October 2025 Minutes
Minutes of the Heckington Parish Council Finance Committee meeting held on Thursday 30 October 2025 at 7.30pm in the Parish Council Chambers, St Andrews Street, Heckington
1. Chair’s Welcome
The Chair Councillor Davison, hereafter referred to as the Chair welcomed those present to the meeting. He delivered the usual health and safety announcements and asked those present to silence their mobile devices.
2. Public Forum
There were three members of the public present.
3. Councillors present
Councillor Davison, Chair of the Finance Committee
Councillor Cocks
Councillor Malone
Councillor Spencer
Councillor Wright
4. Apologies
Apologies were received from Councillor Garlick. The reasons for his absence were noted and accepted.
5. To receive any reports of member’s interest, pecuniary or otherwise in relation to the agenda and any dispensations in accordance with the Localism Act 2011
None
6. Approval of Minutes
Councillor Wright proposed that the minutes of the Finance Committee meeting on Monday 15 September 2025 are accepted as a true and accurate record of that meeting. The proposal was seconded by Councillor Spencer, and the motion was passed unanimously by resolution of the Council.
7. Finance
a) A summary and review of resolutions made by the Parish Council at the September and October meetings of the Parish Council in relation to finance.
• The Parish Council resolved to approve an application for a loan from the Public Works Board Loan up to £100k but it is unlikely that the Parish Council will be able to proceed with this application.
• The Parish Council resolved to proceed with installation of the Multi Use Games Area at the Pavilion on the site of the former playground. This will be funded for the most part by Section 106 funding held by North Kesteven District Council. The Parish Council are exploring grant funding for the remainder. A full planning application must be submitted to North Kesteven District Council’s Planning Department. The first submission has been returned ‘invalid’.
• The Parish Council resolved to approve an exploration of the sale of the Nilfisk mower/sweeper. The profit from the sale would lead to savings in the long-term.
• The Parish Council resolved to distribute a newsletter to all households, and it was agreed that this will be made more cost effective by increasing to the ink and stationery budget heads and removing external printing and delivery budget sub-headings.
• The Parish Council resolved to reduce the memorial repair budget head to £7,500.00 due to capacity of the Memorial Mason appointed to carry out the works. As far as the Parish Council is aware, these inspections have not been carried out previously by the Parish Council.
• The Parish Council resolved to increase the inspections budget for the Council Chambers budget sub-heading increased from £3000.00 to £7000.00 to allow for a commercial rather than domestic fire alarm system. Councillors and members of the public asked why a domestic system had been installed in the first instance and why this hadn’t been rectified previously.
b) Draft Budget 2026/27 & Review of Reserves
Members reviewed the draft budget document reviewed last by the Parish Council at their meeting on Monday 27 October 2025.
General Administration
• The insurance budget sub-heading for the motor fleet to be reduced from £1,000.00 to £500.00 (if the Nilfisk is retained, the budget head will need to be reviewed).
• The annual subscriptions budget sub-heading to be increased from £4250.00 to £5250.00.
• The councillor’s expenses budget sub-heading reduced from £500.00 to £250.00.
Staffing
• The locum cover budget sub-heading to be reduced from £10,000.00 to £5,000.00.
The Clerk reminded members that the Parish Council has required locum cover in the last 2-years and there should be a contingency for this. The Clerk advised that member review earmarked and general reserves.
Caretaker/Village Maintenance
• The Caretaker equipment, repairs and servicing budget sub-heading to be reduced from £6,000.00 to £4,000.00 relates to savings associated with the sale of the Nilfisk mower/sweeper.
• The diesel budget sub-heading to be removed. The Nilfisk is the only machine requiring diesel and if sold, this will no longer be required.
• The trees budget sub-heading to be reduced by £1,000.00 to £4,585.00. The Clerk explained that not all works need to be carried out by an arborist; most of the tree works can be done in-house by the Caretaker.
Cemetery
• The ‘to reserves’ budget sub-heading to be reduced from £20,000.00 to £10,000.00.
Workshop
• The removal of the equipment budget sub-heading as this type of expenditure would fall under the Caretaker equipment budget sub-heading under Caretaker and Village Maintenance.
Chambers
• The electricity budget sub-heading to be reduced by £240.00 to £3,750.00. The Parish Council has already made savings on previous years and the contract with the current supplier is due to come to an end in December 2025. The Parish Council have agreed to move to Octopus at a much more favourable rate.
• To remove the building repairs (emergency) budget sub-heading with a contingency for this in reserves.
Playground
• The emergency repairs sub-heading has been reduced to £2,000.00 from £2,272.00.
• The cleaning budget sub-heading has been removed as this will fall within the Caretaker and village maintenance sub-heading.
Pavilion
Members discussed the Pavilion budget sub-heading provisionally set at £35,000.00. Councillor Spencer proposed that the figure remain in the budget pending review of the future financial model of the Pavilion. The proposal was seconded by Councillor Wright, and the motion was passed by resolution of the Committee. Councillor Davison voted against the proposal as £35k is not a realistic figure given the amount of work required in 2026/27.
The saving based on this review is £59,027.00.
Income
• The cemetery fees have been increased by £500.00 to £3,000.00 based on sales figures this financial year.
Reserves
The Clerk explained that there should be £77,103.03 in earmarked reserves at present based on figures suggested by the former administration.
|
Record of ring-fenced/general reserves |
Totals as of 29 October 2025 |
Proposed NEW figures |
|
Capital Equipment |
24,299.60 |
10,000.00 |
|
Elections |
7838.92 |
7,000.00 |
|
Legal Fees |
8398.72 |
0.00 |
|
Chamber Maintenance |
7340.12 |
2,000.00 |
|
Cemetery/Land |
0.00 |
0.00 |
|
Memorials |
1,000.00 |
0.00 |
|
Verge Maintenance |
1,000.00 |
0.00 |
|
Lift |
3,000.00 |
0.00 |
|
Rates |
2,000.00 |
0.00 |
|
Trees |
3,033.15 |
0.00 |
|
Coronation Balance |
6,677.41 |
0.00 |
|
Cemetery 2025/26 |
12,515.11 |
|
|
Emergency Building Repairs |
0.00 |
|
|
General Reserves |
0.00 |
|
|
TOTALS |
77,103.03 |
31,515.11 |
Totals
The Clerk explained that after predicted income and expenditure to year end, there will an estimated £36,322.32 left across the savings and current account. If the Parish Council do not make any amendment to the reserves total, this would leave the Parish Council with a deficit of £40,780.71 but further to the above recommendations, the Parish Council would only be left with a deficit of £192.79. This combined with predicted income and expenditure for 2026/27 leaves a figure of £211,442.19 as amended which is the figure the Parish Council would need to request from North Kesteven District Council in the form of a precept. This does not include a figure for general reserves.
|
Bank Balances as of 29 October 2025 |
|
|
Current Account |
10,521.30 |
|
Savings Account |
89,015.01 |
|
Predicted Expenditure to Year End |
71,204.94 |
|
Predicted Income to Year End |
7990.95 |
|
Predicted Year End Balance combined |
36,322.32 |
|
Reserves |
51,515.11 |
|
Year End Balance less reserves |
15,192.79 |
|
Budgeted Income for 2026/27 inc sale of Nilfisk |
24,430.60 |
|
Budgeted Expenditure for 2026/27 |
235,680.00 |
|
Precept Request 2026/27 |
196,056.61 |
Council Tax Calculator
The Chair presented the four models showing how precept increases of 44%, 55%, 65% and 81% might affect the Band D Council Tax rate. Members agreed that there needs to be a precept increase as the current precept has not been increased in line with inflation nor does it adequately cover the day to day running of the Parish Council and its assets.
The Clerk reminded members that the reason they are in this position isn’t because any previous administration was prudent or spent money wisely, it is because the previous administration wasted money. The Clerk said that she doesn’t think that members of the public are aware of the extent of this because the details of expenditure were never published, there was no transparency. She went on to say that it is not only the waste of money but the flagrant neglect of the facilities that has led to this position.
The Chair estimated a 70-80% increase in the precept request for 2026/27.
Members discussed general reserves. The Chair proposed a sum of £15,000.00 is allocated to build up general reserves in 2026/27 making the reserve figure £51,515.11. The proposal was seconded by Councillor Wright, and the motion was passed by resolution of the Committee. Councillor Spencer voted against the proposal; his opinion was that this figure should be higher.
|
Record of ring-fenced/general reserves (as amended) |
Totals as of 29 October 2025 |
Proposed NEW figures |
|
Capital Equipment |
24,299.60 |
10,000.00 |
|
Elections |
7838.92 |
7,000.00 |
|
Legal Fees |
8398.72 |
0.00 |
|
Chamber Maintenance |
7340.12 |
2,000.00 |
|
Cemetery/Land |
0.00 |
0.00 |
|
Memorials |
1,000.00 |
0.00 |
|
Verge Maintenance |
1,000.00 |
0.00 |
|
Lift |
3,000.00 |
0.00 |
|
Rates |
2,000.00 |
0.00 |
|
Trees |
3,033.15 |
0.00 |
|
Coronation Balance |
6,677.41 |
0.00 |
|
Cemetery 2025/26 |
12,515.11 |
|
|
Emergency Building Repairs |
0.00 |
|
|
General Reserves |
0.00 |
20,000.00 |
|
TOTALS |
77,103.03 |
51,515.11 |
Action: Clerk to circulate the revised budget including the council tax calculations.
The events, allotment and section 137 budget headings remain unchanged.
c) To further discuss the application for a Public Works Loan and the consultation process.
The Chair proposed that the Finance Committee make a recommendation to the Parish Council that they do not proceed with a Public Works Loan. The proposal was seconded by Councillor Spencer, and the motion was passed unanimously by resolution of the Committee.
d) A review of outstanding actions for audit further to the intermediate internal audit scheduled to take place November 2025.
The Clerk informed members that the intermediate internal audit will take place on 17 November 2025. There are several outstanding actions including an expenses policy, an IT policy, a Safeguarding policy, a generic risk assessment policy and routine risk assessments on street furniture, to check that all land has been registered with HM Land Registry and some website updates. The Chair reminded the meeting that previous audits were based on the figures rather than financial governance and none of this scrutiny has taken place in previous years.
8. Chambers
a) To receive any updates from the Clerk in relation to the following:
i) Parish Council Chambers accessibility survey by Access Able, Friday 10 October 2025.
AccessAble identified some issues, some of which are easily rectifiable, others more expensive. The report is still awaited and will be presented at a future meeting.
ii) Sliding door, main meeting room.
Councillor Malone has received one informal quote. Item to be deferred to the next meeting of the Finance Committee.
b) Review of Energy Supplier
Members reviewed the unit rates and standing charges provided by EDF, British Gas and Octopus. Councillor Spencer proposed that the Finance Committee makes a recommendation to the Parish Council to proceed with Octopus. The proposal was seconded by Councillor Cocks, and the motion was passed unanimously by resolution of the Committee.
c) Window Cleaning
The Chair proposed that the Parish Council make a recommendation to the Parish Council to proceed with a new supplier at £30.00 per clean. The proposal was seconded by Councillor Malone, and the motion was passed unanimously by resolution of the Committee.
9. Date and time of the next meeting
Thursday 4 December at 7.30pm.
10. Questions from the public (time permitting at the discretion of the Chair).
A member of the public said that he couldn’t understand why the Parish Council were going to fund £5k towards the MUGA given the current financial situation. Councillor Spencer said that the Parish Council are looking for grant funding to fund this element of project.
The Chair proposed that the meeting is moved into closed session in accordance with the the Public Bodies Act 1960, the proposal was seconded by Councillor Wright, and the motion was passed unanimously by resolution of the Committee.
11. Closed Session
The Chair proposed that agenda item 11 b is addressed ahead of agenda item 11 a, given the presence of a member of the public invited to attend the closed session of the Finance Committee in relation to agenda item 11b.
b) Pavilion tenancy agreement and future financial model
A member of the public joined the closed session to discuss a potential financial model (CIO) for the Pavilion.
There were no resolutions.
a) Review of an estimate for remedial work at the Parish Council Chambers
Members agreed to defer this item to the next meeting of the Committee.
The Chair closed the meeting 9.30pm.