LANGHAM COMMUNITY COUNCIL
Minutes of a Finance Committee Meeting
held on 4th Oct 2021 at 8.30pm, LCC Club Room

Present
Alan Cadman, Maureen Shouksmith, Paul Armstrong, Liz Schofield, Sue Armstrong.
Apologies received from Martin Bottwood.

Matters Arising from Finance Meeting on 16th Aug 2021
Obtain all signatures for the hardcopy Shop and Pre-School Leases: Ongoing PA
Organize a nice bottle of red & white wine as a thank you for George Pearce: Discharged PA
Arrange for repair and general service of floor cleaning machine: Arranged and paid for but still awaiting delivery of a part. Ongoing SA
Progress research on assistive hearing technology options and submit CIF grant application: Grant application submitted just ahead of the 17th Sep deadline. Receipt acknowledged; result expected early December. Discharged PA
Review whether LCC should coordinate S106 bids from LCC, Shop & Pre-School: Agreed yes and Martin informed of this. Discharged SA/AC
Send warning letter to local flytipper: Discharged PA
Install flytipping warning sign on wall behind LCC rubbish skip: Ongoing SA
Propose an October re-start date for Community Café mornings: 22nd October. Discharged SA

Chairman’s Report
Alan has recently signed a lot of essential paperwork for the new roof project. Building Regs sign-off was submitted to CBC last week. A tender invitation list has been agreed with Hoggarth & Cooke, comprising TJ Evers, Cadman, Rose, Horizon, Gipping and Ponder. The original intention of inviting fixed price tenders may need to be revised somewhat to include a variable element reflecting the current extreme volatility in timber and raw building materials pricing.
Alan has met with the second car park risk assessor (from Norwich), who advised Alan that he was unwilling to consider a risk assessment sign-off due to the state of the car park entrance which he felt was totally unsatisfactory. Renewal of our current insurance policy falls due at the end of November, and it is now clear that we will be unable to provide Ansvar with the completed risk assessment that they had asked for as a condition of extending our insurance cover.
Liz Schofield suggested that we should contact Lewis Barber to explore whether Highways Essex might possibly expedite a risk assessment of our car park entrance so as to provide a formal written appraisal of its fitness for purpose, or any required upgrades. Such an appraisal might be helpful in negotiating with our current (or alternative) insurers. Action PA

Treasurer’s Report
Maureen’s Sept P&L spreadsheets had been circulated prior to the meeting. Closing bank balances today were: current a/c £2582.06; deposit a/c £75,135.72.
George Pearce has completed his review of our 2020/21 accounts and returned them to Maureen recently. Maureen has now passed these over to Paul for him to submit to the Charities Commission website. Action PA
100 Club renewal fees have been flowing in recently, which has bolstered funds. A small handful of members are still being chased for their outstanding payments. Sue recorded her sincere thanks to Liz Winter and Maureen for their valuable help in chasing and collecting renewal payments.
A small number (3-5) of our small tables have gone missing and will need replacing. 1 or 2 tables (TBC) were lent to the Shop for operation of the mobile post office and these now need to be retrieved as hiring requirements continue to return toward normality. The exact date of disappearance of some other small tables remains a mystery, but there is definitely now a shortfall that needs replacing. It was agreed that Sue could proceed to purchase 3-5 tables to restore our historic stock level. Action SA

Marketing Manager’s Report
Sue’s brief written report had been circulated prior to the meeting.
Bookings are steadily increasing following the removal of mandatory COVID restrictions.
The restart of the village cinema was a success on 18th Sep, with a total of 54 tickets sold for the screening of “23Walks”. Our mini sound-mixing desk appears to be on its last legs though. A replacement unit will probably cost around £200 - £300, subject to further research and confirmation by Cliff & Paul. The meeting granted approval to proceed with replacement at this cost level. Action PA/CJ
The loose toilet seat in the Ladies Toilet has now been fixed. A small crack has also recently appeared in a sink in the Ladies toilet and will need to be fixed.
The Shop and Pre-School have both recently requested a fresh lick of paint in their premises. Terry has been asked to quote for this work, but he may not be able to schedule it until early next year.
Sue has reported the loose kerbstone at our car park using the Highways Essex online reporting tool, but it has been deemed low priority for any remedial work.
The Shop Committee have recently decided that they no longer wish to close our car park barrier. This can be discussed at the next Trustee Meeting on 28th Oct, to work out the best way forwards.
Ceroc have cancelled their next 30th October dance booking but still plan to come on 28th December.
Ed Hyde has suggested that we contact him next year to discuss how to protect the main hall floor during the roof repair work, and also to discuss a ‘clean and seal’ maintenance activity.
The New Year’s Eve slot is proving very popular this year, with three potential hirers vying to confirm the booking.

Any Other Business
We discussed the likely request for use of the LCC to support a Platinum Jubilee event early next June. Exact schedule and dates not yet clear, but it will be in the window 2nd-5th June. It was suggested that we ask Trustees to approve a free hiring of the hall in support of this event, which is expected to have a charity fundraising element. This to be included on the agenda of the next full Trustee Meeting. Action PA
In the light of current trends in utility prices, we noted our gratitude for the foresight of Andrew Craig in negotiating a three year fixed electricity tariff for the LCC. The three year deal with British Gas expires May 2022, at which point we will likely suffer a large electricity cost uplift.

Date of Next Meetings
Next Trustee Meeting: Thursday 28th October, 7.30pm, Langham Community Centre
Next Finance Committee Meeting: Monday 29th November, 7.30pm, Langham Community Centre