Full Council – 02.06.2021

Full Council agenda - Wednesday 2nd June 2021

Agenda & meeting papers can be accessed in the PDF pack above.

MINUTES of a Meeting of Council held in the Function Room, Marshalls Sports Ground, Middlefield Lane, Gainsborough on Wednesday 26 May 2021 at 7:00pm

 Present:

Councillor Richard Craig (Chairman)

Councillor Matthew Boles

Councillor Tim Davies

Councillor Paul Key

Councillor Pat O’Connor

Councillor Keith Panter

Councillor Denise Schofield

Councillor James Ward

In Attendance:

Rachel Allbones                      Deputy Clerk & RFO

Sean Alcock                           Operations Manager

1. TO RECEIVE APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Councillor Harry Clarke

Councillor Dennis Dannatt

Councillor Sean Graham

Councillor Sally Loates

Councillor James Plastow

Councillor Baptiste Velan

Councillor Kenneth Woolley

2. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

None received.

3. TO RECEIVE MEMBERS’ DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LOCALISM ACT 2011 AND TO RECEIVE ANY APPLICATIONS FOR DISPENSATION

None declared.

4. MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING (Paper A)

 Meeting of Council held on Tuesday 4 May 2021

 RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday 4 May 2021 be approved and signed as a correct record.

Note: Councillor Panter abstained from voting on the above resolution.

i. Meeting of Council held on Wednesday 26 May 2021 (Paper B)

 RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday 26 May 2021 be approved and signed as a correct record.

Note: Councillors Boles, Panter, Schofield and Ward abstained from voting on the above resolution.

5. COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES (Paper C)

Councillor Boles noted the resolutions regarding the Belt Road TRO and Spital Hill TRO requests, and advised the issues are being progressed.

 RESOLVED to NOTE committee meeting minutes drafted since the last meeting.

6. TOWN CLERKS REPORT (Paper D)

 RESOLVED to NOTE the report from the Deputy Town Clerk.

7. COMMITTEE VACANCIES

RESOLVED to appoint Councillor Key to the Finance and Strategy Committee for 2021/22.

Note: Councillors Davies and Schofield voted against the above resolution.

Note: Councillor Boles abstained from voting on the above resolution.

RESOLVED to appoint Councillor Panter to the Property and Services Committee for 2021/22.

Note: Councillors Davies and Schofield abstained from voting on the above resolution.

8. YEAR END ACCOUNTS 31 March 2021 (Paper E)

Council considered approval of the end of year accounts for the 2020/21 financial year, which consist of the following documents:

i. Consolidated Balance Sheet
ii. Income and Expenditure Account Report
iii. Income and Expenditure Account Analysis Report
iv. Income and Expenditure by Budget Headings Report
v. Trial Balance

RESOLVED to approve end of year accounts for year-end 31^st March 2021.

9. AGAR: ANNUAL INTERNAL AUDIT REPORT (Paper F)

RESOLVED to NOTE the AGAR Annual Internal Audit for 2020/21.

 10. AGAR: SECTION 1 – ANNUAL GOVERNANCE STATEMENT (Paper G)

Members considered the statements numbered 1 – 9 in Section 1 of the Annual Governance and Accountability Return.

RESOLVED to complete Section 1 – Annual Governance Statement for 2020/21 as follows: –

sections 1-8 with the answer YES to the statements, and N/A to the statement in section 9

11. AGAR: SECTION 2 – ACCOUNTING STATEMENTS (Paper H)

Members considered the accounting statements.

RESOLVED to approve Section 2 – Accounting Statements for 2020/21 and for the Chairman to sign the statements.

12. ANNUAL PUBLIC MEETING

 RESOLVED to defer the item until the July Full Council to discuss further.

13. STRUCTURE AND FUNCTIONS AMENDMENTS

Council were asked to clarify,

i. if the Personnel committee is monthly or quarterly, if monthly will it meet in August?

ii. if the Property and Services Committee is to meet in August?

Below are the adopted sections of the Town Council Structure and Functions

7. Personnel Committee Terms of Reference

Meeting frequency

7.3 One meeting every calendar month. The meeting will take place once a quarter on the second Wednesday of the month at 7pm.

9. Property and Services Terms of Reference

Meeting frequency

9.3 One meeting every calendar month. The meeting will take place on the second Tuesday of every month at 7pm.

RESOLVED that:

1) 7.3 Be amended to read ‘One meeting every calendar month (with the exception of August). The meeting will take place on the second Wednesday of the month at 7pm.’

2) 9.3 Be amended to read ‘One meeting every calendar month (with the exception of August). The meeting will take place on the second Tuesday of every month at 7pm.’

14. ALTERATIONS TO DOCUMENTS

Members NOTED the sections 3.11 – 3.16 were contained within Paper G of 26 April 2021.

RESOLVED that: Members agree to alterations to the Finance Regulations and other documents where work currently undertaken by the old Working Parties and the Sub-Committees have been subsumed within the four new committees; and approve the following: –

1) Minor changes to many policies to reflect the change of name of some committees.

2) A common-sense approach to be taken that would see the work delegated to the appropriate committee under the new structure. For any matter where clarity is sought, this should be referred to the Finance and Strategy Committee for consideration.

3) A requirement to make several amendments to the Financial Regulations as follows.

Financial Regulation 4.1 to be amended to read (additional line is in bold/underline):

Expenditure on revenue items may be authorised up to the amounts included for that class of expenditure in the approved budget. This authority is to be determined by:

• the Council for all items over £10,000; or
• a duly delegated committee of the Council for items over £3,000; or
• the Clerk and / or RFO, in consultation with Chairman of Council or Chairman of the appropriate committee, for any items over £500 and below £3,000; or
• the Clerk and / or Deputy Clerk (RFO) for items below £500.

4) A new Financial Regulation be inserted between 5.1 and 5.2 to read:

The authorisation given to the Town Clerk or Deputy Clerk (RFO) under Financial Regulation 4.1 relates to ‘routine expenditure’. Such budget lines will be made clear at the time the budget is set. All expenditure by the Town Clerk or Deputy Clerk (RFO) will be reported to the next meeting of the Finance and Strategy Committee as part of the normal budget monitoring process.

5) For the current financial year the Town Clerk and Deputy Clerk be given authorisation for ‘routine expenditure’ previously identified under Financial Regulation 5.2.

Note: Councillor Key voted against the above resolution.

16. APPOINTMENT OF REPRESENTATIVE TO AN OUTSIDE BODY

Members considered the invite to become a company member of North Notts & Lincs Community Rail Partnership CIC. There would be no charge to the Council and Company members have the right to vote at the AGM.

Also an invite to join the Bassetlaw Area Group of North Notts & Lincs Community Rail Partnership meeting three times a year and include Gainsborough in their area.

RESOLVED that Councillor Panter be appointed as the Gainsborough Town Council representative on both North Notts & Lincs Community Rail Partnership CIC and Bassetlaw Area Group of North Notts & Lincs Community Rail Partnership.

Note: Councillor Davies left the meeting at 7.33pm

16. MOTION MOVED BY COUNCILLOR DOBBIE 

This Council Notes:

• The Gainsborough Town Neighbourhood Plan has taken almost 6 years to come to the present point of Referendum.
• During that time the Development of the Southern SUE (Sustainable Urban Extension) has started to the South East of the Town envelope.
• A substantial area of Land running from the Gainsborough Civil War marker on Foxby Lane (which is under our management) to the Bluebell Woods (on the Eastern side of the railway line from the old railway sidings, south of the railway bridge on Lea Road) along the Ridge Edge to the west of the Southern SUE has been left as undesignated land.

This Council Observes:

• That there is a Green Belt running along this Ridge from Castle Hills Woods in the north to this location separating the Trentside area from the Uphill area of Gainsborough, which is protected by Green Spaces designations in the GTNP (Gainsborough Town Neighbourhood Plan) up for acceptance by referendum on 6^th
• That the GTNP if adopted by Referendum on Thursday 6^th May 2021 is a living document which will adapt as our town develops and grows.

This Council Resolves:

• That this undesignated area of land to the west of the Southern SUE should be designated The Ridgeway Green Space in the first amendment to the GTNP upon its adoption after a successful Referendum result.

I so Move   Councillor Dobbie, seconded by Councillor Schofield

RESOLVED that Members note the motion but mute it as it is already contained within the Neighbourhood Plan.

Meeting concluded at 7.41pm