Minutes of Personnel, Pay and Finance Committee at Pensby Primary School

Friday 16th June 2017 at 9.15am

Governors in attendance
J Evans: co-opted governor (chair of Finance) / S Evans: co-opted governor
D Spencer: co-opted governor / J Lawrence: parent governor
K Brown: headteacher / Kim Yeardsley-Jones: office manager
Y Clark: co-opted governor / Joanne Barker: bursar (in attendance for agenda item 4 Budget Setting)
J Gibson: clerk
Agenda item and discussion / Resolved/outcome of discussion/action point (person responsible for action highlighted)
1 / Welcome; apologies
JE welcomed governors to the meeting and it was noted that all members were present.
2 / Declarations of Interest
There were no new interests to be declared in respect of today’s agenda.
3 / Any other business to declare
Wirral Schools Forum (DS)
Photocopier and Data Protection Regulations (KYJ) / Additional agenda items to be discussed under any other business (14).
4 / Minutes of the last meeting / Agreed as true and accurate record
5 / Matters arising
7. Meeting with governors at Stanley school – DS informed the Committee that he’d again requested another meeting and that he was waiting for a response. KB reported that the current chair of governors at Stanley school was retiring and it was suggested that a meeting should be arranged before she leaves. / DS to draft a further letter to be sent to each governor via JML(staff governor from Stanley School) who had attended the earlier Premises meeting. The wording of the letter to be referred to next Full Governors meeting.
8.2 Sickness Absence Policy
DS asked if there were any concerns re staff absence. KB responded that there was currently no pattern of recurring absences and she reported on Discover software which had been briefed to headteachers at a recent head’s meeting. / KB to email graphs obtained through Discover which show anonymised patterns of absence for pupils and staff.
11.5 Increase in charges for children’s club – covered under agenda tem 9
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6.1 / Budget setting
Following a recent prior meeting with KB and JE, JB presented the budget setting report to the Committee. She confirmed that the school wasable to set a balanced budget with a projected surplus of approximately £139,000 (provisional figure) but that there was currently a projected deficit for next year of £70,000.
6.2 / JB said that as the year progressed and further costs allocated, it was likely that the deficit would reduce. Reference was made to the ongoing need to monitor expenditure in the economic current climate.
6.3 / Queries were raised as to the impact on the school budget following the national election. JB confirmed that UIFSM had been built into the budget based on figures at census date and that the PE grant was being costed at the same level as last year.
6.4 / Under the heading of staffing,KB said that an increase had been built in for performance related pay increase (to be discussed under item 10).
6.5 / Clarification was requested regarding a contractwith a handover period. KB explained and SE provided an example where a cross-over period worked very well. / The Committee agreed that handover periods benefit the pupils.
6.6 / KB raised concerns about those costs shared with Stanley school especially relating to premises and kitchen costs. She asked JB to find out whether a separate budget could be set up for shared costs and added that split costs for PensbyPrimary were available.
6.7 / JM reported that she had attended an earlier Premises meeting with KB, PD (joint Premises Manager) and JML from Stanley School. She said they had proposed a better communication and approval system for the Premises Manager. KB said this was necessary so that PD could manage the premises budget and so that jobs and costs could be split.
6.8 / A £4000 budget was agreed for Repairs and Maintenance following withdrawal from the SLA for Facilities Management. / JB to amend budget sheets.
6.9 / KB emphasised the importance of having a clear and transparent budget in times of reduced funding for schools nationally. A discussion followed concerning other ways in which costs relating to Stanley School could be taken out of the budget figures. / It was agreed that JB would speak to Sue Ashley at LMS and report back to the Committee via KB.
6.10 / DS reminded the Committee that the governors of Stanley would need to approve any amendments to the budget and he referred to discussion under agenda item 5 matters arising.
6.11 / SE asked for further information about the panic button budgeted under pre-planned maintenance. JL and KB who had attended the earlier premises meeting explained that the school would have a lock down alarm in addition to the fire alarm so that in the event of a terrorist attack, the lock down alarm would sound, and children and staff would proceed to the central area of the school. A budget of £2000 had been allocated.
6.162 / SE acknowledged this was a necessary measure and she expressed confidence in KB’s ability to introduce evacuation procedures to children in an appropriate way. / The Committee approved of the expenditure on the panic button.
6.13 / Under the heading of supplies and services, KB reported that she had had successful negotiations with the providers to secure the charges in the budget.
6.14 / Costings for staffing were queried in relation to the extra 15 hours childcare being introduced from September. JL explained eligibility criteria. It was confirmed that no extra staffing was built into the budget for this; governors were referred to agenda item 9.
6.15 / JB reported on the allocation of formula capital £19,000; the Committee discussed the potential impact of knocking down the wall in the spare classroom so that the 18 months learning age difference in nursery provision could be better catered for as well as increased availability for wrap around care. YC to report on Children’s Club Committee meeting in agenda item 9.
6.16 / KB asked governors to consider using a proportion of formula capital funding for playground equipment. SE recommended play area she had seen at a local primary school; DS agreed that it was very appealing to children but that accident figures were consequently higher. / KB to obtain quotes for playground equipment.
JB to email amended budget sheets to DS.
6.17 / The Committee agreed the budget subject to addition of £4000 costing for premises. DS asked JB to email the amended budget sheets to him for referral to the Full Governors meeting / It was agreed that the budget be recommended to full governors for approval
7 / Staffing Changes
KB confirmed there had been no staffing changes.
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8.1 / Recommendations from the Children’s Club Committee
YC reported that increased charges had been discussed and KB confirmed that they would apply from September.
8.2 / A discussion followed concerning the new timetables. KB said she had looked at staff ratios across both the Children’s Club and nursery so that 4 options would be made available across the day. It was clarified that the additional 15 hours was childcare not nursery provision; the Committee acknowledged the advantages to children’s development of having wraparound staff working alongside the nursery staff.
8.3 / It was confirmed that holiday clubs would be going ahead for 4 weeks. SE asked for assurance that there were no problems with payment. KB confirmed that payment was made in advance and that the new cashless system supported less debt.
9 / Staff Performance Management
KB confirmed that appraisals would be completed in the Autumn term in accordance with timescales and she reported that documentation for a member of teaching staff had been prepared in support of an increase to UP2. KB reminded that any decisions must not be influenced by concerns about finance and affordability. / SE and JE to meet with KB to consider increase on the upper pay scale.
10 / Headteacher’s report to governors
KB reminded governors that the updated S.E.S. formed the basis of her report to all governors. / The Committee was satisfied that they had sufficient information
11 / SFVS – Update of policies and procedures
KYJ reminded the Committee that a finance audit was overdue and she provided details of updated documents that required approval, in addition to the financial procedures manual. / JE agreed to meet with KYJ on 19.06.17 to check documents; approval of finance documents to be recommended to next Full Governors meeting (JE via committee report)
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12.1 / Any other Business
DS informed the Committee that he was putting his name forward as a primary school representative for the Wirral Schools Forum. YC seconded his nomination.
KB reported that she had agreed to take on the role of vice-chair of the Deeside Schools cluster alongside J Pearson, head of Barnston primary who was now Chair. / The benefits of governor/headteacher involvement in other forums were agreed.
12.2 / KYJ informed the Committee of new data protections regulations effective from May 2018. She provided examples where the school could be in breach of regulations and recommended that the Committee considers leasing a photocopier with scanning capabilities. / KYJ to look at comparable quotes.
12.3 / DS asked if the school website had led to less colour photocopying and whether a high quality colour copier was still necessary. KB confirmed there had been a drop in usage.
13 / Date and time of next meeting / Dates to be agreed at next full governors meeting

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