The meeting was held
virtually using ZOOM software. All
members could be seen and heard used the audio and video functions.
Present: Cllrs: E Fairclough (Chair), S Birkby, J Carlon, C Wagstaff,
P Lee, S Leith, and C Pearson.
In attendance: Ward Councillor M Cummings (WMDC) the Clerk to the Council and 5 members
of the public.
01.
To elect the Chair.
Resolved to elect
Councillor Elizabeth Fairclough as Chair who then signed a Declaration of Acceptance
of Office.
02.
To elect the Vice-Chair.
Resolved to elect Councillor Keith
Shaw as Vice Chair.
03.
To receive apologies and approve reasons for absence.
Apologies were received from Parish
Councillor T Saunders, PC Craig Steel and Ward Councillors A Manifield and F
Heptinstall.
Resolved to note reasons for
absence.
Cllr
K Shaw was having connectivity problems and the Clerk tried to assist. He was
unable to join the meeting.
04.
To receive declarations of interest.
None.
05.
To approve the minutes of the council meeting held
on 13th April 2021.
Resolved to approve the minutes of the meeting held on 13th
April 2021 with an amendment to the body of
the minute 173 to stipulate Cllr Lee re-examine the ‘eastern boundary’ and to change
the resolution to ‘examine’ the feasibility.
06.
Public forum session – To permit members of the
public to make representations, answer questions, and give evidence in respect
of any item of business included in the agenda.
A resident queried how the advertisement of the
Clerk’s vacancy would be displayed. Members
felt this should be wide enough due to the professional nature of the role. The
item to be discussed under item 22.
A resident asked how agenda items could be
included. The Chair clarified to raise with the Clerk or with a ward councillor
if it is WMDC’s remit. The Clerk confirmed there were no outstanding requests
for agenda items.
07.
To receive a report on the SAFE scheme and Police matters.
The Clerk had circulated the SAFE
report in advance as the Police were unable to attend. The report will be published
on the Parish Council website.
Resolved to note the report.
08.
To receive a report from WMDC Ward 5 Councillors.
Cllr Cummings reported:
·
She
was surprised the police proceeded with a PACT meeting despite this conflicting
with a Parish Council meeting.
·
Cllr
F Heptinstall requested confirmation if there were
any issues outstanding following WMDC’s expressed support for officer and
financial support for the refurbishment of the Tennis Club – Clerk confirmed no
issue to date.
·
If
there are any matters arising from the community grant for the planters – the Clerk
confirmed the grant application is due to be considered on 11 May and the
application requires Ward Councillor support prior to submission.
·
The
collapsed wall on Walton Lane approaching the village will be renewed and has
been assessed by WMDC as not dangerous.
·
Her
surprise to hear of the Clerk’s resignation and noted her professionalism within
her role.
·
No
update on the Barnsley Midland Railway initiative. If and
when there is an update, Cllr Cummings will bring it to the Parish
Council.
Chair asked if there was an update
on Brook Farm to which Cllr Cummings, she confirmed she did not.
09.
To approve accounts to be paid, already paid under delegated powers and
income received April 2021.
The Clerk submitted details (copy attached
to minutes) of accounts paid totalling £2,852.09 for April 2021 and income
received of £41,384.43.
The account balances at the end of April
2021 are:
Current a/c: £2,869.10
Barclays Business Res a/c: £62,632.25
HSBC deposit a/c: £50,916.69
Total £116,418.04*
* The budget
expectation is that the total balance will be £60,885.70 at the end of the
financial year.
Resolved: to approve the financial
statements and payments.
10.
To receive the report of the Internal Auditor and to consider
re-appointing the Internal Auditor for 2021/22.
Resolved
(i)
to
receive the report and note its contents detailing there were no matters of
concern.
(ii)
to
re-appoint Yorkshire Internal Audit Services as internal auditor.
11.
To consider approval of the Parish Council Final Accounts for the year
2020/21.
The Clerk
confirmed the bank reconciliation was confirmed by the internal auditor and the
asset listing as reported earlier in the year. The Clerk confirmed the variances
are required against previous years figures and an explanation has been offered.
The primary reason for the variances being the increased expenditure on the
refurbishment of the hall and the playground.
Resolved
to approve the
year end accounts/statements and for the Chair to sign and date the accounts on
behalf of the Council.
12.
To consider agreement to the nine statements for the Annual Governance
Statement (Secn 1 of the Annual Return).
Resolved to adopt the external auditors
suggested period for the exercise of public rights and agree the nine
statements for the Annual Governance Statement of the Annual Return and for the
Chair to sign Section 1.
13.
To consider approval of the Accounting Statements (Secn 2 of the Annual
Return)
Resolved
to approve the
Accounting Statements of the Annual Return and for the Chair to sign Section 2.
14.
To consider bank
signatories
Resolved
to reconfirm the
current bank signatories: Cllrs S Birkby, E Fairclough, K Shaw, and the Clerk.
15.
To consider
correspondence received.
The Clerk reported the correspondence received in April 2021 and that a number of items are deferred to next month’s meeting due to the number if items for consideration at this meeting.
Resolved to
note the listed correspondence.
16.
To consider the appointment of Parish
Resolved that representation
is as follows:
1.
Sandal
Charities (Sandal Magna Relief in Need Charity & Harrison’s Almshouse
Charity) – Cllr E Fairclough (appointed for 4 years in 2019).
2.
Town &
Parish
3.
Walton
Community Centre – Cllr J Carlon.
4.
Walton Safe
Scheme point of contact - Cllr E Fairclough.
5.
Walton
Library - Cllr P Lee.
6.
YLCA - Cllr
T Saunders.
17.
To consider membership of Working
Parties.
Resolved to defer to next
Parish Council meeting when new Councillors will be in office.
18.
To appoint a Staffing Committee (3
members) and an Appeal Panel (3 members).
Resolved:
(i) to appoint Cllrs C Pearson, S Leith and K Shaw to the Staffing Committee.
(ii) to appoint Cllrs S Birkby, P Lee and T Saunders to an Appeal Panel.
19.
To review planning applications validated and decided April 2021.
There were 4 planning applications validated
and 1 decided since the last meeting. The was 1 Licensing application.
Members noted a licensing application had been submitted
for a craft market at the New Inn but that the planning application for an outdoor
market remains outstanding. Members discussed whether the purpose of the permanent
structures were to facilitate an outdoor market or if they were built for the
pub and used as a market on a temporary basis.
Resolved
(i)
to note the validated and decided applications.
(ii) Take no action regarding the licensing
application and await the outcome of the planning application to be determined.
20.
To consider a proposal to authorise the Clerk to liaise with the
planning authority on on-going planning applications.
Cllr Lee felt it would be
beneficial for the Clerk to chase outstanding planning applications. The Clerk advised against the need for such
authorisation and the risk of acting beyond full council’s wishes. The Clerk advised had she complied with this
request, she would have gone against the view of the Parish Council to leave
for the planning application to be determined.
Resolved not to procced with the motion.
21.
To consider and adopt the New Councillor Code of Conduct.
A vote was held in favour of
adopting the Code with WMDC’s advised amendments and carried.
Resolved to adopt the Code of Conduct with
WMDC’s amendments incorporated in place of the current Code of Conduct.
22.
To consider two proposals regarding next steps required to create new
village green/community space being: 1) to contact WMDC via the Ward
Councillors and 2) create a new working group and to delegate project
management to the Clerk.
Cllr Lee felt the categorisation of
the motion was not as he intended, and the resolution passed at last month’s
meeting was to examine the feasibility of creating a village green. The motion
was aimed at implementing the first stage of this resolution. Members noted the idea was first raised only
some weeks ago and some felt it was setting a programme for later discussion
whilst others felt ‘examine’ was far reaching and encompassed authorisation to
write to WMDC. The Chair noted the
request submitted for approval was beyond what was agreed at last month’s
meeting and needed to come back to full Council for approval.
Resolved
(i)
to
write to WMDC via the Ward Councillors to clarify status of the landownership
and if WMDC would consider transferring (area as defined in the approved plan) the
freehold reversion to the Parish Council for use as a village green.
(ii) Written request to be limited to
the above for the time being.
23.
To consider amendment to all working party terms of reference to give
powers to Councillors regarding project management.
A discission was held on reasons
for delays to certain projects. Following
discussion, the motion presented by Cllr P Lee was withdrawn.
24.
To consider the format of the next meeting and future meetings.
Members felt given the legal position
that virtual meetings would no longer be permitted, physical meetings must resume
and for the 8th of June to proceed within the hall to aid social distancing
and with the measures set out in the Parish Council’s hall COVID-19 risk
assessment. The Clerk advised on YLCA’s
recommendation to keep the meeting as short as possible to grant the Clerk
delegated authority to reduce the number of business items to be
transacted. The delegated authority would
expire on 30th June ahead of the July Parish Council meeting.
Resolved
(i)
to
return to physical meetings from 8th June 2021
(ii)
to
empower the clerk/RFO, in consultation with the Chair/Vice Chair, to do
anything expedient and necessary to ensure the continuous business of the council,
and to deal with mandatory undertakings to prevent the authority from incurring
liability during the period that the delegation is applicable.
25.
To consider recruitment of a replacement Clerk and the cost of purchasing
a new laptop.
Resolved
(i)
to
exclude the Press and Public
(ii) To authorise the Clerk to purchase
a new laptop up to a cost of £500 plus VAT.
(iii) To approve amendments to the Clerk’s
job description.
(iv) To advertise the job vacancy of the
Clerk/RFO on the Parish Council’s website, social media accounts and Noticeboards,
with YLCA at a cost of £15 and online with WMDC from 5th May 2021.
(v) To set Clerk’s hours as an average
of 18 hours per week on the same NJC scale with interviews set to be held on 2nd
June 2021.
(vi)
To
appoint the Staffing Committee members to shortlist and interview candidates and
to recommend an appointment to full Council at next month’s meeting.
26.
To receive matters reported directly to the Clerk.
None.
Meeting closed at 9.55 pm.