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Report of the Council meeting held on Thursday 17 December 2020 at 7pm via Microsoft Teams
Under the Local Authorities and Police and Crime Panels (Coronavirus)(Flexibility of Local Authority and Police and Crime Panel Meetings) (England and Wales) Regulations 2020 (4 April 2020) allowing Local Authorities flexibility to hold meetings at a time, day and frequency to suit their own needs, without the requirement for further notice.
The meeting was open to members of the public and press
Present: Cllr K Wood – Chairman Cllr R Wilks
Cllr L Willis – Vice-chairman Cllr M Wilkes
Cllr C Jordan Cllr J Herschel
Cllr A Barron Cllr H Darch
Cllr I Forbes Cllr C Dodds
Cllr J White Cllr D Johncock
Cllr S Herron Cllr L Johncock
Cllr J Gurney Cllr B Kin
Also present: Andy Chapman (Co-ordinator Beaconsfield & Chepping Wye Community Board) and Charles
Brocklehurst (Interim Head of Special Projects, Property & Assets Directorate, Buckinghamshire Council)
FC/20/052 Apologies for Absence
Apologies for absence were received and approved from Cllr S Digby (unwell)
FC/20/053 Declarations of Interest and Code of Conduct
Cllr Wood declared a personal interest in agenda item 12 being in receipt of the Chairman’s allowance.
The chairman suspended Standing Orders and with the agreement of the members present changed the order of the meeting as follows;
FC/20/054 Community Board
Andy Chapman was welcomed to the meeting and gave a general update on the Community Board.
He advised that being able to tap into local knowledge was extremely helpful, the budgets were there to support local projects and a range of items were already in the pipeline. Membership of the Board was good with a range of participants – local organisations, residents and representatives from parish councils. The Boards were commissioned in September 2020 and there has been a steep learning curve so a lot of the processes and procedures are still a ‘work in progress’.
Council was asked to consider the report of projects submitted to the Beaconsfield and Chepping Wye Valley Community Board. Council was also asked to consider how matched funding projects would be proposed and reported from the parish council side now that an Earmarked Reserve of £5,000 had been approved.
It was RESOLVED that;
The Finance & General Purposes committee would be in control of the Community Board budget line with Cllr Barron having oversight.
Andy thanked members and left the meeting at 7.20pm
FC/20/055 King’s Wood Car Park
Following the original request as per the extract from the Council agenda 19 December 2017 as follows and the resolution;
‘Wycombe District Council are asking whether the parish council would allow white lining, signage
and the formation of a cross-over to assist with the picking up and dropping off of pupils to the Middle School.
It was RESOLVED that;
further discussion with Wycombe District Council was required, to include an alternative to white lining, who would be maintaining the surface, fencing and removing litter and was the plan to enlarge the parking area.’
Council was asked to note that no response was received to the above questions at the time.
7.29pm Cllrs D Johncock and L Johncock joined the meeting and apologised for their late attendance.
Charles Brocklehurst was welcomed to the meeting and gave an update on the proposals for the King’s Wood car park area. Mr Brocklehurst’s attendance had been triggered by some further suggestions for traffic calming on Cock Lane being a pedestrian refuge or pelican crossing.
Members stressed that the car park should just not be there for school use, it is part of the registered Village Green and therefore should not be enlarged. The council had installed barriers and bollards, to dissuade traveller incursion, which appeared not to have been taken into account.
Mr Brocklehurst advised that all suggestions would need technical approval from TfB before they could be counted as an option.
It was agreed that Mr Brocklehurst be invited back to another meeting when he had a more detailed proposal for the council.
Mr Brocklehurst thank members and left the meeting at 7.50pm
FC/20/056 Council Minutes
It was RESOLVED that;
the minutes of the Council meeting held on Thursday 15 October 2020 be approved as an accurate record of the meeting.
FC/20/057 Open Spaces Committee
It was RESOLVED that;
the report from the Committee meeting held on Tuesday 27 October 2020 be approved.
FC/20/058 Work & Services Committee
It was RESOLVED that;
the report from the Committee meeting held on Thursday 12 November 2020 be approved.
FC/20/059 Finance & General Purposes Committee
Cllr Forbes highlighted item FGP/20/021 7 Precept and advised that it was on the main agenda.
It was RESOLVED that;
the report from the Committee meeting held on Thursday 26 November 2020 be approved.
FC/20/060 Planning Meetings
It was RESOLVED that;
the reports of the Planning Meetings held on Tuesday 20 October 2020, Tuesday 3 November 2020, Tuesday 17 November 2020 and Tuesday 1 December 2020 be approved.
FC/20/061 Policies and procedures
Council was asked to consider the recommendation from the Finance & General Purposes Committee to APPROVE for adoption the following procedures;
1 Risk Register
Cllr Barron advised that the modifications to the Register made it easier to understand. Cllr Herschel was thanked for his work on the Register.
It was RESOLVED that;
The Risk Register be adopted and approved.
2 Lone Working Risk Assessment
It was RESOLVED that;
The Lone Working Risk Assessment be adopted and approved.
FC/20/062 Virement from the General Reserve
Members were asked to consider the recommendation from the Finance & General Purposes Committee to vire £20,000 from the General Reserve to the project budget line in Open Spaces and £5,000 to the project budget line in Works & Services.
It was RESOLVED that;
A virement from the General Reserve of £20,000 to the Open Spaces budget line and £5,000 to the Works & Services Partnership Working budget line be approved.
FC/20/063 Community Infrastructure Levy
Council was asked to consider the use of £12,860 from the above Earmarked Reserve to cover the cost of the play area fencing at Ashley Drive Recreation Ground. The budget line currently stands at £45,234.66.
It was RESOLVED that;
£12,860 from the Community Infrastructure Levy budget line be approved for the fencing around play area at Ashley Drive Recreation Ground.
Cllr Herschel abstained from the vote advising that Play England advise against fencing a play area unless there is a danger (close to water as an example).
FC/20/064 Fees & Charges 2021/22
Council was asked to consider the recommendation from the Finance & General Purposes committee to approve the Fees and Charges for 2021/22. Council was asked to note that the fees and charges had not been increased.
It was RESOLVED that;
The Fees and Charges for 2021/22 be approved
FC/20/065 Calendar of Meetings
Council was asked to consider the recommendation from the Finance & General Purposes committee to approve the meeting dates up to May 2021.
It was RESOLVED that;
The meeting dates up to May 2021 be approved.
It was noted that the bi-weekly planning meetings should be added to the list.
Council was asked to note that the Finance & General Purposes and Council meetings in April would purely be for recommending and approving the Annual Return and Governance Statement to be in line with purdah requirements.
FC/20/066 Council Budget 2021/22 and Precept
Council was asked to consider the recommendation from the Finance and General Purposes Committee to approve the core budget, including the Earmarked Reserve and Project Proposals, and the Precept showing a 0.0% change in the amount paid to the parish by individual households .
Council was asked to note that Buckinghamshire Council provided their Precept calculations after the F&GP meeting which revealed a reduction of 112 Band D equivalent properties and hence a reduction of £6,174 (ie from £ 355,522 to £ 349,348 or 1.7%) in the Precept. It should also be noted that minor refinements to the 21/22 budget will be made once better information comes to light in areas such as rates, power and payroll costs.
The impact is to increase our planned reduction in the general reserve to £60k (and our 8-month surplus was £120k). Most of this is planned improvements through project work (£42k).
It was RESOLVED that;
The Precept level showing a 0.0% change in the amount paid to the parish by individual households be approved.
FC/20/067 Questions by Members of the Council
There were none.
FC/20/068 Public Participation
There were no members of the public present.
FC/20/069 Accounts for Payment
The accounts for payment were noted and approved.
Confidential items – exclusion of the public and press
Council was asked to resolve to exclude members of the public and press from the remainder of the meeting as permitted under the Public Bodies (Admissions to Meetings) Act 1960 so that it may have an open discussion on the following items.
Decisions are a matter of public record and are included in the minutes of the meeting under GDPR guidelines.
Staff Salaries for 2020/21
Council was asked to consider the recommendations made by the Finance & General Purposes Committee meeting on 26 November 2020 for an additional increase to staff pay to be back dated to April 2020 of 0.75% in line with the national pay agreement (National Joint Council). Also, the bonus payments to staff totalling £3,700 in relation to the year 2019/20.
It was RESOLVED that;
Staff pay be back dated to April 2020 with a 0.75% increase and that bonus payments to staff totalling £3,700 in relation to the year 2019/20 be approved.
The chairman thanked members for their attendance and closed the meeting at 8.28pm
Signed: Dated: 25 February 2021