4 May 2021 - Annual Meeting of the Parish Council
Ruskington Parish Council
Minutes of the Annual Meeting of Ruskington Parish Council held remotely on Tuesday 4 May 2021 at 7pm via Microsoft 365 Teams.
Present: Chairman - Cllr Conway
Councillors: P Cunningham, S Cotter, G Cox, O Ditch, C Fryer, S Tonge, M Trolley
Also in attendance: Mrs Kathryn Locke (Clerk to Council)
Apologies: Cllr White, Cllr Menday
No members of the public were in attendance.
Cllr Conway, as the outgoing Chairman of Council opened the meeting at 7.02pm.
1. Election of Chairman for the ensuring year.
Cllr Tonge nominated Cllr Conway.
Action: The Council RESOLVED to elect Cllr Graham Conway as Chairman of the Parish Council for year 2021-2022. Proposed by Cllr Tonge, seconded by Cllr Ditch and approved unanimously.
2. Declaration of Acceptance of Office of Chairman for Ruskington Parish Council.
Due to the meeting being held remotely, the declaration was to be signed in the presence of the Clerk at the earliest opportunity.
3. Election of Vice- Chairman for the ensuring year.
Cllr Conway nominated Cllr Tonge.
Action: The Council RESOLVED to elect Cllr Sarah Tonge as the Vice-chairman for Ruskington Parish Council. Proposed by Cllr Conway, seconded by Cllr Cunningham and approved unanimously.
4. To receive and accept apologies where valid reasons for absence have been given to the Parish Clerk prior to the meeting.
Apologies had been received from Cllr White and Cllr Menday and valid reasons for absence were known.
Action: The Council RESOLVED to accept Cllr White and Cllr Menday’s apologies. Proposed by Cllr Conway, seconded by Cllr Tonge and approved unanimously.
5. To receive declarations of interest and to consider applications for dispensations in relation to DPIs. Disclosure of Pecuniary and Non-Pecuniary Interests is to be in accordance with the Localism Act 2011 and to consider any applications for dispensations in relation to DPIs.
None were made at this time.
6. To approve as correct records the notes of the meeting of Council held on Notes of the ordinary meeting of the Parish Council held remotely on Thursday 27 April 2021 (Circulated prior to the meeting).
Action: The Council RESOLVED to accept the notes as accurate minutes. Proposed by Cllr Cunningham, seconded by Cllr Tonge and approved unanimously.
7. Appointment of members to serve on Committees and Working Groups of Council.
Action: The Council unanimously approved the following appointments: -
7.1. Finance and Policy Committee: Cllr Conway, Cllr Cunningham, Cllr Ditch, Cllr Fryer, Cllr Tonge, Cllr White.
7.2. Planning Committee: Cllr Cunningham, Cllr Cotter, Cllr Fryer, Cllr Trolley, Cllr White.
7.3. Environment Committee: Cllr Conway, Cllr Cotter, Cllr Fryer, Cllr Tonge.
7.4. Recreation Committee: Cllr Cunningham, Cllr Cox, Cllr Trolley, Cllr White.
7.5. HR Committee: Cllr Conway, Cllr Cunningham, Cllr Ditch, Cllr Tonge, Cllr White.
7.6. Office Relocation Committee: Cllr Conway, Cllr Cunningham, Cllr Tonge, Cllr White.
7.7. Community Resilience Working Group (Emergency Plan): Cllr Cunningham, Cllr Cox. Information to be sent to all councillors as further members were required.
8. Appointment of representatives to outside bodies.
Action: The Council unanimously approved the following appointments: -
8.1. Ruskington Village Hall Management Committee: Cllr Ditch.
8.2. Ruskington Library Management Committee: Cllr Conway.
8.3. Community Speed Watch Scheme: Cllr Cox.
9. Financial Matters: All information had been circulated prior to the meeting.
9.1. To receive the Internal Auditor’s Report for financial year 2020/2021.
The auditor’s report had been circulated prior to the meeting. It was a positive report highlighting how well the Council managed its financial affairs.
9.2. To approve the end of year bank reconciliation for 2020/2021.
These had been approved at the ordinary meeting held on 27 April 2021.
9.3. To nominate and approve the bank signatories.
Action: The Council unanimously approved the following councillors as bank signatories: -
Cllr Conway, Cllr Cunningham, Cllr Ditch, Cllr Fryer, Cllr Tonge, Cllr White.
9.4. To consider approval of payments made since the last meeting held on 27 April 2020.
Action: The Council RESOLVED to approve the payments. Proposed by Cllr Cunningham, seconded by Cllr Tonge and approved unanimously.
9.5. To consider the renewal of the insurance with Came & Co for year 2021-2022.
The Clerk had met with a representative of Came & Co to review the policy and valuations. Further amendments could be made following the renewal of the policy. A valuation of the council’s property was recommended.
Action: The Council RESOLVED to renew the insurance with Came and Co for year 2021 – 2022 commencing on 1 June 2021 and to value the council’s properties using the tool recommended by the insurance company.
10. Review the recommended amendments of the following documents and adopt if approved: -
10.1. Standing Orders
10.2. Financial Regulations.
10.3. Code of Conduct
Action: The Council RESOLVED to adopt the Standing Orders, Financial Regulations and Code of Conduct with the recommended amendments. Proposed by Cllr Conway, seconded by Cllr Fryer and approved unanimously.
10.4. Risk Assessment
10.5. Risk Management
Action: The Council RESOLVED to adopt the Risk Assessment and Risk Management policies with the recommended amendments. Following “on the ground” risk assessments of property and working practiced by Cllr Ditch and Cllr Cunningham these may require amending further. Proposed by Cllr Ditch, seconded by Cllr Cunningham and approved unanimously.
10.6. Draft policy for Data Retention and Disposal
Action: Comments to be submitted to Cllr Cunningham for review and adoption at the next Council meeting.
10.7. Environment Policy
Action: The policy to be reviewed and amended at the next meeting of the Environment Committee for adoption at the next Council meeting.
11. To consider delegating powers to the Parish Clerk as Proper Officer to make decisions on behalf of the Council to ensure its functions and business can be carried out, until physical meetings can safely be held again, or until the government allows remote council and committee meetings to continue, as considered at the ordinary meeting held on 30 March 2021 and as advised by LALC.
Action: To cancel the ordinary May meeting, the planned Environment and Recreation Committee meetings to be held as working party meetings, and to resume face to face meetings with the ordinary June meeting (29 June), if conditions allow.
Action: Cllr Cunningham proposed, and Cllr Trolley seconded, and all councillors indicated that they agreed that a S101 delegation of power to the Clerk and RFO be resolved, with the Terms of Reference detailed below, and with the input of the Chairman if available plus one other councillors, but with the authority of a minimum of two councillors, and the Clerk copying all councillors by email.
Delegation of Power
To the Proper Officer and Responsible Finance Officer LGA 1972 s101
The Council’s Scheme of Delegation authorises the Clerk to the Council/Responsible Finance Officer to act with delegated authority in the specific circumstances detailed:
To take action:
- To take action on any issue that cannot wait until the next Parish Council meeting.
- The Clerk will address any need/resolution to all councillors by email.
- Action taken should routinely be done with the input of at least two councillors, including the Chairman if available.
- If circumstances do not permit the input of at least two councillors, the Clerk would normally be expected to consult the Chairman or Vice Chairman if the Chairman is unavailable and take his/her view into account.
Financial thresholds:
- To authorise expenditure on items where the Council within a budget approved by the Council has agreed the expenditure.
- To incur expenditure on behalf of the Council, which is necessary to carry out any repair, replacement or other work or essential project which is of such extreme urgency that it must be done at once, whether or not there is any budgetary provision for the expenditure, subject to a limit of £1,000.00. The justification to spend this amount is based on a perception of ‘extreme urgency’.
- To take any action regarding minor repairs (up to a cost of £1,000.00) and to report minor matters to the relevant authority. The justification to spend the same amount in this category appears to be inconsistent with that identified above.
Record keeping
- Record keeping and the maintenance of a solid trail (particularly around decision making in any form) should be retained in writing and reviewed and certified to ensure good documentary evidence. This is particularly important in the case of an s101 delegated authority.
- Delegated actions shall be in accordance with Standing Orders and Financial Regulations and in line with directions given by Council from time to time and this Scheme of Delegation, and where applicable any other rules/regulations and legislation, and
Reporting back to full council
- Shall be reported to the next available Council meeting.