Agenda and minutes

The Chair varied the order of business as shown on the agenda and the Minute reflects the order in which the items were considered at the meeting.

Consider Minute of meeting held on 7 December 2022. (Copy attached.)

There had been circulated copies of the Minute of the meeting held on 7 December 2022.  Community Councillor King highlighted that he continued to have concerns regarding the fullness of coverage with regard to his insertions at previous meetings, in particular as they related to sustainability.  The Democratic Services Officer explained that an action tracker would be included in future meetings of the Selkirk Common Good, which would pick up formally agreed decisions and actions and track their progress.  Regarding the application form for funding which would be submitted to the Common Good when applying for a grant, Community Councillor King disputed the explanation on the form which stated that Scottish Borders Council was the owner of the Common Good Fund.  The Members of the Royal Burgh of Selkirk and District Community Council had expressed horror that SBC claimed to the owner of the Selkirk Common Good Fund.   The Chief legal Officer explained that as a matter law the assets of the Selkirk Common Good did not belong to the people of Selkirk.  The Fund belonged to Scottish Borders Council, who had a legal duty to administer the Fund for the benefit of the people of Selkirk.  Whilst there was a commonly held view amongst the community that the Fund was not owned by SBC, the legal reality was, according to the Chief Legal Officer, clear to the contrary.  The Chief Legal Officer indicated that she was content to assess the form of words within the form.  Community Councillor King requested that a full explanation of the legal basis, including reference to the legal code and origins of SBC’s claim, for SBC’s position on ownership of the Selkirk Common Good Fund was provided to him. 

DECISION

AGREED to approve the Minute of 7 December 2022 for signature by the Chairman.

Consider report by Acting Chief Financial Officer. (Copy attached.)

There had been circulated copies of a report by the Acting Chief Financial Officer which provided details of income and expenditure for the Selkirk Common Good Fund for the nine months to 31 December 2023, a full year projected out-turn for 2022/23, projected balance sheet values as at 31 March 2023, and proposed budget for 2023/23.  Appendix 1 to the report provided the projected income and expenditure position for 2022/23. That showed a projected surplus of £16,058 for the year, which was less than the previously reported surplus on 7 December 2022 as a result of increases to the Central Support Charge and the property repairs budget.  The projected balance sheet value as at 31 March 2023 was provided in Appendix 2 to the report, which showed a projected decrease in reserves of £94,023.  A breakdown of the property portfolio showing projected rental income and projected net return for 2022/23 and actual property income to 31 December 2023 was provided in Appendix 3a, and a breakdown of the property portfolio showing projected property expenditure for 2022/23 and actual property expenditure to 31 December 2023 was provided in Appendix 3b. A breakdown of the property portfolio showing projected property valuations at 31 March 2023 was provided in Appendix 4 to the report.  Appendix 5 showed to the value of the Aegon Asset Management Investment Fund to 31 December 2022.  The Acting Chief Financial Officer, Ms Suzy Douglas, presented the report and explained that previously the Central Support Charge had been assumed to be 2%, but following the agreed pay award, had been adjusted to 5%.  In response to a question regarding whether the list of Common Good owned assets was up to date, Ms Douglas confirmed that the list of assets was full and comprehensive.  Regarding whether the property opposite old Sainsbury’s, the fire station, was on the list of Common Good assets, Ms Douglas undertook to investigate the status of the old fire station and provide a response at a future meeting.  The Chair explained that, based on previous discussions, it was not clear that the old municipal buildings belonged to the Common Good.

DECISION

(a)        AGREED:-

(i)         the projected income and expenditure for 2022/23 in Appendix 1 to the report as the revised budget for 2022/23; and

(ii)        the proposed budge for 2023/24 as shown in Appendix 1 to the report.

(b)       NOTED:-

(i)         the projected balance sheet value as at 31 March 2023 in Appendix 2 to the report;

(ii)        the summary of the property portfolio in Appendices 3 and 4 to the report; and

(iii)       the current position of the Aegon Asset Management Investment Fun in Appendix 5 to the report.

DECLARATION OF INTEREST

Councillor Douglas and Community Councillor King declared an interest in respect of Section 5 of the Councillors Code of Conduct and the meeting during the discussion below.

Discussion on Selkirk Hill Maintenance Grant. (Copy of request attached.)

There had been circulated copies of a letter which requested that the Selkirk Common Good pay its annual maintenance grant for 2022 to the Selkirk Hill Management Group. The Grant was for the value of £10,000 for the continued upkeep of Selkirk Hill.  Copies of Selkirk Hill Management Group’s accounts up to 30 April 2022 had also been circulated with the agenda.  The Solicitor explained that in 2013/14 there had been agreement to pay the grant each year without an application to the Sub-Committee.  That agreement had expired in 2019, however the grant had continued to be paid annually.  Members highlighted that the solution to maintenance of the hill offered by the Group represented good value for money. Councillor Thornton-Nicol, seconded by Councillor Cochrane proposed that the grant for 2022 be paid, and that the five year rolling payment agreement be resurrected and reinstated, on the condition that the Group continued to submit its annual accounts.  This was unanimously approved.  Mr Gordon Edgar joined the meeting to answer questions, and expressed thanks that the issue was resolved. 

DECISION

AGREED:-

(a)        to pay the £10,000 maintenance grant to the Selkirk Hill Management Group for 2022; and

(b)       that the Solicitor would draw up a five year agreement for the payment of the grant for the subsequent five years.

MEMBER

Councillor Douglas and Community Councillor King re-joined the meeting.

DECLARATION OF INTEREST

Councillor Cochrane declared an interest in respect of Section 5 of the Councillors Code of Conduct and left the meeting during the discussion below.

CHAIRMAN

Councillor Douglas acted as Chair in the absence of Councillor Cochrane.

Consider application for financial assistance from Selkirk Means Business (Selkirk BID) (Copy attached.)

4.1       With reference to paragraph 5 of the Minute of the meeting held on 19 February 2020 and paragraph 7 of the Minute of the meeting held on 8 December 2021 there had been circulated copies of an application for financial assistance from Selkirk Means Business Ltd (Selkirk Business Improvement District) for £9,995 for the replacement and extension of CCTV provision in Selkirk Town Centre. Copies of the latest accounts, complaints policy, access permissions, access policy, access form, security policy framework, procedures for operation, code of practice, destruction policy, retention policy, security policy, training policy, CCTV privacy notice and the proposed CCTV solution had also been circulated.  The group had previously applied and the grant had been approved subject to conditions regarding…. Mr David Anderson of the group and Ms Sarah Macdonald, the project manager were present to provide insight into the application.  Ms Macdonald explained that Selkirk BIDs had a remit as a company to explore opportunities to see if there was interest in the town to install a replacement CCTV system in Selkirk.  Social media polls had indicated high levels of support.  Work had been progressing prior to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, which had halted work and caused prices to rise and other associated difficulties.  Ms McDonald was confident that the paperwork which had been submitted alongside the application satisfied the conditions which were set out by the Committee at its meeting on 19 February 2020.  Considerable resources, both financial and volunteer time, had been deployed to put in place the necessary permissions and paperwork required for approval.  Despite the funds which had been raised by the BIDs levy, the funding secured for the project remained approximately £10,000 below what was required. Mr Anderson explained that a number of the final documents required would be completed if agreement was granted.  Regarding Scottish Borders Council’s plans to undertake a feasibility study on installing new CCTV systems in the major towns of the region, Members explained that the plans were at a nascent stage, and stressed that the funding which had been proposed in the budget would only cover the feasibility study, not the installation of systems.  In response to a question regarding access to the base unit, Mr Anderson confirmed that access to the system would not be possible without access permissions being granted.    Councillor Thornton-Nicol highlighted that approval for the application should be granted as all of the issues which had been outstanding in 2019 had been addressed by the paperwork submitted, answers provided, and undertakings to complete and provide remaining documentation. 

4.2       The Chief Legal Officer explained that approval for the system at Newcastleton had been subject to stringent conditions on paperwork due to the privacy concerns inherent to CCTV systems and public organisations.  Approval could not be provided without a fully completed Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA).  Evidence of approval from all of the property owners was also required.  The application to the Sub-Committee had been in the name of the BIDS  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Before proceeding with the private business, the following motion should be approved:-

“That under Section 50A(4) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the relevant paragraphs of Part 1 of Schedule 7A to the aforementioned Act.”

DECISION

AGREED under Section 50A(4) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 to exclude the public from the meeting during consideration of the business detailed in the Appendix to this Minute on the grounds that it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the appropriate paragraphs of Part I of Schedule 7A to the Act.

SUMMARY OF PRIVATE BUSINESS

Consider Private Minute of the meeting held on 7 December 2022. (Copy attached.)

The Private section of the Minute of the Meeting held on 7 December 2022 was approved signature by the Chair.

Consider verbal update from Estates Surveyor.

The Sub-Committee received an update on private matters relating to Common Good owned property and approved various maintenance works.