NEWTOWN PARISH COUNCIL
Hampshire
Minutes of a meeting of Newtown Parish Council held on
Monday 22nd May 2023 at 6pm, Newtown Village Hall
Present: Meeting Chair: Tony Webb
Councillors: Bob Ward, Tom Reseigh, Sean Curry
In attendance: Clerk: Rebecca Cloke
One member of the public
1. Apologies
Apologies were received from Cllr Exelby and Cllr Izett.
2. Election of Chairman for 2023-24
Proposed by Cllr Reseigh and seconded by Cllr Curry, Cllr Webb was elected unanimously.
3. To receive the Chairman’s declaration of acceptance of office
The declaration was completed and signed by Cllr Webb.
4. Election of Vice Chairman for 2023-24
Proposed by Cllr Curry and seconded by Cllr Ward, Cllr Reseigh was elected unanimously.
5. Declarations of Acceptance of Office and Declarations of Interest
The declarations of acceptance of office were signed and there were no declarations of interest for the meeting. The clerk to arrange for Cllr Exelby to complete and sign her declaration of acceptance of office.
OPEN FORUM – none
6. Appointment of representatives to outside bodies
Village Hall Committee Member – Proposed by Cllr Webb and seconded by Cllr Curry, Cllr Reseigh was appointed as the Village Hall Committee Parish Council representative.
7. Appointment to committees
Newtown Common Management committee – Proposed by Cllr Webb and seconded by Cllr Reseigh, Cllr Curry would continue as Chair on the Newtown Common Management Committee.
8. Approval and signing of the minutes of the meeting held on 27th March.
The minutes were approved by the Council and signed by the Chair. Nominated by Cllr Ward and seconded by Cllr Curry.
9. Report for “News from the Villages”
Cllr Webb to prepare article for upcoming edition including items discussed at the Parish Assembly.
10. Village Hall
Cllr Reseigh briefed the other councillors on his proposal to designate several parking spaces as “disabled parking spaces” and to install appropriate signage. The proposal was nominated by Cllr Reseigh and seconded by Cllr Curry.
Cllr Ward briefed the councillors on the possible routes that been selected for the Elizabeth / Coronation trail and the preferred route. He stated that areas on the route would need maintenance.
11. Parish Council website / email
The Clerk briefed the councillors that she had received detailed responses to her pricing and service queries from four providers, including the existing website provider. It had been further complicated by some providers including an email provision and others not. The Clerk outlined the provisions from each company and proposed that NetWise were appointed. Proposed by Cllr Webb and seconded by Cllr Reseigh.
The Clerk briefed the councillors on the use of email for Parish Council communication. She stated that under GDPR regulations, email addresses could not be used unless express permission had been sought. Personal data can only be collected and retained under one of six different lawful bases, consent, contract, legal obligation, protection of vital interests, public task or legitimate interest. The clerk briefed the Parish Council that the PC could hold personal data of the residents under the consent basis (the data subject has given consent to the processing of his or her personal data for a specified purpose) and public task basis (processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller). Data collected can only be used for the purpose it was collected. The Parish Council can keep information for “no longer than it is necessary”.
It was discussed as to whether the annual newsletter should be distributed by email or by continuing to deliver hard copies to each premises. The Clerk stated that a decision would need to be made regarding whether a database could be maintained which linked an email address to a particular property so as to be able to identify those properties where an email address was not held on file. The clerk further stated that the new website would have the facility for residents (and non residents) to be able to register an email address with the Parish Council to be held on file for such communication but that it would not be possible to link those addresses to properties in the Parish. It was agreed that once the new website was launched a leaflet drop could be arranged asking residents to register an email address with the Parish Council for future correspondence and a telephone number for those who did not want electronic communication to ring to request continuing hard copies of correspondence.
The Clerk warned against using email addresses known the councillors for Parish Council business as consent had not been given for the personal data to be used in that manner.
12. Finance reports
a) Resolved that the Annual Governance and Accountability Return – Certificate of Exemption be signed by the Chairman and the clerk.
Review and approve the Annual Governance and Accountability Return 22/23
It was agreed that Section 1, the Annual Governance and Accountability Return 2022/23 be completed to the effect that:
1. The Parish Council has put in place arrangements for effective financial management during the year, and for the preparation of the accounting standards.
2. The Parish Council has maintained an adequate system of internal control including measures s=designed to prevent and detect fraud and corruption and reviewed its effectiveness.
3. The Parish Council took all reasonable steps to assure ourselves that there are no matters of actual or potential non-compliance with laws, regulations and Proper Practices that could have a significant financial effect on the ability of this authority to conduct its finances.
4. The Parish Council has provided proper opportunity during the year for the exercise of electors’ rights in accordance with the requirements of the Accounts and Audit Regulations.
5. The Parish Council has carried out an assessment of the risks facing this authority and took appropriate steps to manage those risks, including the introduction of internal controls and/or external insurance cover where required.
6. The Parish Council maintained throughout the year an adequate and effective system of internal audit of the accounting records and control systems.
7. The Parish Council has taken appropriate action on all matters raised in reports from internal and external audit.
8. The Parish Council has considered whether any litigation, liabilities or commitments, events or transactions, occurring either during or after the year-end, have a financial impact on this authority and, where appropriate, have included them in the accounting statements.
b) To receive the Internal Audit report 2022/23
The clerk had circulated the internal auditor’s report. No issues had been raised. The auditor’s report was approved and accepted, proposed by Cllr Reseigh seconded by Cllr Webb.
c) To receive the report on the budget for 2023/24
The clerk summarised the main variances to budget, year to date, in the income and expenditure and summarised the reserves held. The Chair checked the bank balances to bank statements. Received and approved.
d) Parish council / working party insurance renewal
The Clerk had circulated details of the proposed insurance policy renewals. A brief pricing comparison had been carried out as a full review had been undertaken the previous year. The policy renewals were proposed by Cllr Ward and seconded by Cllr Reseigh.
13. Approval of payments
To ratify the following payments:
B062 HALC Affiliation Fees 185.23
B061 BHIB CMC Working party insurance 210.11
B063 Zurich PC Insurance 389.80
To approve the following payments:
B064 Auditing Solutions 22/23 Audit 258.00
B065 Rebecca Cloke Mileage, print cartridges, Microsoft licence, printing 135.82
14. Date of next meetings
Dates for the next meetings were set for:
17th July, 18th September, 13th November, 15th January, 25th March
15. Correspondence
The Clerk confirmed that the 22/23 VAT return had been submitted and reimbursement had been received
The Clerk confirmed that the first 50% of the annual precept had been received from Basingstoke and Deane.
The Clerk confirmed that after much chasing by herself and Cllr Curry, the 2022 HLS funding from the RPA had been received.
Common Byelaws
Cllr Webb briefed the other councillors that, a resident had enquired as to whether work carried out on a track on the common by residents complied with the common byelaws. As a result the Chair had written to the Borough Councillor, Cllr Izett to request that Basingstoke and Deane review the byelaws and work with the Parish Council to redraft them as they do not reflect the current arrangement of the delegated management of Newtown Common.
The meeting closed at 6:45pm
Signed ……………………………. Date……………….