8 May 2025 DRAFT Minutes (Annual Council Meeting)
Clerk’s Contact Details
Clerk’s Office, Franklin Hall, Halton Road, Spilsby. PE23 5LA.
07872 943179 | HHPCClerk@outlook.com
Halton Holegate with Halton Fenside Parish Council
Minutes of the Annual Meeting of the Council held at Halton Holegate Methodist Chapel on Thursday 8th May 2025 commencing at 7pm. These are notes of the meeting until approved as a true and accurate record.
Present:
Cllrs D Sisson (Chair), C Holmes (Vice-Chair), S Andrew, C Clare, C Edwards, T Robson and J Vickers; and District Councillor T Taylor.
Clerk - J Sargent.
There were no members of the public in attendance.
1. To elect a Chair of the Council for the forthcoming term of office.
With no other Councillors nominated, it was resolved unanimously to elect Cllr Sisson as the Chair of the Council for the forthcoming term of office.
2. To receive the Declaration of Acceptance of Office of the elected Chair.
The Declaration of Acceptance of Office of Chair to the Council was signed by Cllr Sisson and the Clerk.
3. To elect a Vice-Chair of the Council for the forthcoming term of office.
With no other Councillors nominated, it was resolved unanimously to elect Cllr Holmes as the Vice-Chair of the Council for the forthcoming term of office.
4. To receive the Declaration of Acceptance of Office of the elected Vice Chair.
The Declaration of Acceptance of Office of Vice-Chair to the Council was signed by Cllr Holmes and the Clerk.
5. Public Session
To resolve to suspend the meeting for a maximum of 15 minutes to allow members of the public to make representations or to ask questions.
There were no members of the public in attendance.
Lincolnshire County Councillor M Hume
Recently elected County Councillor M Hume was not in attendance; no written report submitted.
The outgoing County Councillor W Bowkett asked to place on record her thanks to the Clerk, Cllr Sisson and the Parish Council as well residents, noting that Halton Holegate Parish Council has been one of the most professional and enjoyable Council’s to work with.
East Lindsey District Councillor T Taylor
District Councillor T Taylor provided information via email circulated with Councillors prior to the meeting.
With no further matters, it was resolved unanimously to go into formal session.
6. Chair’s Welcome.
The Chair confirmed the Council was quorate, welcomed all present, and thanked Councillors for their attendance. Cllr Sisson also thanked Councillors for re-electing him as Chair of the Council for another term, considering it an honour to lead the Council and represent the Parish. Cllr Sisson asked the Clerk to send a letter of thanks to outgoing County Councillor W Bowkett.
7. Apologies.
None received.
8. Declarations of Interest.
None received.
9. To confirm the minutes of the Council meeting held on Thursday 13th March 2025.
With no matters arising, it was resolved unanimously to accept the minutes from March as a true and accurate record.
10. Finances:
a. To approve the list of accounts submitted for consideration for March.
With no matters arising, it was resolved unanimously to accept the list of accounts submitted for consideration. The Accounts Report included as an attachment to these minutes.
b. To receive an updated Bank Reconciliation for March.
The Clerk provided a bank reconciliation, to keep Councillors up to date on the Council’s financial status, for information purposes only. The Bank Reconciliation Report included as an attachment to these minutes.
c. To approve the list of accounts submitted for consideration for April.
With no matters arising, it was resolved unanimously to accept the list of accounts submitted for consideration. The Accounts Report included as an attachment to these minutes.
d. To receive an updated Bank Reconciliation for April.
The Clerk provided a bank reconciliation, to keep Councillors up to date on the Council’s financial status, for information purposes only. The Bank Reconciliation Report included as an attachment to these minutes.
11. To receive a budget review for 2024-25.
The Clerk provided a budget review for the financial year 2024-25 ahead of submitting documents for the external audit. No questions were raised. The budget review included as an attachment to these minutes.
12. To approve the Annual Governance and Accountability Return (AGAR) for 2024-25:
a. To approve section 1, points 1 - 9 of the Annual Governance Statement for 2024-25.
The Clerk read points 1-9, it was resolved unanimously to agree to points 1-8 as correct and mark point 9 as N/A.
b. To approve section 2, Accounting Statement.
The Clerk explained the figures on Accounting Statement. It was resolved unanimously to accept the Accounting Statement and submit to the external auditor.
13. To consider using .gov.uk email addresses for the Clerk and Councillors.
The Clerk advised that the External Auditor would mark the Council as non-compliant for not having a .gov.uk email address despite it not being a legal requirement. It would be approximately £200.00 to set up and £60.00 in ongoing annual costs. The External Auditor has had difficulty contacting some Parish Councils, suggesting that free-to-use email addresses or personal email addresses are being used and not transferred to new employees of Councils, and that there is a security concern in using these email accounts.
Cllr Sisson suggested that the use of .gov.uk email addresses should be investigated further with more information provided to the Parish Council regarding costs as it would have to be budgeted for.
Cllr Robson suggested that having .gov.uk email addresses would make the Parish Council look more professional.
Cllr Sisson proposed the Parish Council explore having .gov.uk email addresses, with the Clerk to bring full costings to the next Council meeting, seconded by Cllr Robson.
Cllr Holmes proposed not to explore further, as this has not been budgeted for, seconded by Cllr Edwards, as the administration costs are increasing with no direct benefit to residents.
Cllr Clare queried whether it would improve security. The Clerk confirmed that this was a line of reasoning used by the External Auditor.
It was resolved by majority to receive further information on and with view to using .gov.uk email addresses in the future.
14. To receive reports from:
a. The Chair
Cllr Sisson circulated a written report prior to the meeting via email, included as an attachment to these minutes.
b. The Clerk
The Clerk reported ongoing issues with Lloyds Bank, in trying to provide full user access to Cllr Sisson. Paperwork was submitted to Lloyds, who claim it has not been received. The Clerk to resubmit via email.
15. To receive notification of any planning permissions, refusals, withdrawals, or amendments.
a. To receive an update on the proposed Halton Road Housing Development.
The Clerk advised that Spilsby’s District Councillor E Marsh was following this up and the Clerk will report any updates.
b. NSIP - Ossian Transmission Consultation
Cllr Sisson advised the response from the Parish Council has been submitted. There are no updates to report.
16. To receive an update on highways, footpaths, and road closures.
a. Issues to be reported or already reported to fix my street.
Cllr Sisson reported a fly tipping incident in Peasgate Lane. Cllr Holmes queried the Station Road parking issues, and the need to update the new County Councillor. Cllr Sisson offered to follow up with the County Council’s Highways Officer for an update.
The Clerk suggested writing to the new County Councillor regarding ongoing issues such as the issues on Station Road, flooding concerns and the proposed Halton Road Housing Development.
Cllr Sisson advised that Halton Road would be closed, limiting access to Halton Holegate from Spilsby for works to be carried out by Anglian Water and roads will be closed in Spilsby for Bike Night.
17. To receive an update on the Mid-Year Audit jobs.
The Clerk circulated a report with Councillors prior to the meeting, detailing all jobs have been completed.
Cllr Sisson received the end of year audit report via email from the Internal Auditor and read the report to Councillors, included as an attachment to these minutes. The Internal Auditor acknowledged that the Mid-Year Audit jobs have been completed.
Cllr Holmes asked for the Clerk’s report to be clearer in the explanation of completed jobs. The Clerk to amend at the next audit.
18. To consider policies for review:
a. Standing Orders
b. Financial Regulations
c. Scheme of Delegation
The Clerk circulated all policies with Councillors prior to the meeting with updates to Standing Orders and Financial Regulations, highlighting the new updates. The Clerk confirmed that points listed in bold in are set out in legislation. LALC recommended adopting the Scheme of Delegation with particular regard to planning response. It was resolved unanimously to adopt the policies.
19. To consider policies for review.
a. Code of Conduct
b. Reserve Policy
c. Risk Management Policy
The Clerk circulated all policies with Councillors prior to the meeting. There were no updates to the policies tabled for review. It was resolved unanimously to adopt the policies.
20. To appoint members to Committees of the Council:
a. Personnel and Staffing Committee
It was resolved unanimously to appoint Cllrs Clare, Holmes, and Robson.
b. Grievance Committee
It was resolved unanimously to appoint Cllrs Andrew, Edwards, and Vickers.
21. To appoint members to serve as the Parish Council’s representative to outside bodies:
a. Halton Holegate and Alice Audley Jackson Trust
It was resolved unanimously to appoint Cllr Sisson as the Parish Council’s representative on the Halton Holegate & Alice Audley Jackson Trust.
22. To appoint members to serve on additional responsibilities groups:
a. Agriculture, Water and Wildlife management including Tree Warden.
It was resolved unanimously to appoint Cllr Vickers.
b. Development and Planning
It was resolved unanimously to appoint Cllr Andrew.
c. Footpaths
It was resolved unanimously to appoint Cllrs Clare and Edwards.
d. Finance
It was resolved unanimously to appoint Cllr Sisson.
e. Safeguarding Lead
It was resolved unanimously to appoint Cllr Clare.
f. Website
It was resolved unanimously to appoint Cllrs Edwards and Robson.
23. To consider agenda items for the next meeting
• Ossian updates.
• Emergency Procedures and storage
24. To confirm the date of the next meeting as Thursday 10th July 2025.
The date of the next meeting was confirmed as Thursday 10th July 2025.
With no further comments, Cllr Sisson closed the meeting at 8:18pm.
Signed…………………………………………………………………………………
Chair of the Council - Cllr D Sisson
Signed………………………………………………………………………………..
Clerk to the Council and RFO - Jack Sargent
Thursday 10th July 2025