Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence from Members.

Apologies were received from Councillors H Allen, M Andrews, J Beesley, D Brown, N Greene, M Iyengar, C Johnson, A Jones and K Wilson.

Charter Trustees are required to comply with the requirements of the Localism Act 2011 in respect of the declarations of Disclosable Pecuniary Interests. Declarations received will be reported to the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest made on this occasion.

To receive the minutes of the following meetings and to consider any matters arising.

The following minutes were presented to the Charter Trustees.

The Minutes of the meeting held on 30 April 2019 were confirmed as a correct record and signed.

The Minutes of the meeting held on 31 May 2019 were confirmed as a correct record and signed.

The Charter Mayor will report on her engagements for the period from May – November 2019.

The Charter Mayor updated the Trustees on her activity since becoming the Mayor in May 2019. She reported that she was proud to be the first female Mayor in Bournemouth for 10 years.  The Mayor reported that the past 5 months had been exemplar and organised with precision by the team and the popularity for inviting the Mayoralty to attend “in her words – so many gigs” had been overwhelming. The Charter Trustees were informed that the Mayoralty Chains presence was as popular as ever and the diary was proof of this fact being correct.  The Mayor outlined the guests who had visited the parlour and the level and type of engagements that she had attended.  She explained that so many organisations and volunteers were associated with Bournemouth and she had shared these details with the Charter Trustees in order to highlight the importance of the role. The Mayor emphasised that it was such an honour and privilege to serve the residents of Bournemouth.

A Charter Trustee acknowledged the exhaustive lists of activities that the Mayor had undertaken and the prestige she had brought to the Town and wished her well for the second half of her Mayoral year.

RESOLVED that the Charter Mayor’s report be received and noted.

The Charter Trustees are asked to consider and approve the budget for 2019/20. The approved budget will then form the basis of the budget for 2020/21 plus inflationary increases.  Charter Trustees are asked to advise of any areas of the existing budget that need to be altered/reviewed for 2020/21.

The Charter Trustees considered the proposed budget for 2019/20, a copy of which had been circulated to each Trustee and a copy of which appears as Appendix ‘A’ to these Minutes in the Minute Book.

RESOLVED that the proposed 2019/20 budget as presented be approved.

The Charter Trustees are advised that all smaller authorities, those with income/expenditure under £6.5 million, require an external auditor to be appointed to undertake a ‘limited assurance review’ at the conclusion of the financial year and in case an objection is received from a local elector. Smaller authorities mainly comprise of Town and Parish Councils although Charter Trustees are also included within the definition of a smaller authority.

The Smaller Authorities’ Audit Appointments (SAAA) was formally appointed in January 2016 by the Minister for Local Government as “a person specified to appoint local auditors”.  It is proposed that the Charter Trustees use this central procurement and appointment regime.  If newly created authorities opted out of this regime they would be required to procure and appoint their own external auditors.

The Charter Trustees were advised that all smaller authorities, those with income/expenditure under £6.5 million, required an external auditor to be appointed to undertake a ‘limited assurance review’ at the conclusion of the financial year and in case an objection was received from a local elector. Smaller authorities mainly comprise of Town and Parish Councils although Charter Trustees were also included within the definition of a smaller authority.

Officers reported that the Smaller Authorities’ Audit Appointments (SAAA) was formally appointed in January 2016 by the Minister for Local Government as “a person specified to appoint local auditors”.  It was proposed that the Charter Trustees use this central procurement and appointment regime.  If newly created authorities opted out of this regime they would be required to procure and appoint their own external auditors.

RESOLVED that the arrangements for the appointment of external auditors via the SAAA as detailed above be approved.

The Charter Trustees will need to meet in January 2020 when the Council Tax Base is known to approve the budget for 2020/21 and any potential precept for submission to the Council.  The Charter Trustees are asked to agree a date.

The Charter Trustees at the Annual General Meeting on 31 May 2019 agreed that the Annual General meeting for 2020 would be held on 29 May.

The Charter Trustees were advised that they needed to meet in January 2020 when the Council Tax Base was known to approve the budget for 2020/21 and any potential precept for submission to the Council.  It was proposed that this meeting be held on 23 January 2020 at 2 pm.  Charter Trustees indicated that they would prefer an evening meeting.

The Mayor reminded the Charter Trustees that they had previously agreed that the Annual General Meeting for 2020 would be held on 29 May 2020 at 11.15 am.

RESOLVED that:-

(a)  Officers review the options for an evening meeting of the Charter Trustees in late January 2020.

the Charter Trustees confirmed that the AGM would be held on 29 May 2020 at 11.15 am.

There were no items of any other business raised at the meeting.