FGPC October 2020 Minutes

Deeping St James Parish Council

The Institute, 38 Church Street, Deeping St James, Peterborough PE6 8HD

e-mail: clerk.dsjpc@btconnect.com

Tel: 01778 343266

Webpage: parishes.lincolnshire.gov.uk/deepingstjames

Parish Clerk: Julie Fortnum

 

The minutes of the Finance and General Purposes Committee meeting held on Thursday 22 October 2020 at 8.00pm using the virtual meeting code and password below:

Meeting ID: 996 1521 8510

Passcode: 917762

Present: Councillors Bowell, Gilbert, Halls, Hosking, Shinkins-Hoppe and Stevens.

Minutes taken by the Parish Clerk.

 

23.21 To receive apologies of absence.

Apologies were received and accepted from Councillor Thomas.

 

24.21 To receive any declarations of interest.

Councillor Shinkins-Hoppe – member of the Neighbourhood plan group

Councillor Stevens – Trustee of Deepings Community Library and Deepings Youth Group

Councillor Bowell – Trustee of Deepings Community Library and Deepings Youth Group

Councillor Halls – Trustee of Deepings Youth Group

 

25.21 To adopt the minutes of the previous meeting held on Thursday 16 July 2020.

Agreed and will be signed as a true copy.

 

26.21 To receive the Clerk’s report.

Communication was taking place with two companies that provide audit services.

The reconciliation of the accounts from April to September had been completed.

As the Cemetery was to be extended discussions were taking place with the relevant authorities to redact the temporary suspension of the covenant on the land at Hereward Way for its use as open space with play equipment on it.

 

27.21 To receive and consider reports on the parish council’s income and expenditure figures to date

Noted.

 

28.21 To receive a report of the parish council’s current financial position.

Noted.

 

29.21 To consider the parish council’s current banking arrangements.

Councillor Bowell had compared the services charges and interest provided by three banks – Unity Trust Barclays and Lloyds. The parish council already had accounts with the first two although there were issues about the level of service being offered by Barclays and their understanding of the needs of local councils. As Councillor Shinkins-Hoppe offered to, it was agreed that she should, visit the Barclays branch in Spalding to resolve the issues before any further decisions were made.

 

30.21 To consider how to move forward with the website accessibility regulation requirements.

The Clerk advised that a company had approached the parish council offering to download make complaint and upload the contents of the current website provided onto the new website. Both of these websites were provided free by Lincolnshire County Council who had not offered this service and the deadline for closure of the current site was imminent – end of December 2020. A positive reference had been obtained from Coningsby Town Council who had used the company. The quote to complete the work was £250 which was considered acceptable so the Clerk was told to accept it and arrange for the work to be completed.

 

31.21 To consider the following grass cutting contracts for 2021/22

1. Highway verges – As this was a joint agreement with Market Deeping Town Council the Clerk was ask to liaise with them and if they agreed continue with the current contractor providing any increase in cost was reasonable.

2. Woody Heights – Continue with the current contractor providing any increase in costs were reasonable.

3. Riverbank – as above. Also seek advice from Lincolnshire Association of Local Councils the Environment Agency and the Asset protection team for the Nene and Welland as to ownership.

 

32.21 To receive and consider the budget recommendations from other committees.

All committees other than the Events committee, which had not met due to the government restrictions on holding events, had met and considered their budget requirements for 2021/22. Councillor Stevens as chairperson for the Events committee proposed leaving the budget headings the same as for 2020/21. Councillor Shinkins-Hoppe wanted to make sure that there was a budget for tree assessment and maintenance as the work required on the parish council’s tree stock was increasing. Along with Councillors Hardy and Halls (and former Councillor Blessett) she had prepared a plan of the trees within the parish and those that are the responsibility of the Parish Council. Councillor Stevens advised that the District Council have a 4-year rolling programme of inspection of their tree stock and advised that the parish council should go out to tender to find a contractor to complete assessments. It was agreed that the Millennium Wood maintenance budget heading should be renamed as maintenance of tree and hedge stock and increased to £4,000 towards expected costs.

 

33.21 To consider all other non-committee budget headings in preparation for precept setting.

It was proposed that the neighbourhood plan budget should stay the same as this was not yet completed and even when it was there would be costs relating to ongoing monitoring and enforcement required

It was proposed that the footbridge budget should remain the same but that the Clerk should also request an update from the Northern footpath’s forum as to the current position.

It was noted that there may be a requirement to have an additional budget to support the enhancement of play equipment in the parish with the suggestion of £5,000 being proposed.

It was acknowledged that there may be finance available from section 106 agreements relating to the new housing developments. If this had been allocated for provision of items that were no longer needed or appropriate discussions should take place with South Kesteven District Council to change it

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 matter.

 

34.21 To receive an update regarding staffing matters.

The Clerk advised that all the staff were now working their contractual hours.

Probationary reviews and appraisals were still required and would be completed during the next month by the Clerk and Councillor Hosking.

 

35.21 To agree the date of the next meeting

8pm on Thursday 19 November 2020