 and a new Premises smart phone purchased for Cheryl at a cost of £356.98.
Electricity British Gas Lite had at last sent their final bill up to 8th May when we swapped to EDF. £1,463.89 had been taken from our bank today. EDF had not yet managed to provide us with any update on our account or replied sufficiently to multiple emails sent by the secretary. They had, however, asked for yet another set of readings from us, which the secretary had begrudgingly sent on 16th October with photographic evidence. Liz did point out to them that they had so far not confirmed that they had accepted any of her previous readings and felt they should supply a professional meter reader to make an appointment and read the meter themselves, a suggestion which had received no response.
It was decided that we should wait to receive EDF’s bill before contacting the Ombudsman on the matter. Raynor reported that this route had resolved a complaint of hers against unfair charges and it was felt that, as EDF had given us such poor service in effecting the handover from BGLite, we should expect to receive a reduction in our charges which we have been awaiting for five months. EW
Rev Otobo The secretary is attempting to access our original account at Gov.UK’s Money Claims department and awaits a reply from them. EW
CCTV contract Chris McKay from Future Electrical has sent us a quotation of £360 to renew the yearly service contract. This is £30 more than last year. We sought no alternative quotes but, after some discussion, it was clear that this was less than other known suppliers were charging. Liz Winter proposed and Colin seconded that Chris’s figure be accepted. All agreed but felt we should acquire more than one quote next year. CG
Mobile phone contracts The problem of being unable to pay phone contracts direct from the LCC’s bank account and having to do so via individuals was raised. A note had been circulated regarding the amount owed to Sue Armstrong because she had taken out the Talkmobile contract on Emma’s (formerly Carol Lloyd’s) phone for us. The amount of £47.70 has been refunded to Sue for Talkmobile payments.
Also refunded to Sue is £98.03 for the now-closed Vodafone contract on Cheryl’s old phone.
Cheryl’s new phone is currently with giffgaff.com on a rolling monthly contract paid for by Liz Winter from mid-September at £8 per month.
After some discussion it was decided that it would be a better system to have both phones on “pay-as-you-go” simcards. This was proposed by Emma and seconded by Liz Schofield with everyone present in favour. Emma agreed that she and Cheryl should be able to effect the change fairly simply. ES/CW
Maintenance Plan It was agreed that this would be reviewed as a priority at the next Finance Committee meeting.

Carol Grime reported that she had received a letter from Barclays confirming a reduction in the interest paid on our Saver account from 19th December, down from 1.5% to 1.4%. Alan confirmed that Maureen Shouksmith can no longer access the current account as we are only permitted three signatories on the mandate, who are now himself as Chair, Carol Grime, Treasurer, and Liz Winter, Secretary. We shall need to remove Maureen formally from the mandate. CG
Carol confirmed that balances at close of business today are
Current account: £4,604.58 Saver account: £74,925.22

Booking and Invoicing system
Emma and Carol had met to discuss the proposed system run by hallbookingonline.com, and to apply it to our current bookings and invoices.
The SAGE system we have been using is an accounting package linked to our bank account. It is very time-consuming with manual inputting and repetitious tasks. We do not need an accounting package.
With hallbookingonline enquiries and hirer details are all dealt with online and inputted into the system by the hirer, who chooses the time and date of hire and the room/s required. The full hire price will be charged at the outset. (Currently we ask for an immediate deposit and the rest a month before the hire date.) The system notifies Emma that a new booking has been made and, if confirmed, she will ask the hirer to send their bank details to enable return of the security deposit after a successful let. There will be a “click here to book” link on the LCC website.
Hallbookingonline costs £120 a year. Sage currently costs us £18 a month or £216 a year.
It is possible to do “ad hoc” invoicing, which Emma has used to charge the Pre-School and Shop for their PAT testing. Sallie confirmed that our SAGE package can be easily cancelled by phone, once we have managed to print off a list of outstanding invoices/refunds to be dealt with.

Emma confirmed that our current booking rates are far too complicated and need standardising. She will look at hire rates and usage by our regular hirers and devise new rates to put before the Finance committee and Trustees with effect from January 2025. Emma would like regular hirers to renew their contracts annually. ES

Elizabeth Schofield proposed and Colin seconded her proposal that we should adopt the hallbookingonline.com system. The vote was unanimously in favour and Emma was asked to acquire a year’s subscription beginning on 1st November 2024 when the current trial period ends. Emma received a vote of thanks for her initiative and enthusiasm in trialling the system and explaining it so clearly to the Trustees. ES

Marketing Manager’s Report
Emma confirmed that PAT testing had taken place and the Velux windows been serviced, with one in the Clubroom requiring attention next year as the motor is not working (possibly owing to lack of use.)
Our new window cleaner has started - £80 +vat. - but it will take several cleans to get rid of the moss, etc. from the Velux.
Emma has spoken to Chris McKay regarding the CCTV cameras and the Trustees agreed to the re-positioning of one of the rear cameras to provide a view along the rear wall towards the tennis courts.
She would like to organise a working party to freshen up the building one weekend when the hall is quiet. ES

Football hires Emma explained the discussions which had taken place with the football teams and Parish Council to resolve some of the perennial problems which have occurred, particularly regarding toilet access when the hall is let.

Emma has insisted we need their actual fixtures in advance.
Camulodunum Rovers and Roman Rovers have 8 teams between them. Spectators and teams use the toilets.
Their hire charges for the facilities have been raised to £20 per hour with a set 3-hour hire allotted for each match. The team leaders have confirmed that they do NOT require the toilets for midweek practices nor Sunday League games.
They will always use the “overflow” car park, i.e. the grass beyond the field barrier.

The secretary pointed out that we do not have a safeguarding policy, as hirers such as Scouts have their own. However, it was agreed that we do need to have one under current circumstances. Colin kindly volunteered to produce a draft Safeguarding Policy for consideration. CoP

Emma thanked the Trustees for their support and listed forthcoming events:
Sadly, the Comedy Club has pulled out due to no advance ticket sales.
Handmade Fair in November.
Home-schooling company Home Hub one full day a month (taster in December).
Tiny Champs toddler club next week (booking sessions 6 weeks at a time).
Christmas Fair, organised by Charlotte and Emma, on Saturday 7th December – stalls, mini-beer festival (Maldon Brewery), food trucks.

Developer Contributions – Section 106 and Unilateral Undertakings
Martin was not able to attend tonight’s meeting but the Community Shop refill station was discussed under this heading.
His suggestion, made in an email to the Finance Committee on 25th July and circulated to Trustees, was for a donation of £1,118 each from the Parish Council, the LCC and the Shop. This would cover the cost of installation of an Ecowall refill unit and a Liquids unit (which are already in situ.) The LCC portion could be collected by the Parish Council from S106 contribution VAT refunds.
Maureen raised the question of whether our Governing Document allowed us to do this, as charities are not permitted to make cash donations to other charities. The wording of our Governing Document (paragraph 6.7) was read out but it was still not clear. David Druitt kindly agreed to find out the position from the Charity Commission. DD
The majority of Trustees were in favour of Martin’s proposal and it was seconded by Alan Cadman and carried subject to David Druitt being able to confirm that the action is legal.

Hall Roof
Rob Clark had circulated to all Trustees a very interesting resume of discussions he has had with Nayland Village Hall committee regarding replacement of their hall roof and funding possibilities. He had looked around the LCC with Nayland’s architect, who estimated a cost of circa £440,000.
Rob’s report sets out four Targets and three prime Short-term Objectives. A pre-requirement would be the setting up of a sub-committee comprising people qualified in building procedures, such as risk manager, project manager, surveyor, architect. (If Alan were a member, his firm would be unable to tender for the work.) This committee would require insurance cover.
We would need a new structural survey of the roof’s condition and construction as well as currently agreed Building Regs drawings from City Building Control. Rob suggests that a firm of Architects and Quantity Surveyors should manage the project, to include a Principal Designer to assess the method and manage the risk.

Rob’s report goes into more detail about processes and grant funding. It will be appended to these minutes in the file as a reference for future discussions. The starting point will be
• Form a sub-committee
• Acquire a new structural survey
• Look into grant funding. (Rob and Emma)
The Trustees thanked Rob very much for the time and trouble he had taken to provide such a full and reasoned report and his offer of ongoing assistance, as family commitments may permit.

Any Other Business
Clubroom chairs Emma will investigate the replacement and storage of safer stacking chairs as well as the provision of more hall chairs for large hires. ES
Evacuation chair The difficulties with using the evac chair down the outside fire escape steps was considered. After discussion, Colin agreed to look into ways of solving the problem and whether we can offer the stairlift to Committee room hirers who cannot descend the steps unaided. CoP
Secretary’s resignation Liz had handed her written resignation to Alan with effect from the end of the AGM in May 2025. Hopefully this will allow plenty of time to find a replacement.
Retirement of Maureen Shouksmith as Co-opted trustee As Carol Grime has now taken over as Treasurer, Maureen resigned her position. She was thanked for staying on for five months while completing the handover. The secretary would remove Maureen’s name from the Charity Commission website.

Date of Next Meeting
The next Trustee meeting will be held on Thursday 16th January 2025 at 7.30 pm.

The next Finance meeting will be held on Monday 2nd December in the Clubroom at
7.30 pm.

Alan thanked everyone for their attendance and, there being no further business, closed the meeting at 10.15 pm.