Minutes

Tathwell And Haugham Parish Council

Minutes of the Annual Meeting of the Council held 6th May 2020 at 7:40 pm via Zoom

20/5-1 Election of Chairman. Cllr Mrs Elizabeth Hairsine was proposed and seconded for the appointment. There being no other nominations, it was Resolved to appoint Cllr Mrs Elizabeth Hairsine as Chairman. The Council resolved that the signing of the Declaration of Acceptance of Office be deferred at a later date as permitted in the Standing Orders.

20/5-2 Election of Vice-Chairman. Cllr Mr Lou Fear was proposed and seconded for the appointment. There being no other nominations, it was Resolved to appoint Cllr Mr Lou Fear to be the Vice- Chairman. The Council resolved that the signing of the Declaration of Acceptance of Office be deferred at a later date as permitted in the Standing Orders.

20/5-3 Report from Outside Bodies including the Public Forum. Invitations to the ELDC Ward Member, the LCC Ward Councillor and the Neighbourhood Police Team to join the remote meeting were sent but none accepted. The Clerk also posted a notice and the agenda on the Tathwell Village Community Facebook page, but no response received. No members of the public joined in.

20/5-4 Record of Members Present and Apologies. All Members present. Cllr Mrs Elizabeth Hairsine (Chairman), Cllr Mr Lou Fear (Vice-Chairman), Cllr Mrs Cheryl Shaw, Cllr Mr John Stainton and Mrs Nadine Must (Clerk).

20/5-5 To receive any Declarations of Interest on any item on the agenda. None declared. All Councillors also confirmed that there were no changes on their previously submitted declarations of pecuniary interests.

20/5-6 Minutes from 15th January 2020. It was Resolved that the minutes of the meeting was an accurate record. The Chairman will sign the minutes at a later date.

20/5-7 Council Matters

a) Chairman’s Remarks. The Chairman reported that

1. 1) the new powers given to local councils to conduct its meetings remotely do not extend to parish meetings which are still required to hold physical meetings.
2. 2) since the last meeting, the grit bin issue has not been resolved.
3. 3) the Buckingham Palace nomination was unsuccessful.
4. 4) the bank mandate for clerk salary had been cancelled and
5. 5) the contract for payroll administration was ended. Payroll will now be done in-house.

b) Annual Review of Policies. The Council reviewed all its current policies and resolved to accept without changes except for an amendment to the Financial Regulations which will allow the Clerk and the Chairman to access the account online and arrangements to approve transactions with clear instructions and approvals from two councillors. See 6.14 of Financial Regulations. The Clerk to upload all policies on the council website

c) Clerk’s Report. All actions from previous meeting completed. The clerk created a facebook log in account and joined the Tathwell Village Community page to promote council news and information to residents. The Clerk also sent an HMRC VAT reclaim for £297.87 consisting of two years’ worth of VAT paid including purchase of computer equipment for the clerk’s use.

d) Communications Received. The list was noted. The Council resolved to decline the offer of Quantum Air Fibre to talk about Fibre To The Premises (FTTP) provision.

20/5-8 Finance and Budgets

a) End of year Receipts and Payments 2019/20. Accounts noted and approved.

b) 2019-2020 Annual Audit of Accounts – The Council approved the Certificate of Exemption and will be signed by the Chairman at the next opportunity. The Clerk will submit to the external auditor by email once signed.

c) 2019-2020 Annual Audit of Accounts – The Council reviewed and approved the Governance Statement.

d) 2019-2020 Annual Audit of Accounts – The Council reviewed and approved the Accounting Statements and the explanations to variances and bank reconciliation. The Clerk to compile all the documents to forward to the Internal Auditor for signing.

e) Payments- The Council resolved to accept the following payments

1) for May 2020

• 1.1 LALC 2020/21 Annual Subscription - £73.15
• 1.2 Norris and Fisher Annual Insurance Premium - £259.33
• 1.3 Parish Clerk Salary and Expenses – £118.00

2) To note invoices paid since last meeting under delegated powers in accordance with the Council’s Financial Regulations.

• 2.1 HMRC. PAYE income tax January to March 2020 - £18.60
• 2.2 N Must. Salary and Expenses January to March 2020 - £326.50
• 2.3 Forrester Boyd. Payroll administration 2019/20 - £144.00

20/5-9 Community Amenities

a) Covid-19 impact on parish. The Chairman noted the Council’s gratitude to residents who created a Facebook group to help residents with valuable information. The Vice-Chairman will post the availability of extra funding from ELDC to help those impacted by the pandemic.

b) Tathwell Notice Board. The Chairman has identified two firms in Louth to quote for repair or replacement and will approach when lockdown is eased.

c) Litter pick-up. Residents collected more than 50 bags of litter around the parish. The Chairman noted her thanks to everyone involved who helped and supported the initiative.

d) Defibrillators. Both defibrillators are fully installed and training to use the AED will resume when circumstances allow.

20/5-10 Planning Matters. The Council noted that planning permission was granted to Ivy House in Haugham. There were no current applications to consider.

20/5-11 Parish Clerk Performance Appraisal. The Council moved into closed session. The Council was satisfied with the Clerk’s performance and a resolution was agreed.

20/5-12 Date of Next Meeting. Wednesday, 19th August 2020 at 7:30pm. The meeting will be held remotely until physical meetings are allowed.

The meeting closed at 8:20 pm.