2021 Parish Council Minutes of Meetings

Minutes of the Annual Parish Council virtual meeting held by Hemswell Parish Council on Wednesday 5th May at 7.30 pm.

Present: 

Cllr. B. Mander (BM)(Chair); Cllr. J. Roberts (JR) (Vice-Chair); Cllr. M. Foster (MF); Cllr. C. Black (CB); Cllr. P. Watkinson (PW).
District Cllr. P. Howitt-Cowan (PHC)

1.  Apologies.

The following apologies for non-attendance were received and accepted by the council -

PCSO Julie McFaul (JM).

2. Election of Chairman.

That Councillor Bryan Mander be elected Chairman for the year 2021/22 proposed by MF, seconded by JR and unanimously resolved.

Declaration of Acceptance of Office to be signed in due course.

3. Election of Vice Chairman.

That Councillor James Roberts be elected Vice-Chairman for the year 2021/22 proposed by MF, seconded by CB and unanimously resolved.

Declaration of Acceptance of Office to be signed in due course.

4. Adjournment - for Cllr reports and members of the public. 19:40

PHC provided the following-

District Councillor’s Report Hemswell Parish Council - May 2021.

Virtual Council Meetings to Cease

A High Court judgement [ comprising of 28 pages] has ended hopes that councils could continue to meet ‘remotely’ after May 7.

Councils and other public bodies have been allowed to meet virtually for the past 12 months.

But the Coronavirus regulations that allowed those virtual meetings are time-limited – and will end on May 7.

And that has led to questions about how councils could return to face-to-face meetings in their usual venues – while maintaining social distancing

Last week Hertfordshire County Council – alongside Lawyers in Local Government (LLG) and the Association of Democratic Services Officers (ADSO) – asked the High Court to rule on whether virtual meetings may be allowed under existing legislation.

But on Wednesday, April 28 a judgement from the High Court said that when the ‘flexibility regulations’ cease to apply, council meetings ‘must take place in a single, specified geographical location’.

And it suggested primary legislation would be required to allow local authority ‘meetings’ to take place remotely.

Virtual can still be deployed for staff meetings, training purposes, and Members working groups within Council business.

However, the Government is to set up a working group to explore future virtual council meetings based on evidence, there is some supporting evidence out there that virtual has actually encouraged more viewing of council proceedings.

Covid Data: 

• 21 new cases across the district. Our current infection rate stands at 27.2 per 100,000 which is an increase of 63%, however with numbers of new infections much smaller than at the height of the pandemic, any small increase will have a disproportionately large impact on changes in infection rates. Across Lincolnshire, there have been increases in the infection rate in all but two Local Authority areas.
• The over 60s infection rate remains low, and there have been no new outbreaks in West Lindsey care homes for the fourth consecutive week.  
• I am happy to report that there have been no additional COVID deaths in the past week.
• As of 29 April, a total of 60,387 people have received at least one dose of the vaccine in West Lindsey. This is an increase of 6.5% on the previous week and equates to 63% of the district’s total population.

Business Grants: In partnership with City of Lincoln Council, this week saw the launch of the West Lindsey Business Grant Revival Scheme which forms part of the Council’s discretionary business support programme. Demand for this scheme has been very high. The fund is now fully subscribed, a reserve list has been created. The fund has now closed to further enquiries whilst current applications are assessed for eligibility. Once this process is complete if any funds remain or additional funds can be made available, those on the reserve list will be invited to apply.

Levelling Up Fund bid: This week WLDC has continued at pace to develop our bid to the Levelling Up Fund to support the regeneration of Gainsborough Town Centre. WLDC has considered the objectives and interventions of the Public Realm strategy which seeks to strengthen connectivity within and across the town, to use greening as an opportunity to link key spaces and to rejuvenate the use of the town centre through improvements to the public realm.

This work is informing the development of the funding propositions, which at this early draft stage look set to include:

• Accelerating and enhancing plans for a cinema / leisure anchor within the town
• Building on our heritage led regeneration plans
• Improving the public realm
• Enhancing connectivity, wayfinding and green / accessible movements

Planning Development Sessions: All sessions will start at 6.00pm and last for approximately 90minutes.

WLDC

Subject to Full Council Leader of WLDC 2021/22 Cllr Owen Brierly, Deputy Leader Cllr Anne Welburn, Chairman of WLDC Cllr Steve England.

County Elections/ Police Commissioner/ Kelsey Bye Election/ Neighbourhood Development Plans

Thursday 6th of May results to follow on Friday 7th of May except on Saturday 8 of May result of Police Commissioner election to be released.

Scotter Rural:

• First created in 2017
• It covers over 46, 000 acres,
  • comprised of 22 communities; Blyborough, Blyton, Corringham, East Stockwith, East Ferry, Harpswell, Heapham, Hemswell, Hemswell Cliff, Glentworth, Grayingham, Morton, Laughton, Northorpe, Pilham, Scotton, Scotter, Springthorpe, Thonock, Walkerith, Wildsworth, & Willoughton.
• Scotter has the largest population, hence the name of the electorate district with Morton only a few behind in population count.
• 4 candidates in the 2021election
• Over 8,000 electorate
• Postal voters 1,383
• In 2017 only about 25% voted

The election in Scotland will be the one to watch!!!

Meeting reconvened 19:46

5. Declaration of Interests.

None declared

6. Approval of Minutes from previous meeting.

It was unanimously resolved to approve the previously distributed draft minutes as an accurate record of the meeting held on 19th April 2021.

7. Policies Review.

The following policies were reviewed prior to the meeting and submitted by the Chairman for approval for Fiscal Year (FY) 20/21

7a. Code of Conduct v1.0

It was unanimously resolved to accept the document without changes for FY20/21.

7b. Standing Orders v1.0

It was unanimously resolved to accept the document without changes for FY20/21.

7c. Financial Regulations v1.0

It was unanimously resolved to accept the document without changes for FY20/21.

7d. Asset List v1.1

It was unanimously resolved to accept the document without changes for FY20/21.

8.    Finance.

8a.  Financial Status Review.

Cllr Black was thanked for reviewing the quarterly (end of year financial year 20/21) record in line with the council's financial regulations.

It was unanimously resolved to accept the record as a true record of the council's finances to date.

8b.  Cheques to authorise.

It was unanimously resolved to pay the following invoices-

8bi Council insurance                                           £376.99

8bii Grass cutting for March and April 21             £265.00

8c.  Payments Received.

The following payments were acknowledged as being received by the council-

8ci Precept                                                           £6,800

8cii. The clerk informed the council of an overdue payment of £100.00 and that they have issued a request for payment.

8d.  Annual Governance and Accountability Return 20/21.

The following documents and information were reviewed and approved by the council for completion of their annual governance and accountability return

8di. Review of FY 20/21 finances.

The council reviewed the FY20/21 financial records and unanimously resolved to accept them as a true record of the council's financial position at the end of March 21.

8dii.  Certificate of Exemption.

It was unanimously resolved that the council met the exemption criteria for 2020/21 and wishes to be an exempt authority for that year.

Clerk (RFO) and Chairman to sign the Certificate of Exemption - AGAR 2020/21 Part 2, forward to PKF Littlejohn LLP in line with their published timescale, and Clerk to publish on the parish council website.

8diii. Annual Governance Statement 20/21.

Following its review, the council unanimously resolved to approve the Section 1 - Annual Governance Statement 2020/21.

Chairman and Clerk to sign the Section 1 - Annual Governance Statement 2020/21, and Clerk to publish on the parish council website.

8div. Accounting Statement 20/21.

Following its review, the council unanimously resolved to approve the Section 2 - Accounting Statements 2020/21.

Chairman to sign the Section 2 - Accounting Statements 2020/21 previously signed by the Clerk (RFO) prior to the review, and Clerk to publish on the parish council website.

8dv. Explanation of Variances.

Following its review, the council unanimously resolved to approve the Explanation of Variances statement for 2020/21.

Clerk to publish statement on the parish council website.

8dvi. Bank Reconciliation.

Following its review, the council unanimously resolved to approve the Bank reconciliation statement for 2020/21.

Clerk to publish statement on the parish council website.

8dvii. Internal Audit.

The clerk advised the council that following the review of the end of year (20/21) records by Cllr Black, all the councils records will be made to the apporved council internal auditor for review as per resolution

8dviii. Exercise of Public Rights - proposed Monday14th June 2021 - Friday 23 July 2021

It was unanimously resolved to accept the proposed dates of Monday 14th June 2021 - Friday 23rd July 2021 as the period for the public to exercise their rights to review the council's financial records.

Clerk to publish the exercise of public rights notice on the council website, and display on the village noticeboards.

9.   Reports.

9a.  Village Hall.

The Village Hall has been effectively closed during the latest Covid-19 lockdown other than occasional hire for permitted groups.

Tots on Tour have now resumed parent and toddler groups once a week during term time, as these are also permitted under current Government rules.

The Hall will re-open for general hire after 17 May on the understanding that hirers will follow whatever Covid-19 rules/restrictions are in place at the time.

Although we have had little income from the hall since the first lockdown in March 2020, we have secured grants from the District Council, and now have a balance of about £29,000.

During our most recent committee meeting, it was decided that our spending priorities would be repairs to the playground wall adjacent to the footpath, replacement of the safety flooring around the play equipment, and the lintel over the kitchen window. A survey of the wall is pending to establish what repairs will be required.

9b.  Neighbourhood Plan.

The steering group are making final amendments to the draft plan and hope to submit the package of documents to WLDC by the end of June.

10.  Recommencement of Face-to Face Meetings.

The clerk advised the council that in line with legislation, future meetings will be held as face-to-face meetings and advised that they have booked the Hemswell and Harpswell village hall as per the council's publish meeting agenda.

11.  Clerk Recruitment.

No change in status.

12.  Councillor Vacancies.

No change in status.

13.  Burial Authority.

No activity reported.

14. Date of next meeting – 19th July 2021.

Meeting closed 20:54

Signed: B C Mander   Date: 7th May 2021