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Agenda and minutes
Venue: Council Chamber - Muriel Matters House, Breeds Place, Hastings TN34 3UY. View directions
Contact: Democratic Services on 01424 451484 email: democraticservices@hastings.gov.uk
Items No. Item Apologies for absence
Minutes:
Apologies received from Victoria Conheady & Nick Porter
Declarations of interest
Minutes:
None
Minutes of previous Charity Committee 16/01/23 PDF 70 KB
Minutes:
RESOLVED – that the minutes of the meeting held on 16th January 2023 be approved as a true record.
Minutes of Coastal Users Group 07/03/23 PDF 76 KB
(Kevin Boorman, Marketing & Major Projects Manager)
Minutes:
The Marketing and Major Projects Manager gave an update from the last Coastal Users Group meeting. There was a presentation from Southern Water which was well received with their senior managers present. There was a presentation for the RNLI with an update on the lifeboat house. There was a lot of concern regarding the proposed new arrangements for the running of the Fish Festivals with some questions arising which are being progressed. Paul Carter has stood down as Chair of the Coastal Users Group and will be missed.
Councillors recognised that the consultation regarding the Fish Festivals could have been handled better, and Councillor Batsford apologised for that. Councillor Batsford will be attending the next Coastal Users Group meeting to discuss viewpoints and ideas. It was also recognised that the Council’s financial deficit needs to be addressed.
Foreshore Trust 2022/23 Financial Monitoring Update and 2023/24 Budget Report PDF 118 KB
Kit Wheeler (Chief Finance Officer)
Additional documents:
Minutes:
The Chief Finance Officer gave a brief overview of the report and an update on the accounts. The accounts for the Council have still not been signed off. The expectations are to have the 20/21, 21/22 and 22/23 accounts audited and signed off by September. The draft 20/21 accounts will be bought to the next meeting.
The Senior Corporate Accountant introduced the report. Income is currently projected to be £84,000 under budget. The amount of car parking income anticipated is £111,000 under budget and rental income £27,000
higher due to rental reviews. Parking income is expected to return to its pre pandemic level for 23/24. The 23/24 budget sees a net surplus of 7000. The large grants for next year will be maintained at the same level and there will be one cycle of small grants.
The Councillors debated and highlighted the need to make all the assets work well for The Foreshore Trust and be more sustainable. The Chief Finance Officer explained the Foreshore budget has been worked to be realistic with achievable targets.
RESOLVED (Unanimously)
Recommendation(s)
1. To agree the current financial position for 2022/23.
2. Approve the budget for 2023/24.
3. A full Financial and Business Plan review of future years be conducted once Final Financial position for 2022/23 is confirmed.
4. Car parking charges for 2023/24 increase in line with Hastings Borough Council’s approved policy.
Reasons
The Council has the responsibility for the proper management of the financial affairs of the Trust. In doing so it complies with Accounting Codes of Practice and the high standards required for the accounting of Public money.
A surplus in excess of budget expectations is anticipated for 2022/23 to the sum of £259k in respect of operating income and expenses. Budget expectations were an Operating surplus of £218k. Once grant and project costs are taken into account a deficit of £58,000 is anticipated against a budgeted deficit of £99,000.
Foreshore Trust Small & Events Grants Round 7 recommendations PDF 86 KB
Victoria Conheady (Assistant Director Regeneration and Culture)
Additional documents:
Minutes:
The External Funding Manager explained that there were 35 applications to assess. The Grant advisory panel met in January and selected 12 applications for approval for funding, totalling £42,922.
Councillors discussed the good breadth of work from the 12 approved applications and the issues and events that they will address and thanked the Grant advisory panel for their efforts. Councillors requested to be informed of the launches by the organizations so they can attend.
The External Funding Manager explained that there would normally be a call for applications in the Summer but that is not happening this year due to the revised 23/24 budget, so the next call will be at the end of the year. Councillors requested for a communication to be released regarding this.
RESOLVED (Unanimously)
Recommendation(s)
That the meeting:
1. Consider for approval the Small and Events Grants Round 7 2023-24 recommendations of the GAP as set out in Appendix 1 (with projects listed in Appendix A)
Reasons
The Grant Advisory Panel has appraised the merits of the applications received for Small and Event Grant support and has made a number of recommendations for grant awards that can be funded from the available 2023-24 budget.
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