Agenda and minutes

Councillor Inch was in the Chair for the appointment of the Chair for 2025/26.

He welcomed new Torridge Members Councillor Lo-Vel and Whittaker to their

first meeting of the committee and the return of NDC Councillor Bulled to the

committee.

RESOLVED that Councillor Walker be appointed Chair of the Joint Committee

until re-appointments are made in the next municipal year.

Apologies were received from Steve Hearse (Treasurer)

RESOLVED that Councillor Gubb be appointed Vice Chair of the Joint

Committee until re-appointments are made in the next municipal year.

(a)  Matters Arising

(i) RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 7th February 2025

(previously circulated) be approved as a correct record and signed by

the Chairman.

(ii) Matters Arising. There were no matters arising.

There were no items of urgency.

There were no declarations of interest declared.

The Joint Committee considered a report by the Bereavement Services

Manager (previously circulated).

i) Crematorium Figures- (excluding NVF) and Chapel Updates

The Cremation figures were noted.

It was also noted :

 That the number of cremations carried out were lower in 2024-2025 than

the previous two years, this seems to be a ‘trend’ reflected in the

statistics.

 That both cremators were serviced in May, with no negative headline

issues raised and that the next service would be mid-November.

 That a decorative glass panel in our Rowan Chapel was found shattered

early one morning in March. A local firm removed the glass safely, so

services were not impacted Following investigation by viewing all camera

footage the day before the incident, it was concluded this likely happened

overnight (from a warm day to a very cold evening) and therefore there

must have been an imperfection in the original glass which just ‘popped’.

As a replacement cannot be sourced from the original supplier, but a

replacement would be sourced from elsewhere as soon as possible.

ii) Metals Recycling Charity Award

It was noted:

That Children’s Hospice South West had received an award of £12,500 on 17

March and that Families in Grief would be nominated for the next award.

Rota for subsequent awards:

Families in Grief

North Devon Hospice

Cruse

Children’s Hospice SW

That at a previous committee meeting it was agreed that consideration be

given to the awarded grant being shared equally between the chosen

Charities each year rather than on a 2 yearly rota basis to aid fund raising.

This would be considered at the February 2026 meeting.

iii) Crematorium Solar Panels

The project update was noted:

 That no grants were available for businesses

 Expedite Building Services Ltd. of Plymouth had been appointed, at a

cost of £5,050 (excl. VAT) to assist the project team by:

o Writing the specification development for installation by 20 June

(including battery storage for chapel back-up, a November

installation date, to tie in with the next cremator-service closures)

o To give tender support

o Assess the design and making site visits to support the panel

installations

iv) Changes to Service Times

It was noted that from 1st April 2025 a change to service times had been

introduced as well as the pricing, with services being now held at 00, 15, 30 or

45 minutes past the hour; and a five minute ‘early entrance’ now offered for

Funeral Directors. In addition, a new ‘attended direct cremation’, had been

introduced as a cost-effective option for smaller congregations.

Positive feedback on these changes had been received. These changes

would be monitored after at least six months of them being in operation and

the success both financially and from the Funeral Directors point of view and

user-feedback assessed.

v) Our Gardens

It was noted that:

The ‘Welcome Garden’ (funded by a Section 106 award) had been structurally

completed and in the past few weeks all the planting had been finished. The

fencing had been removed from the stoned  ...  view the full minutes text for item 121.

The Joint Committee considered a report by the Treasurer (previously

circulated) regarding the outturn for 2024/2025.

In answer to questions raised it was noted that the funding of the Solar Panels

would be from the Budget Management Reserve and that the irrecoverable

VAT unfortunately could not be reclaimed.

It was agreed that the funds held by Crematorium needed to be protected and

earmarked/retained by/for the North Devon Crematorium as part of the Local

Government review process.

RESOLVED:

i) That the outturn report be noted

ii) That the 2024/25 deficit of £158,298 be funded from the Equipment

Replacement Reserve as detailed in paragraph 4.3 of the report

iii) That the Reserves and Balances contained in paragraph 5.1 of the

report be approved.

It was noted that the next meeting would be on Friday 1st August 2025 @

2.30 p.m.

Chairman

The meeting ended at 3.00 p.m.