Agenda and minutes

The Conservators are asked to confirm as a true record the Minutes of the Conservators’ Meeting held on 27 January 2020, and Special Meetings held on 2 March 2020, 12 May 2020 and 22 May 2020 (attached) and to authorise the Chairman to sign them.

The Minutes of the previous meetings of the Epsom and Walton Downs Conservators held on 27 January, 2 March, 12 May and 22 May were agreed as a true record and the Conservators approved the Chairman to sign them subject to the following amendment:

Minutes of the Special Meeting held on 22 May 2020:

Minute 24. That the Minute be corrected to record that 8 Conservators voted in favour, 1 abstained and the Chairman did not vote on recommendations 1-3.

This item presents the Conservators’ final accounts for the financial year 2019/20.

The Conservators received a report presenting the Conservator’s Final Accounts for the financial year 2019/2020.

The following matters were considered:

a)            Final Accounts. Expenditure exceeded income by £10,203, leading to a reduction in the working balance of the same amount. A working balance of £56,021 had been carried forward to the 2020/21 financial year, in addition to a repairs and renewals fund of £36,001.

b)            Deficit. A £10,203 deficit was noted on Revenue accounts. This was due to a number of factors detailed in the report, including one-off project work and additional cleaning of the Downskeepers Hut. The Conservators were informed that these issues had been addressed and were not expected to reoccur in future years.

c)            Covid-19. Officers described the impact of Covid-19 on the final accounts for 2019-20 as low. Only one event due to take place on Epsom Downs had been cancelled during the period, resulting in a loss of £300 income. The Conservators noted that if events continued to cancel as a result of the pandemic, there would be a small loss of income through the year.

d)            Bins. Members noted that the Jockey Club had introduced a charge for emptying Conservators’ owned bins on the Downs. This had previously been undertaken free of charge.

Following consideration, it was resolved:

That the Conservators:

(1)      Received the final accounts for 2019/20, subject to external audit;

(2)      Approved the Annual Governance Statement as set out in section 1 of Annex 3 to the report;

(3)      Considered and approved the Accounting Statements as set out in section 2 of Annex 3 to the report;

(4)      Confirmed that the arrangements for the internal audit as set out in the report were effective for auditing purposes;

(5)      Authorised the Chairman and Clerk to sign the Annual Governance Statement and the Accounting Statements on behalf of the Conservators.