May 2023 Minutes Annual Parish Council Meeting
ROUGHTON PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held on Thursday 25th May 2023 at Roughton Village Hall commencing at 7.30 pm.
Present: Councillors K. Dormer (Chair), T. Davis, D. Perie, L. Roberts, R. Willey.
Not present: Councillors J. Drew, L. Spurrier
In Attendance: A. Everard (Acting Clerk)
Public: None.
001 Election of Chair of the Parish Council: It was proposed, seconded and unanimously RESOLVED to elect Cllr K. Dormer and he signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office.
002 Election of Vice Chair of the Parish Council: It was proposed, seconded and unanimously RESOLVED to elect Cllr T. Davis and he signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office.
003 Public Forum: There were no members of the public present so the meeting continued.
004 Chair’s Remarks: The Chair reported the Clerk’s continued treatment and the Council’s hopes for a full recover. The Clerk had passed on her thanks for their support and best wishes.
005 Apologies: The Council proposed, seconded and unanimously RESOLVED to accept the apologies with good reasons received from both Cllrs Drew and Spurrier.
006 Declarations of Interest: None
007 To approve the notes of the meetings held on 16th March and 20th April 2023 as minutes:
These were proposed, seconded and unanimously RESOLVED to be adopted as the minutes of the council. They were duly signed and dated by the Chair.
008 County Councillor Report: Councillor Bradwell was not present at the meeting.
District Councillor Report: District Councillor Gray sent apologies but had emailed a report which the clerk had circulated to all Councillors including details of the Covid Spring Booster campaign, SO Festival and Lincolnshire Wolds Outdoor Festival.
009 Finances:
a) Bank balances and bank statement signed: The current account balance was £6,624.33 with £15.17 in deposit account.
Council debated and RESOLVED to transfer £2,500 to the deposit account to obtain the benefit of the increased interest rates when possible.
b) Payments: £40 Information Commissioners Office; £452.21 Zurich insurance premium; £13.21 Community Speedwatch flexi-ties expenses to K.Dormer; £100 A.Bramley - Audit fees for current and previous year; £202.80 LALC for Locum Clerk fees; £48.50 The Post Office for ELDC Election Fees; £140.00 Roughton Parish Hall for 2023-24 room booking hire fees; £237.22 LALC Annual subscription fee 2023-24. It was proposed, seconded and unanimously RESOLVED to approve the payments listed.
c) Bank signatories: It was RESOLVED to add Cllr D. Perie when possible to the signatories.
d) Asset Register as at 31st March 2023: It was RESOLVED to approve the updated asset register with a value of £21,310.
e) Internal Auditor Statement 2022-23: It was RESOLVED to receive and note the statement.
f) Annual Governance Statement 2022-23: The Council considered the individual statements and 1 to 9 and agreed that they complied with them. It was RESOLVED that the Chair and Acting Clerk should sign the Annual Governance Statement 2022-23.
g) Annual Accounting Statement 2022-23: The Council received the statement prepared and signed by the Chair acting as Acting RFO and it was RESOLVED to approve them and the Chair signed the Annual Accounting Statement 2022-23 at the meeting.
h) Annual Exemption Certificate 2022-23: Council agreed that they qualified to be exempt from external auditor review. It was RESOLVED that the Certificate of Exemption can be signed by the Chair.
i) Public Inspection dates: It was RESOLVED that the dates for public inspection of accounts and related documents to be from 5th June to 14th July 2023 and the notice to be advertised on the website and noticeboard.
010 Planning matters:
Applications received
Planning application Decision of Council
S/141/00835/23 120 HORNCASTLE ROAD, ROUGHTON MOOR, WOODHALL SPA, LN10 6UX - Planning Permission - Erection of 4 no. dwellings.
Previously refused. Layout amended and overlooking neighbours reduced.
No objection.
011 Highway Issues
a) Community Speedwatch: Cllrs Perie and Davis had attended the working group. Six people to be trained in Roughton on 21 June 2023. Cost of equipment share will not exceed £300.
b) Update from Highways and Thornton residents
Verge update from Highways Officer received. Awaiting update from County Councillor Bradwell. Chair will follow up. No update on Roughton village speed limits. It was noted that Haltham had their speed limit reduced to 40mph.
012 Laptop refresh: The Clerk’s laptop was too slow to use further and it had not been possible to transfer to the Acting Clerk which meant that unreliable document management processes had to be used. It was noted that a budget of about £500 would be needed to buy a laptop suitable for the Clerk’s use and handling for parish council information to comply with Data Protection Act and Freedom of Information Act responsibilities.
013 Training: Noted the LALC training bulletin. No courses requested.
014 Signing of Declarations of Acceptance of Office: All parish councillors present had signed their declaration prior to the start of the meeting. Two councillors were absent and it was RESOLVED to permit them to sign their Declarations of Acceptance of Office prior to or at the September meeting of the parish council in accordance with S.83(4) Local Government Act 1972.
015 Dates of future meetings: It was proposed, seconded RESOLVED that meetings would take place in 2023 on 10th August 2023, 21st September, 16th November and in 2024 on 18th January, 21st March and 16th May and the room hire bookings are to be made.
The meeting was closed at 8.51pm.