Minutes 2024

CLAXBY PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of Meeting of Parish Council held on Tuesday 16th January 2024 at 7.30 p.m. 

Present: Cllr C Saywell (Chair), J Lindley-Baker, D Lofthouse, J Lofthouse, J Pilbrow, Cllr P Strong.  

Absent: B Hunter, Cllr Bunney, Cllr Tom Smith

Also present: D Beer (Parish Clerk). 

Public Forum – no members of the public were present

1. Apologies for Absence - none

2. Declarations of Interest - none

3. To approve minutes of the meeting held on 23rd November 2023. Minutes were approved and duly signed.

4. Chair & Council’s Comments and matters arising from the minutes. 

• Pat Spolton does not want to pursue purchase of plants for Jubilee Garden.
• Flooding at the junction of A46. It was recommended that a meeting be arranged with the chair and the chair of Osgodby PC and the landowners be contacted to discuss the problem and seek a resolution. If no progress is made then Ancholme Internal Drainage Board be contacted, as recommended by LCC Highways in response to the FixMyStreet report.
• Chair asked for clarification of Financial Risk Management document – particularly in regards to a Grant Officer : the PC does not have one. The PC will produce a Grant Policy (a statutory requirement) and then if necessary, appoint a Grant Officer. The current Audit Councillor is Councillor D Lofthouse. 

5. Clerk’s follow-ups and report on outstanding matters. 

• Reply from WLDC tourism department had been received re noticeboards to confirm they belong to WLDC and they will be responsible for their maintenance.

• Highways have responded to request to clear leaves on paths and this has now been done.

• Clerk had again written to Mother Architects re road damage opposite the new builds on Normanby Rise but received no response.

• Projector and screen have been placed on the asset register.

• A meeting has been arranged with Ellie Baker of Highways Volunteer service to discuss tidying village – Weds 17th Jan at 9.00 a.m. Two possible projects were agreed i) paint the bar across the top of the swings and fasten bird deterrents to the bar ii) tidy up the car turning point on Boggle Lane. Painting the fire hydrants and sluices in the village was also considered but who owns them needs to be confirmed. When the ‘owners’ have been identified the PC can approach the CSV with regard to painting the hydrants and sluices in the future.  

• Grit bins have been replenished.

6. WLDC and LCC Councillor updates. None.

7. Finance: 

• Accounts for Payment

Direct debits

EE December £29.74, EE January £29.74

Unity Bank £18.00

E-on £366.46

To pay

Clerk’s invoice 340.77 

HMRC 76.40 

WLDC defibrillator service £100 

David Lofthouse £139.00 (travelling expenses for training and printing newsletter)

LALC Subscription £80.48

LALC Annual Training Scheme £120

It was resolved to pay the above accounts.

• Final claim for Precept - the Council accepted the Finance Committee’s recommendations to claim for £6500 (as per the November estimate).
• Letter to Residents explaining the increase in the village precept. Chair to draft a letter for councillors’ amendments and approval, after which a copy will be placed on the website and noticeboard. An email will be sent to residents informing them of the letter on the PC website, with hard copies to those residents who have requested it. 
• Details of the emergency plan will also be included in this email to residents. (The September 2023 newsletter informed residents about the EP and the delivery of a 2 page summary with important contact details being delivered towards the end of last year). The 2-page resident document to be circulated to all Councillors for final approval. Once approved D Lofthouse to print 80 copies and Cllr Strong to laminate them. Councillors to be asked to help with delivering the laminated document to residents.
• Councillor Lindley-Baker proposed a small card with essential details and contact numbers for quick reference by residents in case of an Emergency, be circulated to villagers. Councillor Lindley-Baker to produce the card (based upon the 2 page laminated document) and circulate to councillors for approval. After approval given, Councillor Lindley-Baker to liaise with Councillor D Lofthouse about printing the cards which can be distributed to residents with the laminated 2 page document.

8. Policies:

The following policies had been prepared by Council members and were presented to the full Council.

• Dignity at Work –Cllr Jenny Lofthouse felt that this was not clear in its scope and contradicted and duplicated some of the other policies already in existence. Councillor J Lofthouse to review this further and come back to the PC with proposed amendments for consideration.
• Safeguarding Policy – a document was signed to say that all councillors had read and agreed the policy. It was RESOLVED to approve the Safeguarding Policy.

9. Planning applications - none

10. Correspondence 

• LALC E-news 
• LALC survey – responses to the survey, which had been sent to all councils asking for details about council issues e.g. bank account, councillor roles and email addresses, had been drafted by the Clerk and after discussion the responses were agreed. The Clerk to return the completed survey to LALC.
• Call Connect bus stop. A potential site had been identified by LCC Highways (on Bristow’s Corner) but councillors felt there were road safety issues with this location and will make their views known when consulted by Highways.
• Devolution info. 
• Letter re commemoration of the 80th anniversary of D Day asking if Parish Councils wanted to be involved. Cllr Saywell suggested asking for volunteers who might be interested in organising something. Cllr Strong suggested a commemorative bench and this could be put to the organising group.

11. Councillor expenses policy. 

Recommendations from the F & S committee were accepted, subject to a few minor corrections and changes, and the policy will be published when updated.

12.  Discuss purchase of printer for PC use. 

• Recommendations from the F&S committee (see minutes) were discussed and it was RESOLVED to accept. In summary, DL would print any necessary documents and claim for expenses.

13. Councillor responsibilities – the table outline summarising the responsibilities placed on Googe Docs by Councillor Lindley-Baker had been completed by Councillor D Lofthouse for councillors to consider by January 4th. It was agreed Formal Guidance and Good Practice were the responsibilities of the Full Council with the Chair and Clerk being the Primary Persons leading on these responsibilities. With these amendments, the responsibilities were agreed by councillors.

14. Claxby PC email addresses – all Councillors have now set up dedicated email addresses for Parish Council correspondence and these will be used from now on. Clerk agreed to set up an email group.

15. Salt and grit bins – responsibilities: to be undertaken by Councillor Strong and any issues to be reported to the Clerk, whereupon Highways would be contacted.

16. Village Hall: Cllr Lofthouse circulated his report.

17. Village Field update. Cllr Pilbrow circulated her report.

18. Confirm Clerk’s areas of work.

The Clerk’s areas of work had been discussed and recorded in the minutes of the PC meeting of December 14th 2023. They were agreed and confirmed by councillors at this meeting. The Clerk’s areas of work align with councillors’ responsibilities, confirmed in minute13 above.

19. Agenda items for next meeting. 

• Dates of PC meetings for 2024/25 to be confirmed
• Final accounts for 2023/24

Dates for next meetings: Tuesday 7th May 2.00 p.m. Finance and Staffinf Committee Meeting 

Tuesday 14th May 7.00 p.m. Annual Parish meeting followed immediately by the Annual Parish Council meeting

Meeting closed at 9.50pm