SOUND & DISTRICT PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of the Meeting of the above Council, held on Tuesday 21st June 2016 at Broomhall Chapel at 7.00 p.m.

Present:A. Brown(Chairman),A.G. Lawrence (Clerk), P. Griffiths,M. Wright,D. Tomlinson,

G. Bebbington, F. Wright,Mrs R. Ruscoe, A. Baldwin, and no member of the public.

1.Apologies:R. Brassington,R. Blackburn,Mrs E. Hollinshead,Councillor R. Bailey

2.Declaration of Interest – if a member is present at a meeting of the authority, and they have a disclosable

pecuniary in any matter to be considered or being considered at the meeting, they cannot take part in any discussion of the matter at the meeting or vote on it. They should disclose the interest to the meeting and follow the Council’s Code of Conduct.

3.Election of Officials for 2017

a.Chairman: A. Brown(Baddington) was elected on the prop., of,D. Tomlinson,

sec.,Mrs R. Ruscoe and unanimously agreed. The Chairman then completed his Acceptance of Office Form and was given to the Clerk for filing and details to be sent to Cheshire East.

  1. Vice Chairman: this year being the turn of Baddiley - R. Blackburnwas duly elected on the prop., ofD. Tomlinson, sec.,F. Wright and unanimously agreed.

c.Planning Committee: as previous all members of the Parish Council

d.Confirmation of representatives of:-

i.Members of Wrenbury Consolidated Charities:

Sound: G. Bebbington; Broomhall: P. Griffiths were confirmed as representatives

  1. BaddileyConsolidated Charities: P. Winward was confirmed as representative
  1. SoundSchool Governor: F. Wrightwas confirmed as representative
  1. Police Cluster Meeting: Mrs E. Hollinshead, and P. Griffiths were confirmed as representatives

4.Minutes of last Parish Council Meeting held on 18thApril 2017were unanimously confirmed

as a true and correct record on the prop., ofG. Bebbington,sec.,P. Griffiths

5.Matters arising from last minutes:-

a.Highway:- report from Roy Cook – Local Highway Officer

“Still got to look at the footway on the Whitchurch Road A530 grass/weeds, I can saythe section of road is routinelyinspected every2 month by our safety inspector and when other complaints are received also generates an additional inspection. I will make our safety inspector aware of your concerns regarding the condition ofthe carriageway on Baddington Bridge as this will be due for inspection this month and any actionable defects identified will be repaired appropriately.

I know the location has been identified for some level 2 patching this year and the year after with a review of surfacing works as yet no dates have been confirm but will follow in due course. I did ask our asset management team regarding the overall safety of the bridge structure which will be look at when the view is carried out, but the overall responsibility would fall on Network Rail as this is one of their structure’s and highways are only responsible for the carriageway surface”

The Parish Council were pleased to get a reply from Cheshire East but were still concerned over the overall safety of the bridge. As such the Clerk was asked to write to Network Rail and ask for their comments.

b.Street Lights: reported that the Clerk has made contact with Scottish Power and they have put in place for the transfer of the street lights to Cheshire East.

c.Bus Routes: the Clerk had copies of the routes and it was discussed further. This outlined that some drivers are continuing along Wrenbury Heath Road to it’s junction with the A530 rather than turning to go a long Sound Lane. Clerk to report the recent problems.

6.Highway matters: none

7.Correspondence: Noted to members for their inspection and interest as follows:-

  1. Cheshire East Council

1.Cheshire Homechoice Newsletter

  1. Councillors– None
  1. Parishioners- None
  1. Other
  1. Clerks & Councils Direct

8.Accounts

I.Income received since last meeting: none

II.Accounts paid since last meeting: none

III.Accounts to pay at this meeting

Payments 9th May 2017

  1. Chq No. 500183

Broomhall & Sound Methodist Church

– Parish Meeting & Parish Council Meeting£30.00

  1. Chq No. 500184

Aon£331.12

The Meeting on the advise of the RFO and on the prop., of

A. Brown, sec.,F. Wrightagreed that this offered the best cover available.

  1. Chq No. 500185

Baddiley Chapel – Room Hire£15.00

  1. Chq No. 500186

JDH Business Servcies Ltd – Internal Audit£159.00 (VAT £26.50)

  1. Chq No. 500187

Cheshire Assoc., of Local Councils£294.35

f.Chq No 500188

Rocket Media – Website Admin Annual Fee£240.00

Payments as per Precept Meeting – 12thDecember 2016

e.Sound & District Residents AssocNil for 2017

  1. Audlem Community First Responders

Letter has been received thanking the Parish Council for their support of their organisation, and to advise that the current personnel have finished with immediate effect. As such the Parish Council will have to wait for further details of the new personnel and can then make a payment if applicable.

g.Chq No. 500189

St Michaels Church, Baddiley – Churchyard maintenance£100

The above accounts were approved for payment on the prop., ofP. Griffiths,sec.,Mrs R. Ruscoe

and unanimously agreed.

IVInternal Audit the Clerk/RFO reported that the accounts for year ending 31st March 2017 have

been submitted to JDH Business Services and this has now been completed, and based on tests as specified in the Annual Return for Local Councils in England. Conclusion:- ”on the basis of the internal work carried out, which was limited to the tests indicated, in our view the council’s system of internal controls is in place, adequate for purpose intended and effective, subject to the recommendations reported in the action plan”

Action Plan:-

No Issues arising – a comprehensive set of books and records has been maintained and all internal control objectives met. As the Parish Council has an income of less than £25,000, we have also checked compliance with the Transparency Code through review of the website and will check this at each internal audit in future.

All 2015/16 internal audit recommendations have been fully implemented.

VAnnual Audit: as per last Minutes

-Display Notice from Audit from 5th June – 14th July 2017

-Annual Return and supporting documentation to be returned by 15th May 2017

VITransparency Code for Smaller Authorities – Local Audit & Accountability Act 2014:

The majority of changes to external audit arrangements and appointments will change with effect from the Financial Year 2017/18.

Local Councils with Income or Expenditure less than 25k p.a. will be exempt from external auditor but will still have an external auditor appointed for the purpose of the exercise of electors’ rights.

In the meantime Smaller Authorities (Sound & District Parish Council) are from 1st April 2015 subject to the mandatory publishing requirements of the Transparency Code.

The Smaller Authorities (Transparency Requirements) (England) Regulations 2015/494, which come into force on 1st April 2015, will make compliance with the Transparency Code for Smaller Authorities (“the Code”) issued in December 2014 mandatory for parish councils with a turnover not exceeding £25,000 (Sound & District Parish Council).

The detail of the code was set out in NALC Legal Briefing L05-14, which in summary, form 1st July and thereafter not less than annually, and not later than 1st July in the year immediately following the accounting year to which it relates should publish the following information:-

-All items of expenditure above £100 (where possible excluding VAT) which confirm the date the expenditure was occurred, a summary of the purpose of the expenditure, the amount and the VAT that cannot be recovered

-End of Year Accounts

-Annual Governance Statement

-Internal Audit Report

-List of Councillors and member responsibilities

-Details of public land and building assets

Councils subject to the Code should also publish:

-draft minutes of the council no later than one month after the meeting has taken place

-the agenda and associated papers for Council no later than three clear days before the meeting to which they relate is taking place

The information specified in the code must be published on a publicly accessible free of charge website

The Clerk/RFO advised the Meeting that all the legislation above is already included in the current Account Books, and is displayed on the Parish Council website which carries all this information.

9.Planning Applications:

  1. Results of previous applications:

II.Applications received since last meeting: - as per 9/III below

III.Applications/Matters before this meeting:

a.

Application No: / 17/2043N
Proposal: / Listed Building Consent to refurbish and renovate the roof of the property, reinstating the roof as the current layout and structure replacing any damaged tiles with like for like reclaimed tiles.
Location: / Springe Lane Hall, Springe Lane, Baddiley, CW5 8NP
National Grid Ref: / 361165352329

The meeting on the prop.,Mrs R. Ruscoe,sec.,P. Griffithsunanimously agreed to support the application.

10.Sound Common report: draining of water due to clearing of ditch has been reported to Cheshire East,

as per matter raised at Parish Meeting.

11.Police Report:regular speed checks are currently taking place.

12.Next Meeting:–

Parish Council Meeting –Monday 7th August

Meeting closed.