May 2022 Minutes Annual Parish Meeting
Aslackby Parish Council
Annual Parish Meeting
Minutes from meeting held on 30th May 2022
Present:
Cllr Brian Wilkinson (BW)
Cllr Katie Long (KL)
Cllr Rick Miller (RM)
Cllr Rachel Stevenson (RS)
Cllr Sue Roberts (SR)
James Leach – Clerk (JL)
District Councillor Richard Dixon-Warren (RDW)
County Councillor Martin Hill (MH)
Press
James Leach
No members of the public were present.
1 The Chairman welcomed all present.
2 Apologises – Malcolm Dodds (MD) Cllr John Pickard (JP)
3 Members of Public – Alison Ray (AR), Alison Carrbilas (AC)
4 The minutes from the last APM were agreed and proposed by RS and seconded by KL
5 Matters Arising – There were no matters arising/outstanding since the late meeting as all had been actioned at other meetings throughout the year.
6 The Chairman’s report was read out.
The Chairman welcomed all present.
BW stated that the PC had been able to hold a full calendar of meetings following COVID.
Councillor Peter Morris had resigned from the council during the year and his place had been filled by SR. BW welcomed new Parish Councillor SR and said he looked forward to working with her throughout the coming year.
There had been 1 internment in the Cemetery and one plot had been sold which had resulted in much needed income of £600. BW expressed his thanks to Lionel Fisher once again for the maintenance of the Cemetery.
There had been several burglaries and thefts throughout the year. In particular a local business had been broken in numerous times where scrap had been taken.
There had been several planning applications over the last year for a number of new houses and various extensions all of which had gone through with little or no objections.
There had also been a recent notification for a proposed solar farm on the old air field. This was currently in its early stages and further information would be available throughout the coming year.
The PC had been given a presentation by a representative of the Conant Estate re their ideas for the future of the village. The PC was awaiting further information before arranging a public consultation.
Highways issues had remained high on the Agenda in particular the road up to Low Park and Laughton Road. A lot of these issues had now been fixed but there still remained a number of outstanding issues. LCC had now agreed to reduce the speed limit on the main A15 to 50mph but not date was known for when this work would commence.
Parking issues within the village still remained a bone of contention and these were currently being investigated.
Again, the PC had paid for 2 skips throughout the year and both had been full to capacity. The PC continued to weigh in any scrap collected and this had helped towards the cost of the skips.
Britten’s had continued to do a fantastic job throughout the year with regards village grass cutting and as a result the PC had taken the decision to retain their services. They also now maintain the two footpaths within the village which is a bonus.
BW gave thanks to Vice Chairman JP for all his support. BW gave thanks to all Cllrs for their help & support for the past year. He also gave special thanks to JL for doing a sterling job as Parish Clerk.
BW also offered thanks to County Councillor MH and welcomed the newly elected District Councillor RDW and looked forward to seeing him at future meetings.
BW offered his report to the PC for approval.
The report was adopted and proposed by SR & seconded by RM and the rest of the Councillors who all thanked BW for doing a fantastic job as Chairman.
6 Finance Report
JL had handed out copies of the Financial report prior to the meeting as the Vice Chairman & Financial Officer could not attend the meeting and had given his apologies. Copies of the financial report were passed round to those present and to the two members of the public.
There have been some significant reductions in income this year, being:
• Cemetery maintenance had increased and was nearly double the previous two years. However this was also due to an invoice being submitted late and which related to the previous year.
• Website maintenance by LALC had been introduced which was an added income
• The price of the twice-yearly skip had gone up and was likely to go up again for the next financial year.
• Clerks salary had increased in line with LALC guidelines and will increase again for the next financial year.
• Grass maintenance had also increased as the contractor now maintained the two footpaths in the village.
The Precept was increased to £5000 this year to offset loss of income and to cover expected increase in outgoings for the next year. i.e. Clerks wage increase, skip hire & grass maintenance.
Other than the above, there are no significant variances to comment on.
The result of this is that cash balances have decreased from the beginning to end of the 2021/22 year, with the 31 March 2022 balance of £8984.72 being £614.00 lower than the figure at the start of the year.
Despite this the previous reserves are still in a good position but need to be monitored closely.
JP still needs to do VAT refund claim which he will do in the next month.
Action: JP
The closing level of reserves, is felt to be reasonable.
Please note that as both our income and expenditure are below £25000 our Parish Council accounts are again exempt from external audit (as last year). The only document to be submitted to the external auditors is therefore an Exemption Certificate, to confirm that the exemption criteria have been met, and that we have approved our exempt status. JP has checked the figures and certificate wording, and confirms that this can be signed as page 3 of the Annual Governance and Accountability Return 2021/22 (AGAR).
As we are exempt from audit there is no audit charge to pay.
JP has prepared the figures for the year to 31.03.22. There have been quite a few transactions in the year, and no unusual items. The figures are also subject to internal audit. JP considers that the internal financial controls we have in place for a Council of our size are adequate. On this basis JP recommends that the Annual Governance and Accountability Return 2021/22 (AGAR) be adopted by the Parish Council.
This was proposed by RS and seconded by KL. The PC unanimously accepted the accounts and thanked JP for his sterling work.
The Internal Audit has already been carried out. JP had completed the necessary paperwork. The Audit no longer has to be displayed on the village noticeboard. They are required to be displayed on the PC website by 01/07/2022 so JL will do this once he has received the relevant signed paperwork from JP.
Action: JL
JP said the accounts needed to be with the external Auditors by 30th June 2022. He will make sure this is done.
Action: JP
JL read out the Governance Statement and checked that the PC was compliant. He will put this on Website once done. JL said he had received guidance from LALC to say that before this was done any signatures should be redacted to prevent the possibility of them being used for fraudulent activity. JL will do this.
Action: JL
The Finance report was adopted. Proposed KL and seconded by SR.
These were then signed in accordance with the above at 7.08pm.
The accounts were adopted by KL and seconded by RS. These were then signed off at 7.12pm. The accounts were approved and signed off by BW and JL.
Once the accounts were signed off, BW asked the two members of the public if they had any questions.
AR said that she was a little confused that when she and AC had asked for a donation for the Aveland History Society, they felt the PC had been reluctant in agreeing this, yet in the accounts it showed the PC had given themselves a donation of £100.
Action: BW
JL explained that this was not the case and explained that a resident in the village had kindly donated a load of scrap to the PC. Once this was weighed in, from the proceeds, the PC had decided to make a donation to Aslackby Village Hall and Aslackby Parochial Church Council. The balance went towards future skips
AR then said she felt the rental costs of the Village Hall should be increased as they had remained the same for a number of years. BW said that the PC did not control this but would raise it with Aslackby Village Hall Committee.
Finally, JL said he had been asked by JP to mention that there had been 3 deposits this year for scrap collected at the village skip and the donation mentioned above. There were no vouchers for these payments so JL asked the PC if they were happy with accepting income for scrap without vouchers. The PC voted unanimously in favour of this.
7 AOB
None
8 There being no other business the meeting was closed at 19.24PM.
9 Date and time of next Annual Parish Meeting will be agreed at a later date.