2020 Parish Council Minutes of Meetings

Great Hale Parish Council

Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held on Monday 1st June 2020 at 7.30pm via video call

Present: Chairman Cllr N. Turner, Cllrs M. Barnatt, A. Broom, N.Dady, S.Needham, L. Mountain and J. Cope

In attendance: Clerk K. Sinclair and D. Cllrs S. Tarry and S. Ogden

Public Forum.

The Chairman opened the Public Forum at 7.33pm

No members of the public were present. However, a resident had requested that their comments expressed to the clerk via email, be mentioned during the public forum session.

The resident requested an update on any communications with Network Rail regarding the flooding down the fen road. They also asked why they had not been contacted by the District Council regarding the COVID-19 outbreak, when they had received a letter to say they were in the vulnerable category and would be receive a telephone call.                                                               

The Chairman closed the Public Forum and opened the meeting at 7.37pm.

Cllr J Cope joined the meeting.

Official Business of the Council

1.  To Receive Apologies and Reasons Given (20/075)

All present.

2.  Chairman’s Welcome and Opening Remarks (20/076)

The Chairman welcomed the Councillors to the meeting and explained that not all regular items were on the agenda as there was a 40-minute time limit.

3.  To Approve the Draft Minutes from the Meeting Held on Monday 2nd March 2020 (20/077)

Following the observation from the internal auditor, it was agreed that the draft minutes should be amended to include the amount of £17000 received from Tritton Knoll.

It was unanimously resolved that the draft minutes be approved as accurate once the above amendment has been made.

Action: Clerk to upload to the website and Chairman to sign the minutes when it is safe to do so.

4.  To Receive Declarations of Interest and To Receive Written Requests for New DPI Dispensations (20/078)

None declared.

5.  To Receive Reports from Any District Councillors, County Councillors or Police in Attendance (20/079)

District Cllr S Tarry addressed the comments made in the public forum by stating that that a total of 10,812 letters have been sent to all residents who are over 70, and to those who were identified as vulnerable in other ways. In addition to this phone calls were made to the recipients of the letters where a telephone number is available. In total 6825 of these were successful. She stated that if the resident was happy to give their details that she could look into why they may not have been contacted. The council were also informed that the majority of NKDC staff are continuing to work from home where possible and that the community champion nominations deadline has been extended to 31st July 2020.

6.  To Ratify the decision to defer the 2020 Annual Parish Council Meeting (20/080)

Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic and advice received from LALC, it was agreed by all Councillors to defer the 2020 annual parish council meeting until May 2021. This means the Chairman and Vice-Chairman will remain in post until the next annual parish council meeting or until such time they resign.

It was unanimously resolved to confirm that the Annual Parish Council Meeting has been deferred until 2021.

7.  Highway Matters for Discussion

7.1    To Discuss Grass Cutting in the Village (20/081)

All necessary grass cutting had been carried out since the last meeting. However, the grass has now started to dry out and does not need to be cut as frequently.

7.2    To Receive an Update on any Potholes (20/082)

Potholes remain on Grove Street, Leas Road, Heckington Road and the Fen Road.

Action: Clerk to report all potholes to Highways again.

7.3    To Receive any other Highway Matters (20/083)

It was noted that there had been some resurfacing work down carried out on one of the fen roads. No other highway matters were discussed.

8.  Orchard Green

8.1    To Receive an Update on Orchard Green Inspections (20/084)

Cllr S Needham carried out the most recent inspections and reported that there has been hardly any litter in the area. The pile of soil has been removed and Cllrs A Broom and N Turner had been down to install bird spikes and clean equipment. Cllr S Needham to continue inspections.

8.2     To Receive an Update on The Development of The Orchard Green Working Party (20/085)

Cllr A Broom explained there were some issues with the bench suppliers originally selected and therefore requested council’s approval to spend £480+vat with a different supplier.

It was unanimously resolved to allow Cllr A Broom to order a bench from a different supplier.

9.    Matters for Discussion and Resolution

9.1     To Receive an Update on the Community Resilience Reponse to COVID-19 (20/086) 

On 21st March 2020, Great Hale Parish Council set up a scheme in which volunteers would register with us to help be on call to assist with anyone self-isolating in the village. Help mainly consisted of grocery supplies and medication collections. So far, there have been 16 volunteers listed, including the Chairman, and 12 residents requesting assistance. It has worked very effectively. Thanks          was made to Cllr Broom who has been the main co-ordinator for the scheme. 

9.2       To Discuss location of Bench (20/087)

This item should read ‘Discuss treatment of Millennium Bench'

It was unanimously resolved to allow Cllr A Broom to purchase products required to treat the Millennium Bench. 

10.   Financial Matters

10.1     To approve the bank reconciliation and spend to date (20/088)

It was unanimously resolved to accept bank reconciliation and the spend to date.

10.2 To review payments approved and paid since the last meeting (20/089)

It was unanimously resolved to accept the below payments as an accurate record of the payments agreed via email since the last meeting.

10.3     To approve the accounts for payment (20/090)

It was unanimously resolved to approve the accounts for payment.

Action: Clerk to make BACS payments for all payments approved.

10.4       To review Internal Auditors’ comments (20/091)

The internal auditor concluded that all financial transactions and records were accurate. They made two suggestions to the Council. Firstly, that the March minutes should be include the amount received in funding from Tritton Knoll and secondly that the bank reconciliation should be attached to the minutes.

It was unanimously resolved to make the recommended changes.

Action: Clerk to include the bank reconciliation in future minutes.

10.5       To complete via vote the Annual Governance Statement 2019/20 (Section 1) of the Annual Governance and Accountability Return (20/092)

All 9 statements were read out individually by the RFO.

It was unanimously resolved via vote to agree with all 9 statements.

Action: Clerk and chairman to arrange signing of the AGAR forms.

10.6       To approve the Accounting Statements 2019/20 (section 2) of the Annual Governance and Accountability Return and the end of year bank reconciliation (20/093)

It was unanimously approved to accept the accounting statements and end of year bank reconciliation produced by the RFO.

Action: Clerk and chairman to arrange signing of the AGAR forms.

10.7       Discuss the insurance quotes provided and approve expenditure for the most suitable cover (20/094)

It was unanimously resolved to accept the renewal quote from the current provider, Hiscox for the total of £840.25.

Action: Clerk to make the above payment for insurance cover.

11.       Future Agenda Items (20/095)

Items removed from the agenda this time will be discussed again at the next meeting.

No other items were raised.  

12.       Date of Next Meeting (20/096)

 Monday 6th July 2020

The Chairman thanked all for attending and closed the meeting at 8.05pm.