Minutes of 2018

Extraordinary meeting of Minting and Gautby Parish Council held on Wednesday, 22 August 2018 at Gautby Village Hall at 7.30pm

Present – Councillors J Heselwood, (Chair), J Stuchfield,G Bell, H Padfield and V Brown (minute taker).Two members of the public.

1. Chair’s remarks and welcome

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and thanked the members of the public for attending.No members of the public wished to speak in the public forum.Cllr Heselwood read out a proposed letter to Cllr Hibbert, based on information received from LALC on the subject of the Hillingdon ruling, it was agreed by all to send Cllr Hibbert this information.

2. Apologies for absence and vote to accept reasons given

Cllr Keys was absent due to work commitments, and Cllr E Brown due to holiday.Cllr Hibbert had also advised that he would not attend the meeting.It was agreed by all to accept these reasons for absence.

3. Declaration of Disclosable Pecuniary Interests under the Relevant Authorities (Disclosable Pecuniary Interests) Regulations 2012

Cllr Heselwood declared a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in agenda item 5a (financial payments) as one of the payments is due to her for expenses for postage.

4. To confirm and sign the minutes of the meeting held on July 20th, 2018 and thereby ratifying decisions made.

               There were several typographical errors in the draft minutes which were corrected by Cllr   Heselwood prior to the meeting.  Accepting these amendments, it was proposed by Cllr         Stuchfield, seconded by Cllr V Brown and agreed by all who were in attendance to accept the          draft minutes as a true and accurate record of the meeting of July 20th, 2018 and the Chair          then duly signed them accordingly.

5. Financial Matters:

1. To approve payments to be made by the Parish Council (see separate list)

The Chair went through the list of payments to be made as below.  It was proposed by Cllr Stuchfield, seconded by Cllr Bell and agreed by all to make the following payments:

Councillor Stuchfield was given a copy of the bank reconciliation and the latest bank statement which he checked and duly signed off.   It was agreed by all to approve the bank reconciliation.

6. To resolve to move into closed session in accordance with the Public Bodies (admission to meetings) Act 1960 due to the confidential nature of the business to be discussed in relation to Employment Matters.

The Chair advised that this item should have been listed at the end of the agenda, rather than the middle, and it was agreed by all to re-arrange the item order of the meeting to place it at the end.

7. Minting Village Hall

To agree that the Chair set up a meeting with the new Chair, Treasurer and Secretary of Minting Village Hall to review the service level agreement of 2015 regarding the LPG cooker as well as to renew the understanding regarding the Playing Field and discuss aspects of the Emergency Plan with which they may not be familiar.

The Chair advised that the new chair and secretary of Minting Village Hall committee were not familiar with the details of the role of the village hall in the Emergency Plan; also agreements in relation to the gas cooker in the village hall kitchen which is owned by the Parish council and the operation of the playing field.Councillors were circulated a discussion document on these matters, outlining the existing situation and agreements.

It was agreed by all that Cllrs Heselwood and V Brown form a working party to discuss these matters with the Minting Village Hall committee.

8. To receive reports from the Clerk and Councillors on matters outstanding and not on the agenda

The Chair advised that a complaint had been received from a resident regarding the refusal to provide a grant from parish council funds at the previous meeting of July 20th, 2018.  The complaint was not on the agenda as it had arrived too late to be included.  However, a drafted reply to the complainant was provided to Councillors.  In the absence of a Clerk; it was agreed by all that the delegated responsibility to respond to the complaint be given to the Chair, and that she send the draft response suggested.

               It was noted that the very large pothole on Minting Lane has still not been filled and it was    agreed to report this again; it has caused some damage to cars already.

9. To consider correspondence received since the last Council meeting

Correspondence as listed below was circulated amongst Councillors:

10. To resolve to move into closed session in accordance with the Public Bodies (admission to meetings) Act 1960 due to the confidential nature of the business to be discussed in relation to Employment Matters.

               (Note, as minuted above, this item originally appeared as item 6 on the agenda)

It was proposed by Cllr Heselwood, seconded by Cllr Stuchfield and agreed by all to move into closed session.  Members of the public left the meeting.

               a)            To discuss and agree the timeline for the development and approval of documents                        in relation to the employment of a new clerk.

In response to a question, the Chair advised that the current administrative assistant is not available to take on the role of permanent clerk.  The Chair further advised that there are many parish clerk vacancies at the present time and that LALC is beginning to recognise the need for a “manual” for clerks to follow to standardise parish council activities.  The Chair has already been putting such a document together to assist the next clerk when they are appointed.  There is also a need to create an appraisal system and probationary period with performance reviews.  Councillors were provided with a budget update on the cost to date of the administrative work being carried out.  It was proposed by Cllr Heselwood, seconded by Cllr Stuchfield and agreed by all (except Cllr Padfield who abstained); to accept the proposed timeline for the development and approval of documents in relation to the employment of a new clerk.  These documents will be provided for approval on October 26th, 2018.

               b)            To agree to form a Personnel Working Party to review and agree the new/updated                   documents in preparation for the recruitment of a new Clerk.

The Chair advised that a Personnel Working Party needs to be formed in order to work on the recruitment documentation.  It was proposed by Cllr Heselwood,        seconded by Cllr Stuchfield and agreed by all to form a Personnel Working Party, which will include all who councillors who wish to be involved in the process. One change was made to the Draft Terms of Reference, regarding the quorum: It was agreed that if both the Chair and Vicechair were present, then the meeting is quorate.

               c)            To agree to re-engage the services of PA & S for one month when the new                                              personnel procedures are ready to be reviewed prior to review by the Personnel                   Working Party.

                              The Chair advised that this would cost £100.  It was proposed by Cllr Heselwood,                       seconded by Cllr V Brown and agreed by all (except Cllr Padfield who abstained), to                   re-engage the services of PA & S for one month when the new personnel                                         procedures are ready to be reviewed prior to review by the Personnel Working                                        Party.

              d)        To agree temporary admin support hours for 6 days between September 7th-                                       November 2nd, 2018 at 6.5 hours per day, to help finalise the items above and                                        other outstanding items.

                              It was proposed by Cllr Heselwood, seconded by Cllr Stuchfield and agreed by all                    (except Cllr Padfield who abstained), to use additional temporary admin support                              hours for 6 days between September 7th- November 2nd, 2018 at 6.5 hours per day,                  to help finalise the items above and other outstanding items. 

                              It was proposed by Cllr Stuchfield, seconded by Cllr Heselwood and                                                       agreed by all to leave the closed session of the meeting and re-open meeting to                                        public.

11. To agree the date and propose agenda items for the next meeting on Friday October 26th, 2018 at Minting Village Hall

It was agreed by all to hold the next meeting on Friday October 26th, 2018.  No items were raised for the agenda.

Meeting was closed at 9.10pm

NB          Cllr Hibbert briefly interrupted the meeting in order to hand in his resignation from the Parish Council.