2020 Town Council Minutes of Meetings

Minutes of a Meeting of Market Deeping Town Council Held on Wednesday 10th June at 7.30pm

Zoom meeting code 871 5634 4512

Password 308268

Present: Cllr Yarham (Chair) Cllr Miss Collins

Cllr Lester Cllr Miss Moran

Cllr Hembrow Cllr Mrs Redshaw

Cllr Shelton Cllr Davis

Cllr Broughton Cllr Mrs Sked

Cllr Brookes

LCC Cllr Mrs Trollope-Bellew, SKDC Cllr Ms Stevens, and SKDC Cllr Dilks, the Clerk and the Deputy clerk were also in attendance.

Cllr Yarham welcomed everyone to the meeting and asked if there were any reports to be given from the County and District Councillors. There were none.

The meeting commenced at 7.33pm and Cllr Mrs Redshaw asked councillors to pause before the business of the meeting was dealt with to remember the late Roy Bell, previous Councillor and Deputy Mayor to the council. Councillors did so and the clerk will send condolences to the late Cllr Bell’s family.

30. Chairman’s Welcome & Introductions

Cllr Yarham welcomed members to the meeting.

31. Apologies for Absence

None were received.

32. Declarations of Interest under the Localism Act 2011

Cllr Miss Collins declared an interest in agenda item 7b. Cllr Broughton declared an interest in agenda item 10.

33. Acceptance of minutes of the Annual meeting held on 13th May 2020.

Cllr Yarham asked members if they were to accept the minutes of the meeting. Cllr Mrs Redshaw requested that the numbers of cllrs voting for the first resolution to suspend Standing Orders be recorded and the clerk agreed to review her notes and amend the record. It was then proposed by Cllr Shelton and Resolved with 7 in favour and 4 abstentions to accept the notes of the meeting as a true and accurate record subject to the above amendment. The Chairman will sign the minutes when safe to do so.

34. Reports: Including reports from Deepings First, Committees (Planning and Highways, Amenities and Open Spaces, Town Hall and Cemetery), and the Clerk

Deepings First

Cllr Shelton referred to the email circulated to all members by the clerk on the day of the meeting. It confirmed that the finalised plan had been submitted to SKDC on 10th June. Cllr Shelton then thanked all concerned for their hard work and efforts over the previous four years.

Planning & Highways

Cllr Brookes advised members that there were no particular issues to report apart from those to be addressed under agenda item 9. There were no questions.

Amenities and Open Spaces

Cllr Broughton advised members that the meeting had been well attended. He reported on the inclusion of a silver birch in the Paddock at the request of a ladies’ group, and also on the overgrown appearance of the allotment land that the clerks have reported to Persimmon.

Town Hall and Cemetery

Cllr Miss Moran reported that the sanctum had now been reserved and Cllr Hembrow asked for the sanctum base/s to be put on the next TH&C agenda for discussion. Cllr Miss Moran then advised that a Public Space Protection Order was being sought for the Spinney following a complaint regarding dog fouling in the area. The committee had agreed to change the locks on the front door and office for insurance reporting, and were considering an honours board of past mayors. There followed a lengthy debate on the locks, and it was proposed by Cllr Yarham that a motion be voted on ‘to employ the resolutions of the Town Hall and Cemetery committee at their last meeting to change the locks in accordance with insurers’ requirements’. It was then proposed by Cllr Davis and Resolved with 8 in favour and 3 abstentions to do so.

Clerk’s Report

The Clerk had issued members with a report prior to the meeting:

1. The small business grant aid of £10,000 has now been received.

2. The clerk has set up a Zoom account although this is still not running correctly as at 4th June. As the office pcs have no cameras or microphones the clerks will email details to their personal email addresses to set up and host the meetings.

3. The Town Hall cleaner returned on 3rd June.

4. The clerks will order additional hand sanitiser and floor markings for use when visitors enter the Town Hall as and when restrictions allow. They will also print posters for the foyer to remind visitors of safety guidance.

5. We have been advised by SKDC not to open the public toilets until they have put a robust Health and Safety system in place. Update 10/06: SKDC are preparing a risk assessment and asking if we will be ready to open our public toilets from Monday 15th June. The cleaner is ready to return to work but the water heater has still not been repaired, causing an additional health and safety risk, and will be chased again. The clerk has asked if SKDC is providing PPE products, as they supply other toilet provisions.

6. The office and park keeper’s Risk Assessments have been updated again reflecting the latest government guidelines.

7. We are having issues receiving emails from some councillors and are querying this with our email provider.

8. SKDC has asked that the council keep an eye on social distancing measures being observed in the town when smaller shops reopen on 15th June and the clerks will issue a letter, drafted by the chair in line with messages from the SKDC Cllr Cooke, to those businesses to ensure they are happy that sufficient measures are in place. If councillors or residents become aware of any issues around social distancing in shops around that time, they may be reported to Paul Stokes at SKDC.

9. The casual vacancy has been reported to the elections office and the final date for a bye election to be called is Tuesday 16th June. If no election is called, the council may co-opt from the following day. If an election is called, it cannot take place until May 2021 under current legislation.

10. Cllr Hembrow is preparing reports and tender documents for the council for the Town Hall and Cemetery, P&H and AOS committees and requires access to Office 365 to do this. Will members please confirm that the council is willing to reimburse the cost of this (approx. £60) to enable Cllr Hembrow to proceed? Cllrs voted with 7 in favour to allow this.

11. The Mayor has been asked to contribute a monthly article to Discovering the Deepings magazine. In line with the Press and Media policy are members happy for him to do this? Cllrs voted with 9 in favour to proceed with the publications.

12. The office has sadly heard of the passing of Roy Bell. Would members like the clerk to write to Sue or anyone else to offer condolences? Cllrs asked the clerk to write to 2 members of the family.

35. Correspondence to be noted and resolved upon

Correspondence to be noted

Correspondence to be resolved upon:

36. Council Finances

a) Income and expenditure by budget cost centre

Members had received a copy of the Council Finances and Omega report prior to the meeting. Cllr Yarham asked if there were any questions. There were none.

b) Accounts to be paid

It was Resolved with one abstention that the council pay its bills. See appendix A.

37. Approval and signing of the Annual Governance and Accountability Return 2019/20

a) A Motion to Approve and Sign the Annual Governance Statement

The clerk had provided a copy of the Governance statement to all councillors prior to the meeting. It was proposed by Cllr Yarham and Resolved unanimously to approve each assertion as ‘Yes’ apart from assertion no 9 which is not applicable. The statement will be signed by the chair and clerk accordingly.

b) A Motion to Approve and Sign the Accounting Statements

The clerk, as Responsible Financial Officer, had provided a copy of the Accounting statements to all councillors prior to the meeting. She had signed this to confirm that the accounting statements had been prepared in accordance with the Governance and Accountability guidance for smaller authorities. It was then proposed by Cllr Shelton and Resolved unanimously to approve the accounting statements. The statement will be signed by the chair accordingly.

38. For members to approve the submission of the Planning and Highways Committee’s ‘Road Maintenance and Sustainable Transport Improvements in Market Deeping’ report to Lincolnshire County Council

Cllr Yarham asked members to note all the work that Cllr Brookes had performed in completing this report and cllrs thanked Cllr Brookes accordingly. It was then proposed by Cllr Shelton and Resolved with 10 in favour and one abstention to submit the report.

39. For members to vote on a motion to consider Grant Aid funding of £5000 to the Deepings Business Support Group

Cllr Yarham expressed concern that the amount was much higher than the grant policy allowed and that no accounts, proposals of how the money would be spent or funding positions had been presented to the council. Cllrs agreed that they did not want to prevent help from being given but there was no firm basis on which to award a grant. It was noted that only one person to date had sought help from the group and there were now more government funding sources available. Cllr Brookes suggested that the money be earmarked to help the community in future even if it was not being paid now. Cllr Miss Collins advised she had attended two meetings of the group and had been asked to represent MDTC and county councillors had donated from their allowances. Members expressed concern that money would be given to individuals, against the policy stipulations of aiding the community as a whole. Cllr Yarham then proposed an amendment to the motion: ‘For members to vote on a motion to provide funding of £5000 upon the allocation of accounts to the council, proper presentation of a plan and that funds should spent in accordance with the council’s grant aid policy’. This includes the return of funds to the council if left unused. It was then proposed by Cllr Shelton and Resolved with 5 in favour, 2 against and 4 abstentions for the motion to be amended accordingly. It was then Resolved with 5 in favour, 3 against and 2 abstentions to proceed with this motion. The clerk will make payment to DSJPC who are holding the funds.

9.15 Cllr Ms Stevens left the meeting.

40.Update on the purchase of the Town Hall

The clerk advised that SKDC now wanted a valuation to take place before the property be handed over, and that a local company had visited on the previous day to perform the valuation. It was expected that this would be ready by week commencing 15th June.

41. Digital Council and for members to vote on:

a) a motion to give permission to request a [mdtc].gov.uk email domain

Cllr Davis stated that from the minutes of the previous meeting, he felt that advice was needed from companies who provide email domains, and that these companies would help to secure a domain thus preventing fees being paid twice. However, the uk.gov email domains have to be applied for via the correct channels and may not be offered by domain provider companies. The clerk advised that the cost of a .gov.uk domain had been variously quoted at between £80 and £120 per annum and Cllr Brookes confirmed this is a cost for the domain and the registrar that administers it, not for the amount of email addresses provided. It was then Resolved with 5 in favour, 3 against and 2 abstentions that the clerk sought more information on the cost of acquisition and of hosting a domain.

b) a motion to approve the format of Councillors’ email addresses

Cllr Yarham proposed the addresses be in the format of surname, initial @domain. This was discussed and it was then proposed by Cllr Davis and Resolved unanimously that the format be first name, second name @ domain name.

42. Climate Emergency, and for members to consider replacement of the park keepers’ vehicle with an electric or hybrid equivalent

Cllr Yarham advised members that although the resolution to declare a climate emergency had been passed in September 2019, no actions had yet been taken. The first item for consideration was therefore the park keepers’ vehicle. It was noted that towing capabilities were less with an electric vehicle and members discussed the pros and cons of an outlay on a new vehicle either now or when the current vehicle is older, charging points, payment plans and tax liabilities.

9.32 Cllr Trollope-Bellew left the meeting.

It was then agreed to put this item on the agenda for the next Amenities and Open Spaces committee meeting.

43. For members to vote on a motion to support the Local Electricity Bill

Some members were concerned that published accounts showed all entries as 0, but it was pointed out that this is a lobbying company and therefore a not for profit initiative. Members discussed the issues around local communities selling electricity and difficulties in managing this. It was then proposed by Cllr Davis and Resolved unanimously to write to the company wishing them good luck with the initiative and saying that the council will go back to them at a later date.

44. For members to consider and discuss any points raised in the public session.

There were none.

45. Confidential/Personnel Matters: Consideration to go into Closed session to discuss:

Staff issues

9.45pm The remaining councillors left the meeting.

It was proposed, seconded and Resolved unanimously to move into Closed Session to members of the press and public in accordance with the Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960, for members to discuss items that contained information of a confidential nature: The interview panel was agreed and it was Resolved unanimously to allow the panel authority to offer the position. It was then Resolved to come out of Closed Session.

The Chairman thanked all members for attending and declared the meeting closed at 9.51pm. The next scheduled meeting of the Full Council will be held on Wednesday 8th July 2020, virtual meeting details will be given when the agenda is published.