Minutes of the Meeting of Beech Parish Council
held in the Village Hall Lounge on Monday 8 FEBRUARY 2010
PRESENT:
Councillor Anne Burridge
Councillor Ian Gibson
Councillor Peter May
Councillor
Edward Neish (Chairman)
Councillor
David Woodroofe
Mrs
Sheron Gillard – Clerk to the Council 1
Member of the Public
09.90 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Apologies were received and accepted from Cllrs Norman
Miles and Gill Young (unwell).
09.91 CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES
a) The
Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held on 18 January 2010, copies of which
had previously been
circulated,
were confirmed. Chairman Edward Neish signed
them as a true record.
b) Following
cross-checking procedures, Clerk had noted that payments approved at November
2009 meeting
had been incorrectly recorded in
Minutes (although actual payments made were correct against invoices).
Approved that item 09.68 c (payments)
be amended as follows: November payment to Mrs Gillard to read
£455.19; December payment to Mrs Gillard
to read £414.60 and HCC Pension Contributions to read
£111.93. Chairman Ed Neish initialled and dated
amendments.
09.92 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
There were no declarations of
interest.
09.93 REPORTS FROM ADVISORY PANELS AND ITEMS FOR
REFERRAL
I) Development
and Planning Advisory Panel
a) Three applications were considered. Proposed, Seconded and RESOLVED that the
comments of the
Council be
forwarded as follows:
i)
51068/001 86 Wellhouse Road Retention of double garage to habitable
space NO OBJECTION
ii) 34203/009
188 Medstead Road Refurbishment
of Commercial Buildings including
replacement
of roofs and timber cladding
OBJECT
for the following reason:
The proposed raising
of roof height and resultant increase in floor space of this already large
building would constitute over
development
on this sensitive site.
Comment: Council commend the renovation of these
buildings for commercial purposes.
iii) 37347/001
October Cottage, 34 Wellhouse Road
Fell One Douglas Fir
NO
OBJECTION with following comment:
Councillors
are saddened by the loss of yet another tree in this area and would request
that
the applicant
be required to replace the tree, to be planted and maintained for a period of
not
less than
5 years.
II) Highways
and Footpaths Advisory Panel report:
a) HCC Grit Bins
Following the
recent wintry weather, HCC are to purchase more grit bins for use in the
County.
Agreed Beech Parish
Council to request an additional two bins; sites to be decided at a later date.
III) Community
and Environment Advisory Panel report:
a) Terrorism presentation – Agreed Clerk to contact Neighbourhood
Watch and Police to arrange for
presentation before
either the April, June or July Council Meeting.
09.94 ANNUAL PARISH MEETING
To be held on 15 March 2010 at 7.00
pm and immediately followed by normal Parish Council monthly meeting.
09.95 FINANCE
a) Annual Risk Assessment – RESOLVED: That the
Council, having undertaken a Risk Assessment exercise, is
satisfied that all identifiable risks are
adequately covered, as per attached schedule.
b) Internal controls – RESOLVED: That the
Council, having reviewed its system of internal control, is satisfied
that its procedures are adequate and
effective in preventing and detecting fraud and corruption.
c) Payments authorised:
Proposed: Cllr Ian Gibson,
Seconded David Woodroofe and RESOLVED:
i)
Mrs Sheron Gillard: Clerk’s Net Salary, Allowance and expenses (February 2010) £436.45
ii) HCC - Pension Payments (employer’s & employee’s contribution
for February 2010) £111.94
iii) Mr E Neish, Chairman’s Allowance (re: internal audit) £26.48
09.96 CORRESPONDENCE
The following items were formally received:
EHDC – Nuisance Vehicles (previously
circulated to Cllrs)
HCC – Hampshire Countryside Service Newsletter
Community First – Recruitment to Board of
Trustees, including Chairman and Treasurer
NSPCC
– raising awareness of NSPCC Helpline
09.97 MEETING DATES
a) Annual Parish
Meeting confirmed as 7.00 pm on Monday, 15 March 2010 in the Village Hall
b) The next scheduled
Council Meeting would be held in the Village Hall on Monday, 15 March 2010
immediately following the Annual Parish meeting.
CLOSURE
OF MEETING
Chairman
thanked all present for their attendance and closed the meeting at 8.10 pm.
signed:
...........................................................
Chairman Beech Parish Council
date: 15 March 2010
Risk Assessment exercise February 2010
Risk Limitation/Cover
Public Liability: insurance cover of £10,000,000 Currently covered by Aviva
Employer’s
liability: insurance
cover of £10,000,000 Insurance
Ltd (Norwich Union)
Employee
Dishonesty/ insurance cover
of £100,000
Fidelity Guarantee:
Personal
Accident: insurance
cover up to £50,000
Officials
Indemnity: insurance
cover of £250,000
Notice boards –
loss/damage insurance cover of
£1,420.64
Use of
Contractors Covered
by Council’s Public and Employer’s liability insurance above.
Motor risks
whilst on Council duty Individuals
must check their own insurance policy covers
them whilst on Council
Business. Clerk vehicle insurance covers
business use.
Loss of
information and/or expertise: Ensure
continued good record keeping of activities and decisions eg.
Minutes
of meetings (including back-up computer files) and their secure
storage
eg. fire-proof filing cabinet and/or safe.
Additional back-up held
off-site.
Accounting
Procedures: All
payments presented to Council with relevant invoice/supporting
documents. Bank mandate requires cheques, etc to be
signed by Clerk
plus
2 other Councillors. Quarterly Receipts
& Payments summaries
presented
to Council and detailed in Minutes (bank statements checked &
initialled
against these by Chairman or Councillor).
Actual expenditure
regularly
checked against Budget. Reserves held
for contingencies and specific
projects. Internal control checks and
audits carried out in
addition
to external annual audit. Clerk’s claim
for expenses checked and
signed
each month by Councillor.
Resignation of
Councillor: Cost
of any by-election called to be covered by Reserves set aside for
purpose.
Clerk’s
incapacity/resignation: Hampshire
ALC Locum at cost/Training of new Clerk
– covered by
contingency
fund.
Health &
Safety: Any
issues of concern noted by the Clerk whilst undertaking her duties to
be
notified to the Council. Members of the
Public wishing to inspect
Council
records, etc to be met at Village Hall rather than at Clerk’s home.
Risk assessment would be required to be
completed before any such
meetings.
Personal Safety: Clerk/Councillors
to take appropriate precautions.
Use of
Councillors’ own PCs for electronic Anti-virus
software must be loaded. Clerk confirms.
correspondence: A
disclaimer should appear on the bottom of all councillor e-mails
showing
that cllr’s opinions do not necessarily reflect decisions by the
council,
which can only be made corporately, in resolution. Indemnity
insurance
held as above.
SG/0210