2021 Town Council Minutes of Meetings

Minutes of a Meeting of Market Deeping Town Council held on Wednesday 14th April at 7.30pm

Zoom meeting code 885 4939 2745 
Password 011023 

Present:

Cllr Yarham (Chair)
Cllr Miss Moran 
Cllr Brookes
Cllr Broughton 
Cllr Hembrow
Cllr Mrs Redshaw 
Cllr Shelton
Cllr Davis 
Cllr Mrs Sked
Cllr Miss Collins 
Cllr Dolan 

The clerk and the deputy clerk were also in attendance. 

Cllr Yarham welcomed everyone to the meeting. Members acknowledged the sad passing of HRH Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and paused for a one minute silence. 

The meeting then commenced at 7.33pm. 

190. Chairman’s Welcome & Introductions 

Cllr Yarham welcomed members to the meeting and sought agreement from members to address the agenda points in a different order to that published, as he needed to leave the meeting early. Members were in agreement. 

191. Apologies for Absence 

Apologies were received from Cllr Lester. 

192. Declarations of Interest under the Localism Act 2011 

None were declared. 

193. Acceptance of minutes of a meeting held on 10th March 2021 

It was proposed by Cllr Yarham, seconded by Cllr Shelton and RESOLVED unanimously to accept the minutes of the meeting as a true and accurate record. The Clerk will sign the minutes on behalf of the chairman. 

194. 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 and there were none. 

b) Accounts to be paid 

Cllr Yarham pointed out the additional items to be approved and asked if there were any questions. Cllr Hembrow queried the cost listed for the pendulum swing and Cllr Broughton advised members that he would attempt to mend the current damaged swing, but if repairs were not successful then £759 as shown would be the cost of replacement. It was then proposed by Cllr Yarham, seconded by Cllr Dolan and RESOLVED unanimously that the council pay its bills for April. See appendix A. 

195. For members to agree face to face meeting arrangements after 7th May 

The clerk advised members that the legal requirement is 4 meetings a year so the number of meetings could be reduced if members were not happy to meet as frequently. Some members expressed concern at face to face meetings and the size of the chambers. Cllr Shelton, as chair of the Community centre committee, offered to arrange to book the main hall at the community centre for the May and June meetings and other meetings as required. Tables could then be spaced out so as to maintain a safe social distance. It was then proposed by Cllr Yarham and seconded by Cllr Mrs Sked to proceed on the basis that if regulations are not extended to allow online meetings, then the council will accept Cllr Shelton’s offer to hold the May and June meetings up to 21st June in the Community Centre. Further, that when the review is held for social distancing measures on 21st June then this measure will be reviewed. Cllr Broughton requested that the motion be amended to include an alternative location of the Green School. The motion was then RESOLVED unanimously. It was confirmed that the May planning meeting will be held online as it takes place before 7th May. 
196. For members to agree the meeting schedule for May 2021-May 2022 including dates and times 

The clerk had presented members with a draft schedule prior to the meeting. Cllr Yarham asked for members’ agreement for the AOS meeting to start at 6.30pm so as not to overrun before the TH&C meeting and members were in agreement. It was then RESOLVED unanimously to accept the schedule with the above amendment. 

197. The progression of decisions already taken by Full Council 

Cllr Mrs Sked asked why some decisions were agreed at Full Council but then not carried out in a timely manner, and mentioned issues with the John Eve field such as grass seeding. Cllr Hembrow advised that infilling around the new surfaces was an important task to complete. Cllr Miss Collins asked for concerns to be reported to the clerk and Cllr Yarham asked that Cllr Mrs Sked produced a list of outstanding items for the clerk to discuss with the park keepers. 

198. To revisit the costs of the Sanctum and gardens 

Cllr Yarham thanked the deputy clerk for her work in producing a comprehensive document listing the chronology and decisions in respect of the Sanctum and gardens. He advised members that he was confident that the procedures had been reasonable and legal and that all costs had been properly handled. He then proceeded to remind members of decisions taken and agreed in respect of the above items on 22nd January 2020, 12th February 2020 (Full Council items 156 and 160), 20th May 2020, 10th June 2020, 8th July 2020, 15th July 2020, 12th August 2020, 9th September 2020, 16th September 2020 and 14th October 2020. Cllr Miss Collins advised that the sanctum and the gardens were not 2 separate items and Cllr Broughton advised that the costs had not been fully scrutinised. He advised that the previous deputy clerk had told him that the cost would be £25000 in total. The clerk was asked to send the figures spent to all councillors. Cllr Miss Moran then pointed out that the decision to buy the sanctums was already agreed before she became chair of the Town Hall and Cemetery committee and the sanctum and the gardens have always been 2 separate items. Cllr Yarham reiterated that all decisions had been properly discussed and ratified at TH&C or Full Council meetings. Following a lengthy and heated discussion it was proposed by Cllr Brookes, seconded by Cllr Yarham and RESOLVED with 8 in favour and 2 against that members move on to the next agenda item. 

199.For members to receive an update on Digital Council 

Cllr Yarham advised members that there was no update. 

He then passed the chair to the deputy Mayor and left the meeting at 8.26pm. 
200. Reports: Including reports from Deepings First, Committees (Planning and Highways, Amenities and Open Spaces, Town Hall and Cemetery, Finance and Personnel), Mayor’s Diary and the Clerk 

Deepings First (The Deepings Neighbourhood Plan group) 

Cllr Shelton advised members of the relief felt in the group for the plan to have reached referendum stage, and asked for all members to vote in the forthcoming elections. He also reminded members that the group was now known as the Deepings Neighbourhood Plan group. Members thanked Cllr Shelton for all his hard work in bringing the plan to fruition. 

Planning & Highways 

The clerk had provided a copy of the minutes prior to the meeting. Cllr Brookes advised that members of the public had attended the last meeting to speak regarding parking on Stamford Road following planning permission having been granted for the old Riverside Garage site. He also advised that the plans for the Old Coach house with respect to converting the building to residential apartments had been approved. Members had no questions. 

Amenities and Open Spaces 

The clerk had provided a copy of the minutes prior to the meeting. Cllr Broughton advised that the vehicle had not started but was now fixed. He had purchased locks for the sand bins and asked members to consider suitable locations. 

Town Hall and Cemetery 

The clerk had provided a copy of the minutes prior to the meeting. Cllr Miss Moran asked if there were any questions and there were none.
Finance and Personnel 

The clerk had provided a copy of the minutes prior to the meeting. Cllr Miss Moran asked if there were any questions and there were none. It was then proposed by Cllr Brookes, seconded by Cllr Miss Moran and RESOLVED with 8 in favour and 1 abstention to accept the recommendations of the committee. 

Mayor’s diary 

The Mayor and deputy Mayor had attended no events due to Covid restrictions, but had laid a wreath in memory of the late HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, at the Riverside Park. 

Clerk’s Report 

1. The accounting year end closedown has been booked for 7th May. This is a whole day process and will be conducted via Teams with the RBS accounts technician. The internal auditor will then complete the relevant section of the Annual Governance Return and final figures will be produced for agreement by Full Council on 12th May if possible. 

2. SKDC has confirmed the reinstatement of enforcement patrols with effect from 1st May. They have also confirmed that the price per month will remain at £532. Do councillors wish to review the area to be patrolled or have any additional requests? No additional requests were made. 

3. The Carnival committee has advised that sadly they will not be able to continue with the Carnival as planned in June as it will not allow sufficient time for new regulations (as yet unknown) to be implemented. They hope to hold a smaller event later in the year and will come back to us. 

4. The office has completed a Health and Safety Executive telephone survey regarding Covid measures within the Town Hall and is adhering to all measures indicated. 

201. Correspondence to be noted and resolved upon

Correspondence to be noted

Correspondence to be resolved upon:

202. Arrangements for the summer play scheme 

Cllr Mrs Sked reported on a meeting where the providers had stated it would be more efficient to offer one complete week for Market Deeping Children and then one complete week for Deeping St James children. The precepted costs would include the hire of a marquee to facilitate social distancing and to avoid any issues with the school hall roof being repaired. The head of MDCPS is happy with the proposals and the play scheme provider will send a breakdown of what is required. 

203.For members to consider the adoption of the phone box on the Market Place 

Cllr Mrs Redshaw had asked the clerks to enquire about adopting the box. The clerks had then been informed that there had already been an expression of interest from the Deepings Lions. Cllr Miss Moran advised members that the box was in a poor state and Cllr Davis asked the clerks to forward the details of the Lions contact so that he could provide a report to members and a way forward could be sought. Cllr Brookes reminded members that the box is a listed building. 

204.For members to review the Risk Management Plan 

The clerk had provided members with a copy of the plan prior to the meeting. Cllr Miss Moran asked if members had any alterations they wished to make and none were declared. It was then proposed by Cllr Miss Moran, seconded by Cllr Shelton and RESOLVED unanimously to accept the plan as presented. 

205.For members to delegate the review of the following policies to a working party: Press and Media Policy, Social Media policy, Grant Aid Policy, Complaints procedure, Data Protection Policy, Freedom of Information Publication scheme, Employment policy and procedures, Retention and Disposal policy, Management of Transferable data policy, Data Breach policy, Subject Access request procedure. 

It was agreed to delegate the review of the above policies to a working party. Cllrs Mrs Sked, Yarham, Davis, Miss Moran and Brookes volunteered to form the working party and to report back to Full Council when the policies have been reviewed. 

206.Forthcoming events: Councillor’s Training Days, New Councillor’s Introduction/refresher, also ‘A guide to being a good Councillor’, LALC Councillor e-learning ❖ Display Screen Equipment Assessment • Managing and Reducing Stress • Personal Safety Essentials • Time Management Essentials • Equality and Diversity Essentials • Fire Safety Essentials • Health and Safety Essentials • Leadership Essentials • Data Protection Essentials • Introduction to Planning for Parish Councils 

Cllr Davis reminded members that even experienced councillors need to keep up to date with training. All requests should be passed via the clerk, who confirmed that many of the courses may be streamed to suit hours available. 

207. For members to consider and discuss any points raised in the public session. 
There were none. 

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

Staff issues 

There were none. 

Cllr Miss Moran thanked all members for attending and declared the meeting closed at 9.14pm. The next scheduled meeting of the Full Council will the annual meeting to be held on 12th May 2021.

Attachments: Appendix A (although not available at the time of bulk-adding documents.)