June 2026 Minutes
Minutes of the Finance, Policy and Personnel Committee meeting held in the meeting room at the Institute 38 Church Street Deeping St James PE6 8HD at 7.00pm on Thursday 11 June 2026.
Present: Councillors Bowell, Gilbert, Neville and Shinkins-Hoppe.
The minutes were taken by the Parish Clerk
27.01 To elect a Chairperson
It was proposed seconded and RESOLVED that Councillor Gilbert remain Chairperson
27.02 To receive apologies of absence.
Apologies had been received and were accepted from Councillors Halls, Hosking, Nickerson, Rose and Stevens.
27.03 To receive any declarations of interest.
None declared.
27.04 To adopt the minutes of the previous meeting held on Tuesday 7 April 2026.
Agreed and signed.
27.05 To receive the Clerk’s report.
- Job evaluations have been completed for the roles of Parish Clerk/Responsible Financial Officer and Assistant Clerk by a Local Council Consultancy Associate. A draft report was shared with the two post holders asking them to consider the contents and respond. Amendments and additions have been returned to the Associate and a second draft was received on 09 June 2026 once we have confirmed this is ok a final report will be issued which I will share with the Council.
- Keeping HR Simple have been requested to update the staff handbook for which there will be a fee of £125 payable. This has not yet been completed as I have since asked for clarification on what other packages are available that would cover this ongoing, one of which is to be considered under agenda item 27.09
27.06 To receive a report of the financial position as at 04 June 2026.
Councillor Bowell proposed that some of the money in the Unity Trust current account (£102,060.82) was transferred to the Unity Trust Instant Access Account until it was required so that some interest would be accrued. The Clerk advised that it was likely that this amount would be spent over the next 4 months. It was seconded and RESOLVED that £50,000 should be transferred to the Instant Access Account and transferred back when required.
Action: Clerk to submit the transfer request and if required ask two signatories to authorise.
27.07 To receive a report on the income and expenditure against budget for the period 1 April 2026 to 04 June 2026.
The contents of the report was noted by the committee.
27.08 To receive the bank reconciliations for 30 April 2026 and 30 May 2026
These were accepted and Councillor Gilbert as the Committee Chairman signed the document alongside the signature of the Responsible Financial Officer.
27.09 To consider buying in to an annual HR update service to keep us informed of employment law changes, providing all the policies and contractual updates we will need to ensure compliance at a cost of £350.00 + VAT per year.
ANNUAL HR UPDATE SERVICE - Keeping HR Simple
Following the notification that updating the handbook would cost £125.000 (see Clerks report), the Clerk advised that she had contacted the HR Provider to see what other packages may be available to fulfil the Parish Council’s requirements.
Following notification that Wilkin Chapman and Rollits would be now be offer HR support to the Lincolnshire Association of Local Councils it was agreed that the Clerk should also contact them to obtain a quotation for HR support for Deeping St James Parish Council
It was agreed to hold decision on this until the Clerk provides further information
Action: The Clerk to obtain quotations
27.10 To receive the Internal Audit report and updated checklist for the financial year 2025-26
It was noted from the checklist that all the points were now listed as low risk other than the point concerning all land owned by the Parish Council being registered at the HM Land Registry. It was acknowledged that this was not a legal requirement however the Clerk advised that she had spoken to Councillor Smith whose background meant he had previous experience with this and they were going to arrange a time to meet and complete this
Action: The Clerk and Councillor Smith to complete this.
Councillor Neville referred to the recommendations at the beginning of the checklist about Councillor training on the different roles of the Clerk and the Councillors, which had not been fully considered. The Clerk advised that she shares the training bulletin received from the Lincolnshire Association of Local Councils with all members regularly to encourage them to attend training and Councillor Neville, in his capacity as recently elected Chairperson for Deeping St James Parish Council said he intended to mention the Code of Conduct, Civility and Respect Pledge, Standing Orders and Financial Regulations as the start of the June 2026 meeting and suggested that an agenda item should be added to a future agenda
Action: The Clerk to add the role of the Clerk and Councillors to a future agenda.
27.11 To review the risk management policy in order to make a recommendation to Council
The policy was reviewed and it was RESOLVED to accept the policy with the addition of the wording ‘an investment policy is in place’ under the banking point in Finance.
Action: The Clerk to amend and update on the Webpage
27.12 To review the Parish Council’s Freedom of Information publication scheme
This document was reviewed and it was RESOLVED to accept it with the addition of the wording ‘£50 or over’ after Register of gifts and hospitality within section Class 6 – Lists and Registers
Action: The Clerk to amend and update on the Webpage
It was RESOLVED 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 the following matters
27.13 To receive and consider personnel matters
The Clerk advised the committee of an ongoing personnel issue and the committee agreed what action should be taken going forward.
RESOLVED to move out of closed session
27.14 To note the date of the next meeting – 8pm Tuesday 11 August 2026