Minutes of a meeting of Shobnall Parish Council

held at Brook House, Shobnall Road on Monday 20 September 2021

commencing at 7pm

Present

Councillor Dennis (in the Chair)

Councillors Dittmer, Donlon, Hoare and Shilton

In attendance

Mary Danby, Clerk

Public Forum

No members of the public were present.

58. Apologies

            Councillor Asghar

59. Declarations of Interest

            None declared

60. Written applications for dispensations under the Localism Act 2011

            None received

61. Update to Councillors’ Register of Interest

            None received

62. Minutes

Resolved        That the Minutes of the meeting held on 19 July 2021 be approved as an accurate record.

63. Matters arising

            None raised

64. County and Borough Councillors

Councillors discuss how they wanted to manage meetings in the future as they were concerned that there was often insufficient time to consider the business on the agenda, which inevitably saw items having to be deferred and decisions not always made in a timely manner.

Agreed            That with effect from the October 2021 meeting the County Councillor and Borough Councillors will each be given a 5-minute slot to provide a summary of information relevant to the Parish, additional time will be allowed if necessary subject to the Chair’s prior agreement. Time will also be allowed for questions and answers.

65. County Councillor’s report

            A report was not available as Councillor Afsar was not present.

66. Borough Councillors’ reports

Councillors McKiernan and Walker were not present but had provided the following reports via email:

Councillor McKiernan reminded the council that an invitation had been extended for Councillors to join in with the litter pick on Shobnall Fields on 29 September.

Councillor Walker reported that:

• Fly tipping seems to be increasing.
• The newly opened care home on Outwoods Street is causing parking problems for the residents.
• The issues with Unity Pak seem to have eased.
• The hedge on the junction of Grange Street/Shobnall Road had been cut.

67. Financial matters

67.1     Schedule of payments

            Resolved        that the above payments be approved.

67.2     Bank reconciliation as at 31 August 2021

            Resolved        That the above was a true record.

67.3     Earmarked Reserves (EMRs)

Recommendation      That “The Link: New fitness and play equipment” EMR be renamed “Community Projects”.

Resolved        That the recommendation be agreed, and the information be noted.

68. Actual income and expenditure as at 31 August 2021

            Resolved        That the report be noted.

69. Conclusion of audit for the year ended 31 March 2021

Councillors were advised that the external auditor had returned the certified AGAR with no comments or recommendations for improvement. The Notice of Conclusion of Audit had been published on the council’s website and noticeboards.

Resolved        That the information be noted.

70. HSBC Community Bank Account

HSBC had informed the council that it will cease to offer the Community Account from 01 November 2021 and the council’s account will be moved to their Small Business Account. An £8 monthly fee will be charged for the new account, there is no fee for online transactions.

Resolved        That the information be noted.

71. Insurance renewal

The Clerk advised the council that its insurance had previously been arranged through WPS Insurance. The council’s 3-year Long Term Undertaking (LTU) was due to expire on 13 September 2021. WPS advised the council in June 2021 that it had passed its Parish Protect business to Community Action Suffolk (CAS). CAS had been asked to provide quotations for a new 3-year LTU for consideration at the council’s July meeting – this did not happen.

CAS advised the council on 02 September that their preferred provider was undergoing a review and audit by its reinsurers and a quotation could not be provided. On 08 September CAS advised that they were still unable to provide a quotation and they advised that quotations be urgently sought from other providers.

Two quotations were received, one in the sum of £1,217.25 pa for a 3-year LTU and one in the sum of £352.60pa for a 3-year Long Term Agreement (LTA). Both quotations provided the same cover for the council’s needs. The council had previously paid £408.80 pa.

Given the urgent need for the council to have insurance in place from 14 September, the Clerk accepted Zurich Municipal’s quotation in the sum of £352.60 pa for a 3-year LTA. The council was requested to retrospectively approve the Clerk’s action.

Resolved        That the council retrospectively approve the Clerk’s action, as set out above.

72. The Link Park

Resolved        That the Deed of Surrender be agreed, and that Councillors Denis and Hoare be authorised to sign the Deed on behalf of the council.

73. Funding request

73.1     Victoria Community School

Resolved        That the application be declined as Councillors felt that the security cameras should fall within the school’s maintenance budget. The council advised that it would be willing to consider an application for grant aid for another school project.

74. Replacement noticeboards (Minute No. 30 refers)

Deferred to the next meeting to enable quotations to be sourced to install replacement noticeboards at Dallow Lock, BACT Community Hub – two door, landscape (corner of Casey Lane/Grange Street) and Shobnall Community Centre.

75. Defibrillator provision (Minute No. 36 refers)

The council was advised that no responses had been received following the recent consultation exercise which had been publicised in the Burton Mail, on the council’s website and noticeboards.

Agreed            That:

• The following potential sites be approached to ask if they would permit the council to install a defibrillator and cabinet in a 24/7 publicly available location – responses to be considered at the next meeting of the council:

• Brook House, Shobnall Road
• de Ferrers 6^th Form, Wellington Street
• Primary schools in the Parish
• BACT Community Hub, corner of Casey Lane/Grange Street
• Shobnall Community Centre

76. Proposed writing competition

            Deferred to the next meeting.

77. BACT: Youth activities offer

            The council considered two proposed activities based at two sites:

Session 1        2-hour boxing session delivered at Burton Boxing Club to be offered to young people from the Horninglow and Shobnall parish areas (48 weeks)

Session 2        1.5-hour football/multi-sport sessions at Shobnall Playing Fields (48 weeks)

Resolved        That:

• The council decline to financially support Session 1 as it is keen for the session to be offered primarily to Shobnall young people.

• The council agree to financially support Session 2 in the sum of £2,964 for 48 x 1.5-hour football/multi-sport sessions at Shobnall Playing Fields.

78. Community Speed Watch (CSW) Scheme

            County Councillor Afsar had requested that the council consider the CSW Scheme.

Agreed            After discussing the feasibility of the parish council being able to man a CSW scheme the Councillors were unwilling to pursue setting-up a CSW group. However, Councillors agreed that, if Councillor Afsar wished to take this initiative further himself, the council would be willing to consider an application for funding to set-up a new CSW group. Councillors agreed to display the CSW “Can you volunteer?” poster on noticeboards and the website if requested to do so by Councillor Afsar.

79. Updated Councillor Code of Conduct

Resolved        That the updated Councillor Code of Conduct be adopted with immediate effect.

80. Website

            There had been fifteen visits to the website in the 30 days to 13 September 2021.

81. Planning matters

81.1     Planning applications

81.2     Planning decisions

            Resolved        That the report be noted.

82. Councillors’ questions

            None raised.

83. Correspondence and circulars

83.1     Councillor Anderson, Chair of Outwoods PC and Horninglow and Eton PC had contacted all East Staffordshire parish councils asking if there was any interest in an all parish meeting. He had subsequently advised that he had put this suggestion on hold as ESBC had restarted the Parish Forum.

83.2     Stay Local: Community Events – Work with Us

The Brewhouse, Arts and Town Hall Manager had contacted the council saying that they were looking for parish councils, community groups, organisations or committees from across East Staffordshire to work with them to deliver events in their local area from August 2021 – March 2022. The event or activities must provide support to local businesses by increasing footfall or encouraging more visitors to the local area.

Resolved        That the correspondence be noted.

83.3     SPCA

The SPCA’s weekly Bulletins had been circulated to all Councillors.

83.4     Highway England

The A38 Traffic Management Bulletins had been circulated to all Councillors.

Date of next meeting

Monday 18 October 2021 at 7pm at Brook House, 18 Shobnall Road.

The Meeting closed at 9pm

Signed ………………………………………………………..

Date     ………………………………………………………..