Minutes 12th July 2023
SWABY GROUP PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of the Ordinary Council Meeting held 12th July 2023
PRESENT; Cllrs Bailey; Dransfield; Powis; Millburn; Gibson and Gilpin.
Mrs J. Cooper (Parish Clerk)
There were no members of the public present.
19 APOLOGIES
Apologies and valid reasons for absence were received from Cllrs Cooper, Start and Young and these were accepted.
20 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST IN AGENDA ITEMS
There were none
21 MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD 17TH MAY 2023
It was resolved that the Chairman sign the minutes as a correct record of that meeting.
22 UPDATES
Clerk had applied for internet banking to enable some payments to be made by BACS and to facilitate regular checking f of banking statements and financial position. Forms were signed by Cllrs Bailey, Dransfield and Millburn as existing signatories.
23 DEFIBRILLATOR & TRAINING
The Defibrillator had arrived and was in the Village Hall, it was understood it was to be fitted to the outside wall at the front of the building the following day. Cllr Gilpin will then finalise the process of registering the unit with the emergency services system. Cllr Gilpin will also arrange training session with Community Heartbeat for the public and any interested councillor. Cllr Gilpin was thanked for his commitment to obtaining the defibrillator for Swaby.
Question was asked if the Village Hall committee would be interesting in holding a first aid training session at the Hall, Cllr Gilpin to make enquiries.
24 UPDATE LALC COUNCILLOR TRAINING SESSION
Cllr Gilpin updated members on his training session, which covered powers and duties of a Parish Council, conduct, aims, delegated powers and introduction to Declarations of Interest. He felt it was a worthwhile course and very informative, particularly in relation to declaration of interests in planning matters where a councillor has objected/supported a particular application in his own right; and position of Village Hall Committee members also siting on Parish Council when village hall matters were discussed. Cllr Powis attended a training session at Mablethorpe and found this very useful, particularly some of their policies, which would be circulated to members.
25 FINANCE
It was resolved that the following payments be made:
Clerks salary & PAYE (June/July) £296.92
LALC Training (Cllr Gilpin) £ 30.00
ELDC (Elections) £145.50
26 AMENDMENT TO POLICIES
The amendments to Risk Assessment, Financial Regulations, Asset List and Data Protection Policy as discussed at the 17th May meeting were approved. It was noted that the Financial Regulations referred to a Risk Management Policy rather than a risk Assessment and it was agreed a simple policy be created.
27 ADDITIONAL POLICIES
It was agreed that the following policies as presented be approved – Dignity at Work; Disciplinary; Equality & Diversity; Expenses; Grievance; Pay and Sickness.
The Investment Policy circulated was also approved
28 CORRESPONDENCE
LCC offer of litter picking kits – Cllr Powis had been in touch with LCC and had arranged delivery of 8 kits for the Parish Council.
Resident had contacted Cllr Powis and sent “Whats App” correspondence asking about the possibility of the 50mph limit on the A16 being reduced to 40mph. Cllr Powis had spoken with the resident and explained the lengthy process the Parish Council had been through and the timescale to get the limit set at 50mph, and he also used the data from the recent Archer Survey to explain the likelihood of the limit not being reduced by LCC. He was thanked for taking this on.
29 SWABY VILLAGE FUND
Cllr Gilpin had asked about the Swaby Village Fund and Cllr Gibson explained how the fund came about – through the sale of village land in the late 70s. The funds realised from the sale were invested in Swaby Village Fund which is a pot of money available for village use. The money is separate to Parish Council funds and it is not a charity. The most recent donation from the fund was towards the Swaby defibrillator.
It was noted that no Annual Meeting for the Swaby Village Fund had been held for some time, and it was agreed that this should be held annually after the Parish Council’s Annual Meeting.
30 TENANCY AGREEMENT – ALLOTMENT GARDENS
It was noted that the title for the land was not registered with the Land Registry, Cllr Bailey to check the location of the deeds. It was agreed to look at a short tenancy agreement document to be agreed at the next meeting.
31 VILLAGE HALL
It was noted that the title for the Village Hall is registered with the Land Registry in the name of the Swaby Parish Council, Cllr Bailey to check the location of the deeds. Cllr Start had forwarded some documents to the Chairman and Clerk, but there was no official lease document between the Parish Council and the Village Hall Committee. It was felt this could be achieved through a simple Licence to Occupy document. Cllr Bailey to arrange to place a property alert on the building with the Land Registry contact details being the Chairman and the Clerk.
32 PLANNING
There were no applications or decisions to note.
33 ANY OTHER MATTERS FOR GENERAL DISCUSSION OR ITEMS FOR NEXT AGENDA.
Next agenda to include Village Hall Licence to Occupy and short tenancy agreement for the allotment gardens.
34 DATE OF NEXT MEETING
This was agreed at 13th September 2023 @ 7pm
35 CLOSED SESSION
It was agreed to move into Closed Session to discuss the following item
36 CLERKS CONTRACT OF EMPLOYMENT
After discussion this was signed by the Clerk and the Chairman
There being no further business the meeting closed at 8.50pm