March 2020 Minutes
Minutes of the Parish Council held by video call at 7pm on Tuesday 31 March 2020.
Present: Attending via Zoom video link were Cllr Andy Halfhide (chair) Cllr. Andy Hallam (Vice chair) Cllrs. Debbie Hallam, Angela Brogan, Yvonne McCulloch, Steve Valentine and Brian Branch.
In Attendance: County Cllr Barry Dobson, also Julian Tatam (retiring clerk) and Sarah Gresty (new clerk)
2 members of the public .
100/19-20 Open Forum. Members of the public asked to dial in and make short statements to the Council, limited to the topic of Covid-19.
- Pharmacy Dispensary. Cllr Angela Brogan reported: She had visited Wells Medical and they don’t have the man power to bring the prescriptions to Langtoft, or deliver to the over 70’s, at present, Volunteers are welcome to collect, they will need the full name and address that appears on the prescription. Cllr. Brogan presently coordinating volunteers. Cllr Yvonne McCulloch suggested contacting clients to ask where their prescription come from normally.
Deeping pharmacy are delivering to over 70’s and under 70 who get repeat prescription.
Noted that if you live in Langtoft you can use the dispensary. They will text you when it is ready for collection. Volunteers can then coordinate one collection for all.
- Village Shop. Concerns that social distancing was not being adhered too. It is difficult to police as queuing outside is not working. Cllr. Dobson would call the shop owner to see if he may offer advice. Cllr Halfhide to provide contact details.
- Cllr. Debbie Hallam ask Cllr Dobson to check that what SKDC has in place regarding Coronavirus Support VC and how this impacts on what the village has set up.
- Extremely vulnerable residents who received a letter or a text should use the information on that communication if they wish to register to receive food parcels.
- A discussion took place on the protection of volunteers financially and with regards to self protection precautions. Cllr Andy Hallam confirmed that he was wearing a mask and gloves when delivering shopping to residents who had requested it. A discussion on setting up a card payment fund to enable vulnerable residents to when accesses cash was a problem. It was suggested that volunteers discuss with the clients how remunerations would be made before collecting what was needed.
101/19-20 Chairman’s welcome and remarks. Cllr Halfhide welcomed everyone to the video meeting.
102/19-20 Apologies: were received from Cllr. Alistair Fraser, District Councillors Kelham Cooke and Rosemary Trollope-Bellew.
103/19-20 Declarations of Interest. To receive any declarations of interest in accordance with the requirements of the Localism Act 2011, and to consider any requests for dispensations in respect of disclosable pecuniary interests. There were none.
104/19-20 Suspend Standing Orders: Suspend Standing Orders: to allow the meeting and voting to take place via video call given the exceptional circumstances.
During these unprecedented times it was proposed to conduct all meetings via video conferencing inviting the public to dial in until a meeting can be safely arranged.
Proposed Cllr. Andy Halfhide, Seconded Angela Brogan, unanimously all in favour -RESOLVED
105/19-20 Exclusion press and public: To move a resolution to exclude press and public to allow the discussion on business interruption – contingency planning. Not necessary.
106/19-20 Reports from County and District Councillors and Police
Cllr Dobson reported on:
- A provision was in the process of being built near Lincoln to hold excess fatalities as the crematoriums would be under increased pressure. It was anticipated that an addition of some 9,000 deaths was expected.
- County News. Money available for good causes. Approx. £3000 to be shared between Langtoft and Deeping St James. Plus £1k each available from District Councillors to be shared in their wards.
Emergency Planning. Coordination amongst Volunteer groups was underway added to other emergency plans already in place. It was voiced that help and advice had been sought from LCC however was found to be lacking. Action: Cllr. Dobson to investigate.
107/19-20 Suspend Public Meetings: For an initial period of up to 3 months due to the Coronavirus restrictions
Guidance from LALC was read out by the Clerk.
The council could resolve to postpone the Annual Parish Meeting (held between 1 March and 1 June), should the risk of a public meeting become too high and hopefully NALC/The Government will provide further advice in regard to this over the coming days. If it is outside of the legal framework of holding an APM, I would not expect councils to be challenged under the circumstances.
This will also apply to the Annual Parish Council Meeting held in May. Should the council not be able to meet or be quorate to meet and elect the Chairman, this process will need to be postponed until such time when it may be – again we would expect advice from NALC/The Government to dictate this. I would reiterate that public safety and that of the members etc. is more important, and the severity of this epidemic should override the legal framework of holding the annual meeting of the council in May.
Proposed Cllr Andy Halfhide, Seconded Steve Valentine unanimously RESOLVED.
108/19-20 Annual Council Meeting / Annual Parish Meeting: Deferring the meetings until restrictions lifted. Office holders to remain in post until the meeting can be held.
As per LALC advice in item 7 above
Proposed Cllr. Steve Valentine, Seconded Yvonne McCulloch and unanimously -RESOLVED.
109/19-20 Finance - to receive the following matters:
- Year to date accounts today is year end. There was a large difference between budget and actual this was due to a mild winter, play equipment being put on hold and Pocket park. It was noted that audit procedure and advice was still awaited. The contents were noted.
- Earmark funds from year end reserves for Penfield and Playpark equipment. Reserve to be earmarked from surplus on expenditure to be allocated to: Play area £2,000, Penfield £4,000 (added to £2,000 carried forward), £2,000 Cemetery. Proposed Cllr. Andy Hallam, seconded Andy Halfhide and unanimously RESOLVED
- Agree a Community Resilience budget reserve for Covid-19 purposes. Helping clients with emergency payments and cash issues. A discussion on short term support for vulnerable people unable to access cash. This could be arranged by using a cash card reader. Acton: LALC advice to be sought and Cllr Halfhide to speak to monitoring officer.
- Agree a budget of £600 (plus VAT) to replace the gardener’s lawnmower as it has broken beyond economic repair
Proposed Cllr Debbie Hallam, seconded Cllr. Brian Branch unanimously – RESOLVED
- Additional items
The Clerk had received a letter from SKDC indicating that LPC may be eligible for a Business Support Cash Grant of £10,000. He gauged opinion from Councillors on whether it is appropriate to apply for it. Further enquiries on eligibility will be made. More information to follow.
110/19-20 Suspend Standing Orders and Financial Regulations: to allow the delegation of authority to the Chairman, Vice Chairman and Clerk / RFO to jointly agree expenditure without reference to the full council.
After a discussion it was decided that special provisions to make decisions to incur expenditure during the current crisis were not needed. Any emergency expenditure above the current allowance of £1000 can be agreed by email by the Councillors
111/19-20 Staffing
It was noted that Julian Tatam was standing down as Clerk from 31 March 2020 but had volunteered to help the new Clerk Sarah Gresty with the handover and induction into the role.
Banking mandate this would be updated with new clerk information when able to do so. Julian will provide some support with the RF0 function until this is done.
Gardener is still working. He is able to lock himself in whilst working at the cemetery so social distancing is maintained.
112/19-20 Date of next meeting: To be established once the Coronavirus restrictions have been lifted
Meeting finished at 21:05