To receive apologies for absence from Members.

Councillors C Reeves, D Pugh and C Jones

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 2 December 2016. 

RESOLVED:            That the minutes of the meeting of the Coychurch Crematorium Joint Committee of 2 December 2016 were approved as a true and accurate record.

The Bereavement Services Manager and Registrar advised the Joint Committee on the progress of the expansion of the infrastructure in the new land extension and requested approval to award the Contract resulting from the tender process.

At the meeting of 2^nd December 2016 the Joint Committee approved the issue of tenders to potential contractors in accordance with Bridgend County Borough Council’s Contract and Financial Procedures Rules. The construction costs for the Phase 2 infrastructure for the continuation of the access road and an additional car park were estimated at £340,000.

Tender documents were issued to six contractors and the returned tenders were detailed in the report. The lowest tender was submitted by Alun Griffiths Contractors Ltd at a corrected total of £269,498.68. The construction works were included in the expenditure budget and Service Level Business Plan for 2017/18. 

The Committee asked if other Members or officers had previously worked with Alun Griffiths Contractors Ltd. Members were advised the contractor had completed work at the entrance to the Chapel in addition to various contracts in the Vale and Rhondda Cynon Taff.

The Committee asked if the lowest tender was always accepted. Members were advised that the lowest tender was usually accepted subject to advice provided by the surveyors and engineers. 

The Committee asked by how much the lowest tender had been corrected   and the reason for the correction. The Bereavement Services Manager and Registrar explained that when a tender was submitted there were individual amounts allocated to different sections. These were totalled to find the final sum and during this process an error of less than £2 was discovered.

RESOLVED            1) The Joint Committee approved Tender Number 1 from Alun Griffiths Contractors Ltd in the sum of £267,498.68 and awarded the Contract to this contractor.

                                2)  The Joint Committee delegated to the Clerk and Technical Officer the power to approve the final terms of the Contract in consultation with Bridgend County Borough Council’s Corporate Director of Operations and Partnerships, and thereafter arranged for the execution of the Contract by the Corporate Director of Operations and Partnerships on behalf of the Joint Committee.                 

The Bereavement Services Manager and Registrar presented a report on the Business Plan and expenditure programme for 2017/18 which included proposed increases in cremation fees.

The Business Plan was presented annually to the Joint Committee for approval which included service objectives and proposed maintenance and improvement projects to enhance and maintain the Crematorium grounds and buildings for the forthcoming period. The total number of cremations for 2016 was 1589, made up of 950 from Bridgend, 190 from Vale of Glamorgan and 366 from Rhondda Cynon Taff, with 83 non-residents. An agreement with the Princess of Wales Hospital for the cremation of non-viable foetal remains (NVF) had resulted in an additional 6 communal cremations. A further 9 individual NVF cremations were arranged directly with families. Statistical records for the period from January to December 2015 and 2016 were included in the Business Plan for comparison.

The Bereavement Services Manager and Registrar summarised the key achievements over the past 5 years including the high level of public satisfaction maintained and the completion of the construction of an extension to the crematory to provide space for new cremators and a mercury abatement plant.

The local performance indictor relating to user satisfaction reported annually to the Joint Committee continued to be 100%.

The Bereavement Services Manager and Registrar presented the service developments and objectives. In 2005 the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) announced its plan to reduce mercury emissions from UK crematoria by 50%, effective from 31^st December 2012. This was later revised and eventually commenced in January 2013.

The Federation of British Cremation Authorities (FBCA) and the Cremation Society formulated a proposal to offset the costs for those crematoria that installed abatement plant to reduce mercury emissions by contributions from those that did not. Coychurch Crematorium opted to burden share the costs until such time as their cremators were replaced. The charge for 2015/16 related to the total number of cremations in 2015 and equated to £41k for that period. The installation of abatement plant, which was completed to schedule by April 2016, would reduce this figure to zero for 2016/17. Those crematoria that had abated more than 50% of their cremations could sell the excess mercury abated cremations to those which had abated less than the target, via CAMEO. Those who had abated derived an income, and those who had not shared the financial burden. Consequently, Coychurch Crematorium was awaiting confirmation of the potential amount of income it could expect to generate in 2017/18.

In 2009 the Committee approved the construction of an access road and additional car parking into the new land, and the layout for the extension to the memorial gardens inside the new land extension. Phase 1 of these works was carried out at that time and the new memorial gardens had been well received. At the meeting on 4^th March 2016 the Joint Committee approved the Service Level Business Plan for 2016/17, which included design costs of £30,000.00 for the planning of Phase  ...  view the full minutes text for item 162.

The Clerk and Technical Officer presented a report seeking approval for the proposed programme of meetings for 2017/18. The Memorandum of Agreement for the Coychurch  Crematorium Joint Committees stated that :-

·         The Joint Committee shall hold two meetings at least in each    municipal year (one of which is to be the Annual General Meeting mentioned in the next sub-clause) for the transaction of general business and may hold such other meetings at such intervals as they find necessary or convenient.

·         The first meeting of the Joint Committee after the annual meetings of the Councils shall be the Joint Committee’s Annual General Meeting. At that meeting the Joint Committee shall elect a Chairman and Vice Chairman for the ensuing year. The Joint Committee shall also receive a report reviewing performance against the Business Plan for the preceding year.

A review of the business needs and previous agenda reports for the Crematorium had been carried out and it was considered appropriate to reduce the number of meetings a year in line with the Memorandum of Agreement. The following programme of meetings was now proposed:-

Friday 15^th September 2017 -   Annual General Meeting

Friday 2^nd March 2018 

plus additional meetings as and when required.

The Chairperson thanked the officers for their help and support as he would not be standing again. He wished staff all the best and said that he did not envisage any problems with the proposals in the report.

RESOLVED             The Joint Committee approved the programme of meetings for 2017/18.

The Accountant presented a report on the projected financial performance for the Crematorium for 2016-17 and sought approval from the Joint Committee for the proposed budget and fees and charges for 2017-18.

When the budget was set, there was an anticipated budget surplus of £122,000. The actual projected outturn as at the end of January was a surplus of £258,000.

The main variances between the Budget and the Projected Outturn were the underspend of £57,000 on Premises, the underspend in Planned maintenance and the underspend of £35,000 on Supplies, Services & Transport including the write off of an unidentified debtor of £2,356. Income had been higher than budgeted by £66,000 resulting from increased cremation fees and income from the sale of two items.

Employee budgets had been adjusted to reflect salary increments where applicable. The budget included a 1% uplift for the 2017-18 pay award, as well as an increase in pension contributions from 17% to 19.4%. There was a capital budget requirement of £350,000 to meet expenditure itemised in the report.

RESOLVED           1) The Joint Committee confirmed and approved the revenue budget and capital expenditure to be adopted for 2017-18.

                                2) The Joint Committee approved the increase in fees and charges with effect from 1 April 2017 outlined in Appendix 1.       

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.

There were no urgent items.