Annual Parish Meetings

 Helpringham Annual Parish Council Meeting

Approved Clerks Notes for the meeting held in the Memorial Hall on Wednesday 26th May 2021

Councillors present: Cllr G Hotchkin – Chairman Cllr J Frizzell, Cllr G Frizzell, Cllr W Watts, Cllr M Ternouth and Julie Dixon – Clerk. Also joining the meeting were Cllr S Tarry and Cllr Andrew Key.

Meeting commenced 8:00pm following the Annual Parish Meeting

1.0 Election of Chairman and declaration of acceptance of office

Nominations for the Chairman were called for. Cllr J Frizzell proposed Cllr Hotchkin and this was seconded by Cllr W Watts. All in favour. Cllr Hotchkin accepted the position and took his place at council. Declaration of Acceptance of Office signed and witnessed by the Clerk.

2.0 Election of Vice- Chairman and declaration of acceptance of office

Cllr Hotchkin proposed Cllr J Frizzell and this was seconded by Cllr G Frizzell. All in favour. Cllr J Frizzell accepted the office of vice-chair. Declaration of Acceptance of Office signed and witnessed by the Clerk.

3.0 Election of Responsible Finance Officer.

Cllr J Frizzell proposed the Clerk and this was seconded by Cllr M Ternouth. The Clerk accepted the position.

4.0 Councillors declaration of acceptance of office

All remaining Cllrs completed acceptance of office which were witnessed by the Clerk

5.0 Completion of GDPR Compliance

All Councillors completed GDPR compliance forms

6.0 Signing of the minutes

As an Annual Parish Council meeting was not held in 2020 due to the Covid -19 pandemic, the minutes of the meeting held on 8 May 2019, were accepted as a true record.

7.0 Appointment of Representatives

It was resolved by Council to appoint the Clerk as the single point of contact for the Memorial Hall, Helpringham Playing Fields and HAVCS

8.0 Finance

8.1 Vice Chairman Cllr J Frizell gave the finance report for the year 2020/21 as follows:

I am pleased to report that the accounts have been cleared by the internal auditor for the For year 2020-21.  

Statement of Account

Whilst the precept has been received, inflating the account to a level that requires justification to the external auditing body (as advised by Internal Auditor), this balanced must not mislead as to the financial wealth of the Council.   There are a number of community project that are yet to be financed, grants to be paid (from last year, delayed due to their accounts not being ready), and the Council is cognisant of the fact that following the fraud in 2019-2020, we received compensation from the CPS and refunds from Lloyds bank in the 2020/21 financial year. This alongside not having to pay out for grass cutting and for a Clerk for part of the year has meant that funds have not been depleted as much as usual.

Pinfold rent received.

I would ask you to consider that we publicly call for ideas from the residents for deserving causes, projects, etc, that they feel we could contribute to.   Clearly there are guidelines we must follow (indeed, potholes would be ideal but not possible nor appropriate), but voluntary groups, play equipment, village-tide initiatives, would be good starting ideas.   I am aware these will need project managing to some extent, but that is not outwith the capacity or capability of the Council and residents.

May I also suggest that we do another Community News flyer explaining the above, also highlighting the monies recovered from the fraud are being spent wisely, dog and waste bins at key points throughout the village as suggested previously by residents.  In that flyer we can also inform that we are exploring how to create and manage a digital newsletter for Helpringham too.  I appreciate that this is in the minutes but I am a realist and appreciate that the reach of minute-reading is not that extensive.

8.2 The Annual Governance and accountability (AGAR) statement was presented with the Internal Auditors report at page 4 being received.

8.3 The Annual Governance statement at page 5 was approved unanimously.

8.4 The statement of accounts at page 6 was approved unanimously.

8.5 It was resolved to authorise the chairman to sign the certificate of exemption to be sent to the external auditors.

8.6 The Clerk reported that the Insurance has been renewed as of 1st June 2021.

8.7 Payments at the meeting were approved as follows:

9.0 Cemetery Report

Cemetery Officer Cllr G Frizzell presented that the Cemetery rules and regulations are unchanged and that he proposed to not change the fees at the current time. After discussion, this was unanimously agreed and seconded by Cllr M Ternouth.

10.0 Declarations of Pecuniary Interest.

None

11.0 Planning

11.1 Application Ref: 21/0692/HOUS

A two storey side extension and proposed porch extension at Shepherds House, 28 High Street, Helpringham.

The proposal was discussed and it was resolved that the Parish Council have no objections to this proposal and therefore support the application.

12.0 Highways.

A comprehensive discussion with our County Councillor Andrew Key advised him that in addition to the ongoing concerns of potholes, it was promised in the last financial year that attention would be given to the footpath on Station Road, which has not happened. Concern is raised that there are young families who walk their children to school and have to use the road instead of the footpath posing potential danger.

Reverting to potholes, disappointment was expressed to the fact that our MP has not been willing to respond to our invitation to view the state of the roads for herself.

Cllr Andrew Key, has said that he will do whatever he can to help with the situation and he will keep us updated when he has had a chance to meet with Rowan Smith.

13.0 Matters of Urgency

There were no matters of urgency to be discussed.

14.0 Future Meetings

It was resolved that future meetings will be held on the second Wednesday of each month commencing on 14th July.

Meeting Closed at 8:35pm.