PEASEDOWN ST JOHN PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of a meeting of the Policy and General Purposes Committee held on Monday 19th September 2005 at 8 p.m. in the Cricket Clubhouse
Present: Cllr. R W G Butt (Chairman)
Cllrs. J S Bolwell, Mrs. F M Butt, E J Derrick, J W Goring, Mrs. M Kennedy, C Rich, J P Rich and A A Spiller.
Also present: Cllr. Mrs. K M Thomas and two members of the public.
An apology was received from Cllr. F J Day.
Public Session
There were no questions or comments.
These minutes, which had been previously circulated were taken as read, agreed a true record and signed by the Chairman. There were no matters arising.
Cllr. Mrs. M Kennedy declared an interest in the office move and Cllr. Mrs. F M Butt declared an interest in the selection of a new Clerk.
The Chairman reported on actions taken by various members of the Council following the retirement request received from the Clerk on 31st August 2005.
A letter from the Chairman of Council has granted his request.
Cllr. Butt said that attempts to find an alternative site for the office have been ongoing but there seems very little chance of obtaining office or shop premises in the village. The trustees of the Beacon Hall have been able to move around and find room for a temporary home for the Council.
Cllr. Butt proposed that the Council should accept, with thanks, the Beacon Hall offer and the committee agreed unanimously to the idea.
Cllr. Butt reported that Cllrs. J P Rich and Mrs. Butt had already been looking for furniture.
Cllr. Butt also asked for the endorsement of his programme of events leading up to the move to the Hall. He wished to gain approval for: -
a). That Cllr. Mrs Butt is given authority to deal with office move.
b). That Mrs. Hartley be asked to attend the office at Dijon and the Beacon Hall for 2 hours a day Monday/Wednesday/Friday of each week to deal with the post etc.
c). That the phone be transferred only when the office is up and running.
d). That the money vired by the Finance Committee to this Committee will be used to fund the move (and also fund the advertising for the new Clerk).
e). That a donation towards the running of the Hall of £100 per month be agreed.
The meeting gave unanimous approval to the programme.
Cllr. Butt then moved on to the question of the replacement of the Clerk. He said that he would like nominations for the ad hoc Personnel Sub-Committee. It was agreed to select four members from this committee and Cllrs. Derrick, Butt, Mrs. Kennedy and J P Rich were appointed. They would have their first meeting at the home of Cllr. Butt with the Clerk and Assistant Clerk on Friday next at 10 a.m. It was hoped that progress could be reported at the Council meeting next Monday.
Cllr. Mrs. Thomas asked to speak so that she could explain her ideas on how the training could proceed.
She said that training fell into two parts, (a) for members and (b) for staff and the member section really needed to be broken down again into Chairmen and Vice-chairmen and backbenchers. The staff side needed to be split into two sections, as training was completely different when involving clerical staff and manual staff.
The Council would have to identify its training needs, find out how to provide and then record its effectiveness. Important ideas for training should include employment law, health and safety and risk assessment.
It was agreed that all correspondence on training should be passed onto Cllr. Mrs. Thomas for her perusal and recommendations.
Chairman said that unfortunately this action would have to be suspended until the new Clerk was appointed as the present Clerk has the CiLCA qualification, which is a mandatory test for accreditation.
Standing Orders were suspended to allow Mr. McInnes (ALCA), who was present in the public gallery, to explain that only 6 councils so far had been accredited in "old" Avon and that they would have to re-submit in 2007 as the tests have to be proved every four years.
Three letters were received from members of the public in response to the publicity generated in the Evening Chronicle and Parish Newsletter with reference to the Village Plan. They were read to members and will then be passed to the Village Plan working party.
Chairman explained that he has composed a suitable letter to be sent out very soon to possible interested parties. He was also planning a Public Meeting in the Beacon Hall.
The need for this box was again debated and it was agreed to put to the Council meeting next Monday for a final decision on its demise or otherwise.
Chairman said that two of the panel had met and a list of priorities had been formulated for further investigation.
The letter from B&NES read out at the last Council meeting in July has now passed around the relevant committees and members agreed that the offer of negotiation with B&NES on some form of funding from them should be pursued in haste. Clerk to write to B&NES asking that their officers meet with this Council very soon.
It was felt that the meeting with B&NES officers mentioned in Item 9 might bring forth debate on this tricky subject.
It was recommended that Council should obtain two more first aid boxes.
The two committees concerned have now ironed out the Terms of Reference for the committees. This committee wishes to endorse those changes and recommend that Council adopts the changes forthwith and an amendment is made to the official members' handbook.
Meeting closed at 9.05 p.m.