The Timu Academy Trust Minutes of the Finance & General Purposes/Audit Committee Meeting Held at Iwade School on Thursday 13th November 2014 at 5.

Transcription

1 The Timu Academy Trust Minutes of the Finance & General Purposes/Audit Committee Meeting Held at Iwade School on Thursday 13th November 2014 at 5.30pm Present: Karl Wiesmath Gemma Hunt Matt Gale (Chair) In attendance: Katrina Ware Jim Fisher Dee Stacey Clerk: Cheryl Wilson 1) Apologies for absence There was only one apology made, which was from Gemma Hunt, who informed the Finance Committee of her late arrival to this meeting. She arrived at the meeting at 6.15pm. It was also noted at this meeting that LC was not present, as he has resigned from the Governing Body since the previous meeting. A formal resignation letter however has not been received to date, therefore the Clerk will draft a letter for LC to sign and return. ACTION: CW to draft a resignation letter for LC s signature and return. CW 2) Declaration of Business Interests Register of Business Interests Nothing new was declared. Most pro-forma s which were issued at the Full GB meeting on 2 nd October 2014 have now been completed and returned to the clerk, therefore it was decided that the information received to date, with regards to any business interest with either school, should be collated and put on to the website. ACTION: CW to collate the information received and put onto the website. CW Conflict of Interests Nothing new to add. Review of the risks register Since the resignation of LC, a Health and Safety governor is still required. MG did have someone in mind, however they are a parent of Iwade School and it is felt that the GB has enough parent governor s, therefore a governor from outside of the school is more desirable. This will therefore be discussed at the next full GB meeting next week. ACTION: Discuss the appointment of a new health and safety governor at the Full GB meeting next week. ALL 3) Minutes of previous meeting ( ) The Chair ran through the previous minutes to review the outstanding actions. For the update to these actions please see appropriate section of the minutes. 1

2 The Minutes, were agreed to be an accurate account of the last meeting no changes were made, so were signed by the Chair MG. 4) Finance Committee Report DS ran through the Finance Report which is attached to these minutes accordingly. 1. Financial Summary The budget is now on the system in the new format of PS Financials. There are a few minor issues, however these will be rectified very soon. The headlines of the budget are that there are a couple of areas where a deficit is shown, namely c. 7,359 under Educational Support Staff, and c. 2,765 under Premises Staffing, both of which the school are aware of and happy that these will settle down imminently. Another area where a deficit is shown is under Other Supplies and services of c. 12,546. The reason for this is due to this figure not including the payment to Principals for the UIFSM (Free School Meals), therefore the relevant adjustment will be made accordingly. The overall budget shows a surplus figure of 8, for the two month period from the 1 st September It was also noted that this budget is much easier to produce than the previous system. 2. Finance Support for the Trust Since becoming an Academy, the school have found that their previous Finance provider SFS (Schools Financial Services) did not have the necessary skills required, moving forward, therefore they decided to part company with them who they have used since The Academy have since started using a Finance company Edufin, who are a small company, formed by ex-ps Financials employees, who are a locally based company, who are currently providing support for 3 months at 3 days per month at the same cost as SFS charged. 3. Policies Following updated guidance from the DfE, the number of policies that need to be approved by governors has been significantly reduced. There are now only three policies that require the approval of the full GB. The remainder of these policies can now be delegated for approval by the Headteacher. It was agreed however, at this meeting, that the Finance Policy will still be approved by the Finance Committee members. ACTION: CW to brief the full GB at next week s meeting to agree this delegation. CW 4. Bank Account The investment account which was discussed and agreed upon at the last meeting is not set up yet, but is in the hands of Lloyds Bank who are currently processing the paperwork. 2

3 5. Fire risk assessment Three quotes were sought for a fire risk assessment to be carried out. One provider, called SafeIS has carried out this assessment at both schools and a report should be received from them in the next couple of weeks. 6. Value for Money Statement It was noted at this Finance meeting that the Value for Money Statement year ending 31st August 2014 was circulated for approval prior to this meeting and that all governors present are happy for this to be sent off to the EFA and for it to be published on the website. 7. Health and Safety Judicium, who already provide the school s HR support, also offer a Health and Safety package for academies. This service includes regular inspections and support with documentation, plus their indemnity claim protection. The school is very happy with the service they currently receive from Judicium, therefore expect this service to be as good. They are due to come into school to discuss this service in more detail at the end of this month. In the meantime two additional quotations will be sought for comparison purposes. 8. Playing Field DS/MG had a meeting with Graeme Tuff, from Swale Borough Council, with regards to the potential funding of an artificial grass area at Iwade School. The tone of the meeting was very positive and the school await to hear the outcome. No timescales have been discussed, however letters from the school, Iwade Herons Football Club and the Parish Council are being sought meantime. The only potential issues which were highlighted were to do with the flood lighting of the area, however it was deemed that this would not be a concern and the maintenance of the area which would be carried out by the existing maintenance company covering Bobbing Village School s artificial grass area, thus not making it an issue either. 9. Academies Capital Improvement Fund /DS met with a surveyor from Capital Property and Construction, with regards to the old roof at Bobbing Village School. They work on a no-win, no-fee basis, therefore there is no financial cost to the academy unless the bid is successful. 10. Governor Services Currently a fee is paid for both schools even though the Trust has one GB and this fee is due to increase next year to nearly 1200 compared to 952, which is what the school pays currently. This is a significant increase and the increasing concern is how much support the Trust will get from them as the Trust support transfers to using John Truman, plus any core governor training courses which can be purchased on a pay as you go basis at 85 per delegate. ACTION: DS to terminate the contract with Governor Services. DS ACTION: DS to give CW a copy of the Finance Committee Report. DS 3

4 5) Finance See the notes under the Finance Committee Report. 6) Site Expansion Update The plans which went to committee on the 22 nd October 2014 were delayed. There were a few side issues which still needed to be ironed out, however the plans are now due to be signed off by KCC next Wednesday (19 th November) therefore the work should commence before the end of this month with an estimated completion date of January Building and grounds/ Health & Safety Visits With regards to obtaining a quote from the builders of the extension works, to renew the cladding at Iwade School, the builders have now been confirmed. The company which is being used is WW Martin from Ramsgate who have made a good first impression and are happy to involve the school with their plans. They have also confirmed that they are happy to carry out this work while the building works are going on. Two more quotes have now been sought, for a concrete base, to assist with the replacement of the two storage cupboards, which were lost as a result of the kitchen built at Iwade School. The second quote received is much more competitive compared to the first one (about 1,000 cheaper) and the third one is to follow shortly. ACTION: to liaise with the Finance Committee once all three quotes have been received. As a result of a fire drill incident which took place at Iwade School recently, this highlighted that a new fire plan needs to be put in place, as once the building works have started, the assembly points will be in the wrong places, as some maybe inaccessible. ACTION: Amend the fire plan to change the assembly points before the building works commence. /KW A meeting needs to be arranged with Iwade Herons Football Club, as once the building works have started, the pitch will need to be moved. ACTION: Arrange a meeting with IHFC. As a result of the expansion plans, a couple of projects have come to light, as some fencing which cost the school a considerable sum of money, needs to be moved, which can be re-sited to replace some rotting wooden fence. More gates are also going to be needed at both schools. It has been highlighted that there is a safety issue at Bobbing Village School, where children are allowed to play, after school, on the play equipment, unsupervised. As a result a fence is planned to be erected to stop entry to this area after school. ACTION: to carry out the necessary work. ACTION STILL OUTSTANDING: Health and safety visits to be arranged as cannot carry these out on his own. 4

5 7) Personnel The pay/appraisal committee, consisting of MG carried out a performance management review with KW for the teaching staff over both schools a report was produced, which is attached to the minutes accordingly. It was decided at the last full GB meeting that it would be desirable to appoint a new governor with an educational background. KW approached a local former executive headteacher, who agreed to bring her guidance and assistance to the GB. This was put to all governors to vote upon, by , who unanimously agreed to welcome her into the GB. She has been subsequently invited to attend the next full GB meeting on Thursday 20 th November. 8) Policies See item 3 of the Finance Committee Report for the updated guidance from the DfE. With regards to the policy review, some feedback has been obtained from governor s which has been adopted and the policies have been amended accordingly and have since been updated on the website. Some feedback however was received after the deadline given, therefore this will be looked at, at the full GB meeting next week to approve. ACTION: Discuss/adopt further policy changes at the next full GB meeting.all At the last meeting it was discussed that the school s facebook page would be anonymised so that any one of the senior leadership team at either school, could comment under the Timu Academy Trust name, rather than under an individual s name. This has now been set up and is working much better for the school as a result. 9) Any other Business At the last meeting it was discussed that there was a possibility of some potential funding being made available to school s to have a defibrillator on site. DS looked into this potential funding and reported back at this meeting that this funding is not currently available to schools, however the DfE may provide discounts for these to be made available in the future. It was decided therefore that the schools would wait until such time that these discounts were made available. With regards to the traffic/parking survey, which was carried out at Bobbing Village School recently, the findings were presented to the Parish Council at their recent meeting by MG. The result of which has not yet been made clear. It was also highlighted by a governor, that due to an increasing number of complaints being received by the governing body, that the clerks hours need to be reviewed. ACTION: KW/CW to arrange a meeting to discuss/review. CW/KW With regards to the Iwade Rocks event, which takes place in Iwade every summer, this was highlighted as a point of discussion to review, as the tickets for this event are due to go on sale next month. Holding this event on the Iwade School premises again, 5

6 could be difficult for next summer s event (2015), in light of the building works which are due to commence imminently. ACTION: to speak to the builders regarding this and to report back at next weeks full GB meeting with regards to the outcome of this discussion. 10) Confidentiality None. 11) Date of Next Meeting Full GB Meeting Thursday 20 th November 2014 at Iwade 5pm TIMU Academy Governing Body Review Meeting Thursday 4 th December 2014 at Bobbing Village 5.30pm Children, Families & Community Committee Thursday 15 th January 2015 at Bobbing 5pm Finance & General Purposes Committee Meeting Thursday 22 nd January 2015 at Bobbing Village 5.30pm Standards & Achievement Committee Meeting Thursday 5 th February 2015 at Bobbing Village 5pm Signed..Head of Finance, dated 6