Minutes 2024

Leasingham and Roxholm Parish Council

Minutes of an ordinary meeting of Leasingham and Roxholm Parish Council held at the Community Building, Spring Lane Playing Field on Wednesday 11 September 2024.

Present:  Chair:               Jenny Bailey

Councillors:  Angie Adams, Graham Arnold and Steven Milligan

Also in attendance:  District Councillors Jim Clarke and Andrew Hagues

In attendance:  Mr Eddie Findlay, Clerk to Leasingham and Roxholm Parish Council

1 member of the public were in attendance.

At 7:00 pm the Chair welcomed everybody and declared the meeting open.

109.  To receive apologies for absence and reasons given, i.a.w. Local Government Act 1972, Sch 12, para 40.
Cllr Chambers and Cllr Hibberd were unable to attend and their reasons were made known to the Council.
Action:  The Council RESOLVED to approve the reasons for absence from Cllr Chambers and Cllr Hibberd.
Proposed by Cllr Adams, seconded by Cllr Milligan and approved unanimously.

110.  To receive declarations of interest and to consider dispensation applications in relation to Disclosable Pecuniary Interests.
None were declared at this time.

111.  Public Forum.
Due to County Cllr Wright’s absence, D/Cllr Hagues reported that the Lincoln Southern Ring Road had been placed on hold, awaiting further review by Central Government.

NKDC Community Champions nominations were still open until 16-Sep-2024.

D/Cllr Clarke informed the meeting that Sleaford town centre is now protected by expanded and improved CCTV coverage, following the completion of a project to upgrade it.  Seven existing CCTV units in the town centre have been upgraded using £58,000 of Safer Streets funding, achieved in a joint bid together by the Lincolnshire Police and Crime Commissioner Marc Jones and North Kesteven District Council. Each unit now has four CCTV cameras, and the footage provided is also of much higher quality after upgrading the technology that the cameras use.  A wider area in the town centre is now covered by CCTV thanks to four additional units installed using UK Shared Prosperity Fund monies. These extra CCTV camera units have been installed in key locations based on data assessments by the Lincolnshire Police and Crime Commissioner, North Kesteven District Council and with the support of partners including Sleaford Town Council which contributes towards ongoing CCTV monitoring.

MOP1 – National Planning Policy framework changes expected from Centra Government might impact on the current Neighbourhood Plan.  As discussed last month, Council would look to set a review of the NP, once the outcome of the NPPF was known.

112.  Notes of the ordinary meeting of Leasingham and Roxholm Parish Council held at the Community Building at the Playing Field on Monday 12 August 2024 to be approved as Minutes.
Action:  The Council RESOLVED that the notes of the ordinary meeting of Leasingham and Roxholm Parish Council held at the Community Building at the Playing Field on Monday 12 August 2024 be approved as Minutes.
Proposed by Cllr Arnold, seconded by Cllr Bailey and approved by a vote of 3 for and 1 abstention.

113.  Receive reports from the Clerk and Councillors in relation to the minutes and other Council matters.
No resolutions may be passed under this item but requests for matters to be placed on the next agenda can be made.
Clerk – due to an admin error, a number of payments approved at the last meeting were duplicated and paid twice.  Some had been repaid, whereas a couple of the payments had been re-allocated to cover this months invoices.

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Councillors.
Following the recent accidents on the A15, \Council had been made aware that the Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership are reviewing the recent Archer survey results.
Cllr Bailey had received a message of thanks for the high standard of work, and dedication to the village, continually shown by Norman Anderson who recently spent considerable time clearing the watercourse running alongside Spring Lane.  Mr Anderson had been informed.
Cllr Bailley also gave a brief report on the recent attendance by herself, Cllr Adams and Cllr Franklin at the LALC AGM and Summer Conference.  The workshops attended (H&S and Resilience Planning) had been very worthwhile, as was the opportunity to network with other Councils and Councillors.

114.  Financial Matters
a.  Approve payments made since the last meeting.

Action:  The Council RESOLVED to approve the payments made since the last meeting.
Proposed by Cllr Milligan, seconded by Cllr Arnold and approved unanimously.

b.  Approve the payments of invoices etc. as listed on the Payments to be Authorised sheet.

Action:  The Council RESOLVED to approve the Payments to be Authorised.
Proposed by Cllr Bailey, seconded by Cllr and approved unanimously.

c.  Approve the bank reconciliation for August 2024.
The Clerk reported that at the end of August, the bank accounts stood at £46,542.77, which included £586.31 on behalf of the Neighbourhood Plan fund raising Village Fayre (Aug-2017) and following the income of £7,107.66, from the Deepdale Solar Farm grant, the Community Benefit Fund stood at £18,393.21, leaving £27,513.99 as Council money.
Action:  The Council RESOLVED to approve the bank reconciliation for August 2024.
Proposed by Cllr Milligan, seconded by Cllr Arnold and approved unanimously.

d.  Receive a report from the Clerk in relation to External Audit report for AGAR 2023/2024.
External auditor’s limited assurance opinion 2023/24
The AGAR was not accurately completed before submission for review.  The smaller authority has not addressed the ‘except for’ matter raised by the external auditor when qualifying the prior year AGAR.  Assets purchased during 2022/23 had not been included in Section 2, Box 9 and should have been corrected in the prior year comparative for this year’s AGAR.

* Clerk comment to Councillors – I wasn’t aware that assets purchased in the previous year 2022/23 had not been included in Section 2, Box 9 so did not make any corrections.

I only included the new play equipment as new assets.

Section 1, Assertion 1  PKF Littlejohn assess that this has been incorrectly completed and should have been answered NO.  Appropriate accounting records were not maintained and reserves were not appropriately identified.  This is consistent with the Internal Auditor’s response to Internal Control Objectives A, D and J.

* Clerk comment to Councillors – since my employment new banking and financial ways of working and reporting have been introduced, which should clear any future issues.

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Section 1, Assertion 2  PKF Littlejohn assess that has been incorrectly completed, and should have been answered NO.  There were no Financial Regulations or Standing Orders in place throughout the year.  This is consistent with the Internal Auditor’s response to Internal Control Objectives B.

* Clerk comment to Councillors – the Internal Auditor did highlight that there are no Financial Regulations or Standing Orders on the website.

There were a number of times that no invoices were available to support certain payments and all payments should have an invoice.  Since December, all invoices support payments.  Because of the lack of invoices, the IA could not prove whether VAT was appropriately accounted for.

* Clerk comment to Councillors – Since my employment new banking and financial ways of working and reporting have been introduced, which should clear any future issues.

The Parish Council confirmed that it had not complied with the governance Assertions in Section 1, boxes 4 and 6, but it has provided the appointed auditor with an adequate explanation for non-compliance and details of the actions necessary to address weaknesses identified.

In the completion of the Annual Internal Audit Report, the internal auditor has drawn attention to significant weaknesses in relation to internal control risk reviews.  The smaller authority must ensure that action is taken to address these areas of weakness in a timely manner.

* Clerk comment to Councillors – since my employment new banking and financial ways of working and reporting have been introduced, which should clear any future issues.

The results would be posted on the noticeboard and website.

Action:  The Council RESOLVED to note the External Auditor report.
Proposed by Cllr Arnold, seconded by Cllr Milligan and approved unanimously.

e.  Consider a donation to the Royal British Legion, using s.137 for a Poppy Wreath for Remembrance Sunday.
Action:  The Council RESOLVED to approve a donation of £25.00 for a Type C Poppy Wreath.
Proposed by Cllr Adams, seconded by Cllr Arnold and approved unanimously.

f.  Consider the cost for an Independent Play Area/Equipment from Wicksteed.
Action:  The Council RESOLVED to defer the matter to consider other providers.
Proposed by Cllr Milligan, seconded by Cllr Adams and approved unanimously.

115.  Planning Matters.
No new applications had been received.

116.  Correspondence.
a.  LALC e-news update.  Circulated 27-Aug-2024.
b.  Town and Parish Council update from LCC.  Circulated 27-Aug-2024.
c.  LALC EGM.  Circulated 28-Aug-2024.
d.  Post LALC EGM Presentation on NPPF proposed changes.  Circulated 05-Sep-2024.

117.  Council to note the response from LCC Highways regarding their request to consider a safety barrier being installed along a short length of the A15 between Leasingham and Holdingham.
The Council had received a response from LCC Highways and Cty Councillor Wright had asked for a copy of that email and it is hoped that further consideration might be undertaken by LCC Highways.
Action:  The Council RESOLVED to note the following from LCC Highways;  Having viewed the site, we cannot see any real justification for the provision of a barrier, the footway is of a good width and set back from the immediate edge of the carriageway.  We are pleased to advise that the only recorded accident in the immediate vicinity did not involve any pedestrians or the footway.  Whilst we can appreciate the comments regarding children using the path and everyone’s wish to keep them as safe as possible, we do feel that on this occasion it is a perceived issue rather than an actual issue.  We are sorry that we cannot be of greater assistance in this matter.
Proposed by Cllr Bailey, seconded by Cllr Arnold and approved unanimously.

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118.  Consider the draft Health & Safety Policy, to be reviewed and amended as necessary for adoption.
Due to unforeseen circumstances, the Chair had been unable to review the document, ready to be presented to Council.
Action:  The Council RESOLVED to defer the item until the next meeting.
Proposed by Cllr Bailey, seconded by Cllr Adams and approved unanimously.

119.  Receive an update on the Emergency Plan.
The Chair had been trying to find the owner of a small area of hard standing between Lincoln Road and St. John’s Close to place a small storage container for sandbags, sand, shovels etc.  Once this was ascertained,  container would be investigated and the costs presented to Council to purchase and fill with the above items.  The Plan had been presented to LCC and been accepted, in principle.  As such they would be delivering an Emergency Box, with enough PPE for up to 10 volunteers, including, a first aid kit, loudhailer, walkie talkie pair, telephone, radio (wind-up), thermometer, packs of facemasks, glowsticks, torches (wind-up), foil blankets, hi-vis vests and gloves.

120.  Receive an update on whether an Election has been called to fill the current Parish Council vacancy, or if Council can seek to Co-Opt 2 new Councillors.
The Clerk reported that NKDC Election Services had confirmed that no valid request has been received to call an election and so Leasingham and Roxholm Parish Council may now proceed to co-opt to fill the vacancy.
Qualifications that Must be Met to Stand for Co-option
The applicant for co-option must be:

•  at least 18 years old

•  a British citizen, an eligible Commonwealth citizen or a citizen of any member state of the European Union

and meet at least one of the following four qualifications:

a)  The applicant is, and will continue to be, registered as a local government elector for the parish in which they wish to stand from the day of their co-option onwards.

b)  The applicant has occupied as owner or tenant any land or other premises in the parish area during the whole of the 12 months before the day of their co-option.

c)  The applicant’s main or only place of work during the 12 months prior to the day of their co-option has been in the parish area.

d)  The applicant has lived in the parish area or within three miles of it during the whole of the 12 months before the day of their co-option.

The Clerk had created an advert which would be displayed on the Village Hall noticeboard, the website and on Facebook.

121.  Confirm the date of the next meeting.
The next meeting date was confirmed as Monday 14 October 2024.

122.  To resolve to go into closed session in accordance with the Public Bodies (Admissions to Meetings) Act  1960, as amended by Section 100 of the Local Government Act 1972 to discuss the following matters.

a.  Consider the request for Busy Bees to use the old bowls green to relocate the Nature School.

b.  Villager of the Year discussion.
Action:  the Council RESOLVED to go into closed session to discuss the matters listed above.
Proposed by Cllr Arnold, seconded by Cllr Milligan and approved unanimously.

This part of the meeting closed 7:55 pm.

The meeting continued in the absence of press and public at 7:55 pm.

(Not for publication by virtue of section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the items being of a confidential nature.)

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Confidential Minutes

a.  Consider the request for Busy Bees to use the old bowls green to relocate the Nature School.
Action:  The Council RESOLVED to approve the relocation of the Nature School to the enclosed old Bowls green, but with the safety and security of the area and equipment, being the responsibility of Busy Bees.
Proposed by Cllr Arnold, seconded by Cllr Adams and approved unanimously.

b.  Villager of the Year discussion.
Cllr Milligan outline some changes to the 2024 process, including online voting only.  It was hoped to have the nominations open from mid-October, with a winner announced at the start of the Advent Opening at the Duke of Wellington.

The meeting closed at 8:10 pm

Signature: Original Signed

Printed Name:  Cllr Jenny Bailey

Date:       14 October 2024

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