Extraordinary Parish Council Meeting Minutes

An extraordinary Parish Council Meeting was held on Thursday 21^st May 2020 via videoconferencing on the Zoom Platform and commenced at 7.40pm.

The Chairman, Mr. Arthey welcomed the following Parish Cllrs. to the meeting – M Hainsworth, B Howe, R Howe, J Moore and A Sturgeon. In attendance were Mrs V Waples, Clerk and District Cllr. Jamieson.

In accordance with the changes in legislation, it was noted that this meeting was taking place via videoconferencing and that councillors and members of the public were permitted to film, record, photograph or use social media in order to report on the proceedings of the meeting.

Apologies of Absence

Apologies of absence – there were none received as all were present either via video link or via the telephone.

Declarations of Interest

There were no declarations of pecuniary or local non-pecuniary interests for the agenda under discussion. There were no declarations of gifts of hospitality received exceeding £25.
There were no requests for dispensations for the agenda under discussion.

Minutes of Previous Meetings

To sign the minutes of the Parish Council Meeting of 11^th March 2020 as a true and accurate record – the meeting agreed that the circulated minutes were a true and accurate record of the meeting that took place, aif. Agreement was forthcoming for the signing of the minutes to take place at the next meeting at which Councillors would be present in person, aif.

Parish Matters

To receive updates on items raised at previous meetings

White Rose Crossroads – although the Clerk had flagged this area to SCC Highways for attention, COVID-19 and lockdown had taken over matters. Cllr. Moore as one of the impacted landowners, confirmed that nothing further had been done. Whilst the ditches at the crossroads and the road surface were currently dry, should there be any significant rainfall the situation would arise again. The Clerk was asked to ensure that this was flagged up to Highways for intervention at the earliest opportunity.
Cllr. Hainsworth asked that his thanks be recorded for a change of date to allow him to attend the meeting.

Public Forum

(maximum 10 minutes)

To note the report from County Councillor James Finch – the written report as submitted can be seen at Appendix B.
To note the report from District Councillor Leigh Jamieson – the written report as submitted can be seen at Appendix C. It was noted that the Village Hall had submitted an application to MSDC for a £10k support grant which had been successful.
To receive comments from the public on the agenda or any issues concerning the village – there were no members of the public present.

Statutory Business

Annual Meeting of the Parish Council – to note and agree the action taken by the clerk as identified in the paper entitled Paper 21.05.20 - Statutory Business and COVID-19 – all confirmed that they had read the paper and agreed the action to cancel the Annual Meeting for the year 2020 (paper appended to the minutes)
Election of Chair – to note and agree the action taken by the clerk as identified in the paper entitled Paper 21.05.20 - Statutory Business and COVID-19 – all confirmed that they had read the paper and agreed the action for the Chair to remain in place until an annual meeting is held (possible May 2021), unless the council decide at an earlier date to elect a replacement (paper appended to the minutes)

Correspondence

To note all relevant correspondence received since the last meeting has been circulated via email
Babergh and Mid Suffolk District Councils - Councillor Clive Arthey, Cabinet Member for Planning & Tom Barker, Assistant Director Sustainable Communities - Planning Update – to note this will be circulated in the coming days to all Councillors. It was noted that, as near as they can, the LPA are acting as normal and progressing planning matters with regards to planning applications and local plan. 1^st virtual meeting had been held, quite successfully but it should be noted that more delegated decisions are being taken and in essence the planning function is being carried out by the LPA.

Clerk’s Report

To receive and approve the Annual Internal Audit Report – Paper A – the meeting noted that the internal auditor had drawn reference to the increased reserves at the end of the year and that Council was working towards level of sustainable reserves. Council approved the report as submitted by the Internal Auditor and noted that there were no recommendations contained within the report, aif.
To receive and approve the Payments & Receipts Account for the year ending 31st March 2020 – Paper B – Council approved the Account as submitted, aif. A copy of the Accounts can be found at Appendix A.
To note the Bank Reconciliation for the year ending 31st March 2020– Paper C – noted that the o/s cheque was for the Village Hall and the Clerk was asked to review and ascertain where the cheque had been sent. The year-end balances were noted and approved, aif.
To consider and approve the Annual Governance Statement for 2019/2020 as per Section 1 of the Annual Governance and Accountability Guide (AGAR) – Paper D – it was agreed that all assertions could be answered in the affirmative, aif.
To consider and approve the Accounting Statements for 2019/2020 as per Section 2 of the AGAR – Paper E – approved figures, aif.
To consider and approve the Certificate of Exemption from a Limited Assurance Review for the year 2019/2020 - Paper F – all agreed that the Council fulfilled the eligibility criteria and that it exempt itself from a limited assurance review for the year ending 31^st March 2020, aif.
To consider schedule of receipts received since the last meeting – Paper F - all noted the receipt of the 1^st instalment of the precept in the sum of £2,171.00. (Appendix D refers)
To consider and approve the verified items awaiting authorization as per the schedule submitted – Paper G - all agreed that subject to formal verification by the two authorised signatories, Council was minded to accept the schedule of invoices awaiting payment. (Appendix D refers)
To consider the Council's financial position to date – Paper H – the meeting noted the carried forward balance of £2129.09 once the agreed schedule of invoices awaiting payment had been taken into account. It was agreed that the authorised signatories would review the bank reconciliation and sign the papers submitted to ensure a full audit trail, aif. (Appendix D refers)

Parish Councillors’ Reports

To receive reports on village issues from Councillors present

The meetings thanks were offered to Cllr. Arthey for work done to the banks at the Kersey crossroads. Cllr. Arthey confirmed that it had been hoped that more could have been done but COVID-19 and lockdown had intervened.
The meetings thanks were offered to the Clerk for pulling the meeting together and producing the audit papers under current circumstances.
Cllr. Hainsworth made the point that this form of meeting appeared to be an acceptable forum for conducting business and once the issue of wet signatures is sorted, perhaps this is the way forward. Noted that people can socially distance and be effective.
It was noted that in terms of COVID-19 cases, BDC was remarkable low but overall Suffolk numbers are low – might be because the county is less densely populated; travel less and live more in families and socialise less. Noted that there are assumptions that are being made that the spread of COVID-19 and that these are early days.
Broadband – those at the Rose Green end of the village were still experiencing poor speeds – ½mbps. Cllr Moore stated that they now had copper for the last mile which allowed them to obtain current speeds of around 7mbps. Cllr. Sturgeon made all aware that a group of dwellings and businesses along Kersey Road had joined together as a small community and will be signing up to an ultra-fast project – via vouchers – with a fibre connection to the premises (overhead to a single point and then distributed from there to the six properties that will be linked). It was agreed that the Clerk would flag up the issue for the Rose Green area to County Cllr. Finch.
Cllr. Arthey mentioned that there had been disappointment in the village that the Beacon could not be lit for VE Day Celebrations. He and Cllr. Corcoran had taken advice which had stated that they should not be arranging a gathering or arranging anything that will cause people to gather so had cancelled the planned celebrations.

Date of Next Meeting

Parish Council Meeting: Wednesday 8^th July 2020 commencing at 7.30pm either in person in the Village Hall or via videoconferencing on the Zoom platform.

There being no other business the Chairman declared the meeting closed at 20.43pm