Skip to content Skip to left sidebar Skip to footer

Minutes – Finance Committee – 4 February 2026

The agenda and papers for this meeting are available here: Finance Committee – 4 February 2026 – agenda and papers

The minutes of this meeting are presented below.

You can also download a PDF copy of the minutes here: Minutes – Finance Committee – 4 February 2026

FINANCE COMMITTEE

Minutes

Date: Wednesday 4 February 2026

Time: 5:30 PM – 6.41 PM

Location: The Council Chamber – The Council House • North Street • CHICHESTER • West Sussex • PO19 1LQ

PRESENT: Councillors Loxton, Miall, Pramas, Quail

EX-OFFICIO: The Mayor, Councillor McHale (SMc)

IN ATTENDANCE: Councillors Chant and Russell (joined the meeting at 6.00pm)

ALSO IN ATTENDANCE: Town Clerk, Deputy Town Clerk, Council Services and Support Manager, Property Maintenance Manager.

FIN2026/68 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Committee NOTED apologies from Councillor Scicluna

FIN2026/69 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

There were no declarations of interest.

FIN2026/70 PUBLIC QUESTIONS

No public questions had been received.

FIN2026/71 UPDATE ON ACTIONS FROM PREVIOUS MEETING

Committee noted that updates would be provided at the next Finance Committee meeting (18 March 2026).

FIN2026/72 COMMUNITY INFRASTRUCTURE LEVY (CIL) UPDATE

The Committee NOTED the current position and forecast for future CIL cashflow. The committee were advised that Minerva Heights Stage 2 is likely to start development in 2026/27 and this has been reflected in the CIL forecast.

FIN2026/73 CITY COUNCIL BUDGET 2026-2027

The committee discussed the various provisions in the draft budget for 2026/27 and agreed to the proposed provisions for repairs to the Council House, additional Staffing, enhanced IT provision, new City planting projects and increased contribution
to the City Ambassadors. In the light of the high levels of expenditure needed on the Council’s heritage buildings it was agreed to create a heritage reserve which might fund future expenditure on the Council House and Cross.

After a further discussion regarding the costs around maintenance of the City Council’s heritage assets and the availability of grant funding, the Committee AGREED to go ahead with commissioning a specialist grants consultant at a cost of up to £1000 (2 days at £500/day) to make a project enquiry to the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Further AGREED to progress to a consultant supported grant application at a cost of up to £4000 if the enquiry response was supportive of proceeding.

A discussion about provision for LGR considered whether the Council should allocate costs for additional staff resources in the current year or 2027/28. The Committee RESOLVED TO RECOMMEND to Full Council on the 25 February 2026 that the
revised budget as proposed be accepted, with one amendment made to allocate £30K of funding towards additional LGR support staff costs in 2026/27. This would bring the proposed budget precept requirement to £ £1,547,003.25 and the Band D
charge to £122.08 per year.

FIN2026/74 FEES AND CHARGES 2026-2027

The Committee considered the proposed charges for Council Services including additional updates to charges for the kitchen facilities at the Council House and the increased fees for the allotments.

A discussion followed in which the committee REQUESTED that the property subcommittee review competing venues to ensure that the Council House remained a competitive and attractive option.

The committee RESOLVED to adopt the proposed schedule of fees and charges, as amended at the meeting, for 2026/27.

FIN2026/75 STATUTORY POLICY REVIEWS

Further to Appendix 2 of the City Council’s Standing Orders (April 2025) the Committee noted that reviews of the following documents had been conducted throughout the year:

  • Standing Orders and Financial Regulations.
  • Council risk assessment statements
  • Confirmation of arrangements for insurance cover in respect of all insured risks.

and AGREED that no further changes were required at this time.

The Committee reviewed and NOTED the updated risk register and Risk Action Plan.

The Committee REQUESTED that responsibility for staffing issues be assigned to the Town Clerk.

The Committee NOTED the current insurance arrangements had been reviewed and renewed in April 2025 on a three-year contract.

FIN2026/76 EID AL-FITR

Councillor Russell outlined a proposal to support the Muslim community by providing the use of the Council House to host an Eid celebration at the Council House on 22 March 2026. Staff resources would be required to support event planning and
publicity along with free hire of the Council House and facilities for the event.

The committee RESOLVED to support the event.

FIN2026/77 ITEMS FOR NEXT AGENDA

  • Budget monitoring
  • Recommendations from sub committees
  • LGR update

FIN2026/78 DATE OF NEXT MEETING

Date of next ordinary meeting: 11 March 2026

Meeting closed at 6.41pm

Skip to content