To appoint a Chairperson for the year. In accordance with a provision of the Coychurch Crematorium Constitution, a Bridgend County Borough Councillor should be appointed for the forthcoming year.

RESOLVED:                         That Councillor C L Jones be appointed Chairperson of the Coychurch Crematorium Joint Committee for the ensuing year.

To appoint a Vice-Chairperson for the year. In accordance with a provision of the Coychurch Crematorium Constitution, a Vale of Glamorgan County Borough Councillor should be appointed for the forthcoming year.

RESOLVED:                         That Councillor E Hacker be appointed Vice- Chairperson of the Coychurch Crematorium Joint Committee for the ensuing year.

In the absence of the newly appointed Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson, it was

RESOLVED:                    That Councillor A Owen be appointed Chairperson for today’s meeting.

Councillor Owen took the Chair

To receive apologies for absence (to include reasons where appropriate) from

Members/Officers

Apologies for absence were received from the following Members:-

Councillor E Hacker – Work commitments

Councillor C L Jones – Work commitments

Councillor H Williams – Other Council business

Councillor R K Turner – No reason given

To receive declarations of personal and prejudicial interest (if any) from Members/Officers in accordance with the provisions of the Members’ Code of Conduct adopted by Council from 1st September 2009.

None

To receive for approval the Minutes of the meeting of the Coychurch Crematorium Joint Committee held on the 12 June 2015

RESOLVED:                       That the Minutes of a meeting of the Coychurch Crematorium Joint Committee dated 12 June 2015, be approved as a true and accurate record

The Crematorium Manager and Registrar submitted a report, in order to advise the Joint Committee on progress with the cremator replacement programme in relation to the appointment of a manufacturer to install and maintain, through a maintenance agreement, the new cremators, ancillary equipment and mercury abatement plant.

She explained that work had already commenced in respect of the programme with a scheduled completion date probably in advance of February 2016, as was stated in the report.

She added that the 1^st cremator would be delivered and installed on 26 September 2015, when the old cremator would be removed. It would take 2 weeks before this became fully operational, however, no cremations were being/would be put off due to the changeover process. Staff were just working longer hours to clear the work that was outstanding.

The Crematorium Manager and Registrar added that the new cremators would be re-positioned to make more use of the space in the Crematorium extension. She further added that the 2^nd new cremator would be delivered at a later date.

A Member asked if the works were causing any noise or inconvenience to visitors to the Crematorium.

The Crematorium Manager and Registrar confirmed that work was only being undertaken regarding the installation works after normal working hours and on weekends when there were no funerals or services taking place in the Chapel.

Members felt that this was a good news report, confirming that they would be please when the works were finally completed as this would assist the Crematorium in its work.

RESOLVED:                 That the Joint Committee noted the report

The Clerk and Technical Officer submitted a report, the purpose of which, was to advise the Joint Committee on Coychurch Crematorium’s successful application for a Green Flag Award in 2015.

The report gave some background information, following which, the Crematorium Manager and Registrar confirmed that once more the Crematorium had been successful in securing the above nationally recognised award for the standards of care and maintenance within the grounds of the Crematorium and confirms the commitment to maintaining high standards, which can be appreciated by visitors to the Crematoria.

She re-affirmed that Coychurch was one of only two crematoria sites in Wales that held the Green Flag award, and was now flying such an award for the 6^th year in succession. She added that the Award requires an annual application, and therefore, a further submission would be made in January 2016.

A Member congratulated staff at the Crematorium for obtaining this award yet again, and asked that thanks be extended to employees who contribute towards the excellent operation of the Crematorium including the grounds, that were always maintained in excellent condition.

RESOLVED:                    That the Joint Committee noted the success of the Crematorium in securing the Green Flag Award for 2015.

The Treasurer submitted a report, in order to present the post audited Annual Return to the Joint Committee for the financial year 2014-15.

By way of background information, the Finance Manager Governance and Exchequer advised that regulation of the Accounts and Audit (Wales) Regulations 2014 requires smaller local government bodies such as Joint Committees with an annual income and expenditure of below £2.5m to complete an Annual Return. This had now subsequently been audited by KPMG, external auditors appointed by the Joint Committee.

She confirmed that the Annual Return for the year ended 31 March 2015 had been agreed by the auditors without any recommended changes. The surplus for the year remained at £176k, leaving an accumulated surplus of £1,195k at the above date.

The Finance Manager Governance and Exchequer then referred to the two appendices to the report as follows:-

Appendix 1 – Crematorium Joint Committee total useable reserves at year end

Appendix 2 – Review of annual Return for the year end

She then concluded her submission by referring to the report’s financial implications detailed in paragraph 7.1 of the report.

RESOLVED:                     That the Joint Committee noted and approved:-

(1)  The Annual Return for the year ended 31 March 2015

(2)  The Auditors “Review of Annual Return”. 

The Finance Manager Governance and Exchequer submitted a report, the purpose of which, was to inform the Joint Committee of actual income and expenditure for this financial year, and to provide a projection of the likely financial position at year end.

Table 1 in paragraph 4 of the report reflected details of income and expenditure for this financial year and the projected outturn for year end. This detailed a projected outturn of £738 for 2015-16. An explanation of the variances between the Budget and projected outturn was detailed in bullet point format in this same paragraph of the report.

She concluded her submission, by advising the Joint Committee that the overall projected deficit for 2015-16 had decreased from £746k to £738k after allowing for the changes outlined in the report. This deficit included the Cremator replacement costs, to be funded from the Coychurch Crematorium’s current reserves, which were currently £1.195m.

RESOLVED:                     That the Joint Committee noted the report.

To consider any other item(s) of business in respect of which notice has been given in accordance with Rule 4 of the Council Procedure Rules and which the person presiding at the meeting is of the opinion should by reason of special circumstances be transacted at the meeting as a matter of urgency.

None