Minutes of Annual Meeting – 27 May 2021
Minutes of the Annual Meeting of Laleston Community Council held remotely in accordance with the provisions of the Local Authorities (Coronavirus)(Meetings)(Wales) Regulations 2020 on Thursday 27 May 2021 commencing at 6.00pm.
Present:, Cllr’s A Berrow, JP Blundell, B Davies, C Davies, M Fouracre, C Green, T Green, G Richard-Hemmings, C Smith, I Spiller and D Wooldridge.
In attendance: Clerk – Gail Jewell
1 19.397 Election of Chairperson 2021/2022
Cllr C Green proposed Cllr B Davies as Chairperson for the forthcoming year, Cllr J P Blundell seconded the proposal.
Resolved: Cllr B Davies was duly elected as Chairperson for 2021/22.
2 19.398 Election of Vice Chairperson 2021/2022
Cllr J P Blundell proposed Cllr C Davies as Vice Chairperson for the forthcoming year, Cllr M Fouracre seconded the proposal.
Resolved: Cllr C Davies was duly elected as Vice Chairperson for 2021/2022.
3. 19.399 Council to undertake a period of silent reflection: Council undertook a period of silent reflection.
4. 19.400 Apologies for Absence: Cllr’s P Davies and N Adams.
5. 19.401 Representation from members of the public: No representations received.
6. 19.402 Declaration of Interests: No declarations received.
7. 19.403 Committees
a) Appointment of any New Committees
Resolved: Members agreed to create a Biodiversity Group, the Terms of Reference of which to be reviewed and agreed at its first meeting.
b) Appointment of Members to Committees
Resolved: Following discussions, the following Members were appointed to each Committee.
HR Committee
Cllr P Davies
Cllr C Green
Cllr I Spiller
Project Group
Cllr T Berrow
Cllr M Fouracre
Cllr T Green
Biodiversity Group
Cllr J P Blundell
Cllr C Smith
Cllr D Wooldridge
c) Appointment of Chairs to Committees:
Resolved: Following discussions, the following Members were appointed as Chair for each Committee:
HR Committee Cllr P Davies
Project Group Cllr T Berrow
Biodiversity Group Cllr C Smith
d) Review Terms of Reference for Committees
Resolved: Members reviewed and adopted the Terms of Reference for the Human Resources Committee and Project Group.
8. 19.404 Appointment of Representatives to External Bodies
a) The Town & Community Council Forum
Resolved: Cllr C Smith and Cllr J P Blundell.
b) The local School Governing Bodies
Resolved: Council confirmed that there are currently no vacancies for school governors and that the term for governor was 4 years and therefore requires review following elections in 2022.
c) Blandy Trust Management Committee – 2 Members
Members confirmed that historically the Blandy Trust Management Committee Membership included the Chairperson and Vice Chairperson of Council.
Resolved:Clerk to investigate the requirements for the Blandy Trust Management Committee and if there is any specific representation needed.
9. 19.405 Review and adopt a) Standing Orders and b) Financial Regulations
Resolved: Members duly reviewed and adopted both policies.
10. 19.406 Review inventory of land and other assets including buildings and office equipment
Council reviewed the inventory of land and other assets including buildings and office equipment and questioned that as the Council were now leaseholders of both Blandy Hall and Bryntirion and Laleston Community Centre, should both buildings be added to the list.
Resolved: Members duly reviewed and agreed the inventory of land and other assets and asked the Clerk to investigate if as leaseholders of both buildings as outlined above were required to be added to the list.
11. 19.407 Confirm arrangements for insurance cover in respect of all insurable risks
The Clerk presented the council’s risk assessment scheme that covers all council’s functions and highlighted the requirement for insurance cover such as public liability, employer liability, personal accident and fidelity guarantee.
Resolved:Council agreed that all potential risks to the council were duly covered by insurance.
12. 19.408 Review the councils and/or staff subscriptions to other bodies
Resolved: Members duly reviewed the councils and/or staff subscriptions to other bodies and confirmed that all subscriptions were required, and no changes were to be made.
13. 19.409 Review of the Council’s complaints procedure
Resolved: Members duly reviewed and adopted this policy.
14. 19.410 Review of the Council’s policies and practices in respect of its obligations under Freedom of Information and Data Protection legislation
a) Publication Scheme
Resolved: Members duly reviewed and adopted this policy.
b) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Privacy Notice
Resolved: Members duly reviewed and adopted this policy.
c) Data Protection
Resolved: Members duly reviewed and adopted this policy.
15. 19.411 Review Council’s policy for dealing with the press/media
Resolved: Members duly reviewed and adopted this policy.
16. 19.412 Review the Council’s employment policies and procedures
a) Grievance procedure
Resolved: Members duly reviewed and adopted this policy.
b) Disciplinary procedure
Resolved: Members duly reviewed and adopted this policy.
c) Equality and diversity policy
Resolved: Members duly reviewed and adopted this policy.
d) Health and safety policy
Resolved: Members duly reviewed and adopted this policy.
e) Annual leave policy
Resolved: Members duly reviewed and adopted this policy.
f) Sickness absence policy
Resolved: Members duly reviewed and adopted this policy.
g) Bullying and harassment policy
Resolved: Members duly reviewed and adopted this policy.
h) Whistleblowing policy
Resolved: Members duly reviewed and adopted this policy.
i) Training Policy
Resolved: Members duly reviewed and adopted this policy.
j) Capability Policy
Resolved: Members duly reviewed and adopted this policy.
17. 19.413 Review the Council’s expenditure incurred under S.137 of the Local Government Act 1972
Resolved: Members reviewed the expenditure incurred under S.137 of the Local Government Act 1972 which totalled £2,500 for the year 2020/2021 which is within the limit enforced by law.
18. 19.414 Determination of Time and Place of Ordinary Meetings of Council up to and including the Next Annual Meeting
Resolved: Council determined that each meeting of Council will continue to take place on the 3rd Thursday of each month at 7.00pm which will continue to be undertaken remotely until Covid-19 restrictions allow for meetings to re-commence at Blandy Hall.
19. 19.415 To approve Members allowances for the 2021/22 financial year in accordance with the Independent Remuneration Panel (IRP) for Wales recommendations
Resolved:
i. Each Member will receive £150 per year as a contribution to costs and expenses.
ii. The Chairperson will receive £1,500
iii. The Vice Chairperson will receive £500
iv. The Chair of each Committee will receive a payment of £500 for recognition of their specific responsibilities in a senior role – which is in addition to the £150 payment for costs and expenses.
There being no further business, the meeting ended at 06.40 pm.
The next meeting will be held remotely on Thursday 27 May April 2021.