CHILTERNS CREMATORIUM JOINT COMMITTEE
 

 
 

MINUTES of the Meeting of the CHILTERN CREMATORIUM JOINT COMMITTEE
 

held on 17 DECEMBER 2007
 

at CHILTERN DISTRICT COUNCIL
 

 
 

PRESENT:

Councillor J Warder

- Chairman

 

 

 

 

Councillor K McPartland

- Aylesbury Vale District Council

 

         "      D Thompson

- Aylesbury Vale District Council

 

         "      G Sussum

- Chiltern District Council

 

         "      Mrs A Jones

- Wycombe District Council
 

 
 

     APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE: were received from Councillor B Jennings
 

 
 

19.     ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN
 

 
 

RESOLVED -

 

That Councillor J Warder be elected Chairman of the Joint Committee for the remainder of the Municipal Year.
 

 
 

20.          MINUTES
 

 
 

     The Minutes of the meetings of the Joint Committee held on 5 December 2006 and 2 July 2007      were agreed and signed by the Chairman.
 

 
 

21.     DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
 

 
 

There were no declarations of interest.
 

 
 

22.     ANNUAL CONFERENCE
 

 
 

The Joint Committee were requested to consider continuing the custom of sending the Chairman and Superintendent to the Annual Conference of the Institute of Cemetery and Crematorium Management (ICCM).
 

 
 

RESOLVED -

 

That the Chairman of the Joint Committee and the Superintendent be nominated to attend the 2008 Institute of Cemetery and Crematorium Management Annual Conference in October
 

 
 

23.     LIAISON MEETING WITH PERSONS TAKING SERVICES AND FUNERAL DIRECTORS
 

 
 

Liaison meetings were normally held every year and the meeting for 2007 had been planned for May 2007. However the meeting had to be cancelled due to the District and Town and Parish Councils and the official opening and dedication ceremony of the new Milton Chapel.
 

 
 

Mindful that a liaison meeting had not been held since May 2006 and following the decision made at the meeting held on 2 July 2007 to hold a liaison meeting in the Spring of 2008 the Joint Committee
 

 
 

RESOLVED -

 

That the next liaison meeting be held at 6.30pm at the Crematorium on Wednesday 9 April 2008.
 

 
 

24.     SERVICE PLAN 2007 – 2008
 

 
 

     The Joint Committee received details of the service plan for the Crematorium for 2007/08. In      response to a question on paragraph 11 under Section 1.4a (Key Objectives for the next 12 Months),      the Chief Executive and the Superintendent gave further details of the action which was being taken      to draw up a plan to respond to a pandemic flu emergency.
 

 
 

RESOLVED -

 

That the Crematorium Service Plan for 2007-2008 be approved.
 

 
 

25.     CREMATORIUM REGULATIONS
 

 
 

The Joint Committee, after being reminded of the problem which had been highlighted at the meeting on 2 July 2007 relating to the increasing popularity of “non-standard” coffins, particularly those made of wicker, considered a proposal to add a sentence to Regulation 12 of the Crematorium Regulations concerning coffin construction as follows:
 

 
 

The foot end of the coffin must also be strong enough to withstand the pushing action of the coffin charging machine; in some cases e.g. cardboard or wicker, this will require extra strengthening of this part of the coffin.
 

 
 

     The Joint Committee supported the proposal and accordingly
 

 
 

RESOLVED -

 

That the revision to Crematorium Regulation 12, as set out above. be approved.
 

 
 

26.     COLLIER AND CATLEY: CLAIM FOR EXTENSION OF TIME
 

 
 

     The Joint Committee was pleased to note that since the meeting on 2 July 2007 some progress      had been made with the contractor to complete the building works following the signing of a      settlement agreement by both parties in September 2006 and that a resolution of the issue now      appeared to be in sight.
 

 
 

     The Joint Committee was also pleased to note that the Milton Chapel had been awarded the      Civic Building of the Year Award 2007 (alteration or extension category) by the Society of Chief      Architects for Local Authorities.
 

 
 

RESOLVED -

 

That report be noted.
 

 
 

27.

CAPITAL EXPENDITURE
 

 
 

     The Joint Committee considered a report giving details of capital expenditure for the current year      and the following three years as set out in an appendix.
 

 
 

     The Joint Committee noted the information given in the report relating to the following items:
 

 
 

·

Second Chapel project
 

·

Cremation filtration
 

·

Cremation emissions
 

·

Relining of two cremators
 

 
 

 
 

RESOLVED -

 

That the capital expenditure programme for 2007/08 to 2010/2011 be approved.
 

 
 

28.

FEES AND CHARGES
 

 
 

     The Joint Committee considered a report setting out in an appendix the recommended Fees and      Charges for 2008/09.
 

 
 

     In connection with the fee for cremation, which hade been increased from £360 to £370 last year, the      Joint Committee noted from the information given in a table in the report that even if the fee for      2008/09 was increased by 2.7%  to £380, as was being recommended, it would still remain the      lowest in comparison with neighbouring authorities.
 

 
 

     After a debate the Joint Committee agreed that the Cremation fee should be increased to £390 raising      additional income of £60.000 over the 2007/08 level.
 

 
 

     With regard to the other fees the Joint Committee agreed with the proposal that they be increased by      3%, as illustrated in the appendix, but rounded to the nearest pound in respect of those fees which      did not incur VAT.
 

 
 

RESOLVED -

 

That the fees and charges for 2008/09 as set out in appendix b of the report be agreed , subject to the main cremation fee being increased to £390 and of those  being rounded to the nearest pound in respect of those fees which do not incur VAT.
 

 
 

29.

REVENUE
 

 
 

The Joint Committee considered a report setting out (a) the revised and original estimate for 2007/2008 and (b) the revenue estimates for 2008/09
 

 
 

With regard to (a), the Joint Committee noted that, although revised revenue expenditure of £690,230 was just below the original estimate of £699, 120, there had been variations within the total as set out in the report.
 

 
 

On (b) the Joint Committee, after noting that revenue expenditure was estimated to be £701, 280, recognised that the figure given for Income of £1, 312, 990 would need to be amended to reflect the decision it had made in respect of fees and charges particularly the cremation fee which would generate a further £30,000 in income, assuming the number of cremations remained the same as for 2007/08.
 

 
 

RESOLVED -

 

1.

 

That the 2007/2008 revised estimates be approved.

 

2.

 

That, subject to the figure for Income being amended to reflect the decision made in respect of the cremation fee, the 2008/09 original revenue estimates be approved.
 

 
 

30.     EXCLUSION OF THE PUBLIC
 

 
 

RESOLVED -

 

That under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded

from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involved the

likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.
 

 
 

Note: The relevant paragraph number from Part I of Schedule 12A is indicated at the end of the Minute heading.
 

 
 

31.     CREMATIONS EMISSIONS ABATEMENT –Paragraph 3
 

 
 

Following its decision on 5 December 2006, to delegate to officers authority to appoint a consultant to develop the project to install plant to abate cremation emissions the Joint Committee considered a report detailing the progress that had been made to identify a consultant.
 

 
 

The report explained that as a result of research two possible options had become apparent namely either to use an individual private consultant who had the filtration expertise but who was not part of a multi-disciplinary company, or to use one of the two multi-disciplinary civil engineering consultancies which were identified as having some limited but relevant experience.
 

 
 

For the reasons given in the report, option two had been pursued and the Joint Committee noted the process which had been followed to secure proposals from the two companies identified for carrying out the project.
 

 
 

The report went on to explain that one of the companies had not responded to a request for a further submission but that the other company had made a revised submission with an indication of costs.
 

 
 

Following consideration of the company’s submission the Joint Committee
 

 
 

RESOLVED
 

 
 

1.

That Parsons Brinckerhoff Ltd be appointed as consultants for the project to procure and install cremator abatement equipment and associated works subject to the maximum fee figure stated in the report.
 

 
 

2.

That the Joint Committee authorise the progress of the project to the stage of a report on tenders, with a further report on costs and implications prior to any works contract being let.
 

 
 

3.

That the Superintendent keeps the Joint Committee informed of progress.
 

 
 

32.

     FUTURE STRATEGIC BUSINESS PLAN: SECOND CHAPEL IN AYLESBURY (Paragraphs 7, 8 & 12)
 

 
 

     At the informal meeting on 2 July 2007 those members present when considering the Strategic      Business Plan had supported the list of three potential sites for building a crematorium at Aylesbury      and had expressed a preference for one of the sites.
 

 
 

     The Joint Committee was now asked to review the options for the reasons given in the report and      having reconsidered the matter the Joint Committee
 

 
 

RESOLVED -

 

That site A1 be regarded as the first preference subject to reassurances on the programming of the link road and access and that a further report on site ownership and the business case be submitted to s future meeting.
 

 
 

 
 

The Meeting ended at 3.36 pm.