24/25. To approve Cllrs Hinton and Turley joining the committee.

A proposal was made for Cllrs Hinton and Turley to join the Committee. The proposal was seconded and all Cllrs were in favour.

24/26. Apologies for absence: Cllr Ian Kearsey (Committee Chair) is away, Cllr Chay Ford has a personal commitment and Cllr Quidwai is away working. Absence without apologies: None.

A proposal was made to approve the apologies for absence with the reasons given. The proposal was seconded and all Cllrs were in favour.

24/27. Declarations of interest and vote on any dispensations submitted. Cllr Jefferies declared an interest in the memory café which she helps to run.

24/28. Public recess. None.

Cllr Turley arrived at 19:37.

24/29.  Approval of minutes from 9th September 2024.

A proposal was made to approve this set of minutes. The proposal was seconded and all Cllrs were in favour.

24/30. Action points. (Completed items in italics)

RFO 23/60. Arrange opening of a CCLA daily access account with an initial deposit of £200k. DONE.

Clerk. 24/22.  Update dates on policy and send to website provider. DONE.

Clerk. 24/23.  Update date on TOR and share to all committee members. DONE.

24/31. HR. Proposal to hold agenda items 8 & 9 in confidential session due to them both containing information relating to individuals.

A proposal was made to hold agenda items 8 & 9  in confidential session for the reason given. The proposal was seconded and all Cllrs were in favour.

24/32. To vote on increasing staff salary spinal points and also back dating to April 24 when the national NJC agreement should have been reached.

A proposal was made to approve the spinal point increase and back date to April 24.  The proposal was seconded and all Cllrs were in favour.

24/33. To vote on further salary spinal points for council staff.

A proposal was made to increase staff salaries by 3 spinal points in recognition of staff skills and experience gained in their roles. The proposal was seconded and all Cllrs were in favour.

To note that for items 32 and 33 pension contributions by CPC will be adjusted accordingly.

24/34. FINANCE. Discuss and vote on whether to in principle increase the 25/26 precept by a significant level to cover loss of services from Swindon Borough Council. To be considered in conjunction with item 9.

Cllrs considered the potential of services transferring from SBC, but noted no specific costs are known at present, which makes it difficult to justify large scale increases to the precept. Cllrs also noted the precept has remained the same for the last 2 years, to avoid an additional financial burden during the cost of living crisis.

A proposal was made to increase the precept to £173,000 (8.1%). The proposal was seconded and all Cllrs were in favour.  This is subject to Full Council agreeing the figures presented.

24/35. FINANCE.  Consideration of first draft 2025/26 budget and precept.

A proposal was made for the budget and projects to be adjusted following approval of the £173k precept and for the budget to be reviewed at the December meeting. The proposal was seconded and all Cllrs were in favour.

24/36. FINANCE. Review and vote on grant request of £288.00 from the memory café to cover hall hire.

Cllr Jefferies left the room during discussions and did not vote on this item.

A proposal was made to approve £288 for the memory café hall hire. The proposal was seconded and all Cllrs were in favour.

24/37. FINANCE.  Approve grant of £60 for British Legion wreath costs.

A proposal was made to approve a £60 donation to the British Legion. The proposal was seconded and all Cllrs were in favour.

24/38. FINANCE. Approve funds for prizes for the Christmas jumper competition. £30 suggested. (£20 first place and £10 second place)

A proposal was made to approve a £30 for the Christmas jumper competition prizes. The proposal was seconded and the majority of Cllrs were in favour.

24/39. FINANCE. Approval of £50 per annum to Cloud Next for domain name hosting. (old supplier stopped the service)

A proposal was made to approve a £50 per annum to Cloud Next for domain name hosting. The proposal was seconded and all Cllrs were in favour.

24/40. FINANCE. Approval of £133.95 for the cost of purchasing replacement defib pads after the defib at Badbury was used.

Cllr Jackson suggested approaching Badbury care home to see if they would like to make a donation towards the cost of the pads.

A proposal was made to approve a £133.95 for replacement defib pads. The proposal was seconded and all Cllrs were in favour.

24/41. FINANCE. Approval of £1,300 to come from unallocated funds, requested from the EGPA committee to hire a street sweeper for the whole parish.

A proposal was made to approve a £1,300 to hire a street sweeper for the whole parish. The proposal was seconded and all Cllrs were in favour.

24/42. FINANCE. Approval of £500 to come from unallocated funds, requested from the EGPA committee to pay an extra invoice for completing the allotment fencing. (To Allbuild).

A proposal was made to approve a £500 to Allbuild to cover the extra invoice for completing the allotment fencing. The proposal was seconded and all Cllrs were in favour.

24/43. FINANCE.  Approval of £2,640 plus VAT to Allbuild to cut the rear of the Butts Road cemetery hedge down to 6 foot and remove all cuttings. This will then reduce our hedge cutting contract by £300 per annum. Approved by EGPA committee.

Cllrs requested 2 more quotes for comparison before voting.

24/44. Contracts: No items.

24/45. To consider and vote on holding an extra December committee meeting to work on the 25/26 budget. To note that the next and final committee meeting to discuss this is Wed 8th Jan. Jan Full Council must vote on figures to send to SBC. Suggested date Wed 4th Dec.

A proposal was made to approve an extra finance meeting in December. The proposal was seconded and all Cllrs were in favour.

24/46. Items for inclusion on next agenda. None.

Action Points:

RFO 24/32&33. Make arrangements for salary adjustments for council staff, along with pension payments.

Clerk 24/32&3. To write appropriate addendums to staff contracts to show the approved changed.

RFO 24/34&35. Amend precept to £173k, factor in the pay award and adjust budget to balance to the precept.

RFO 24/37. Make £60 donation to RBL for wreathes.

Clerk 24/38. Arrange Christmas jumper prizes

Clerk 24/40. Write letter to Badbury care home to see if they would like to make a donation towards the cost of the defib pads

Clerk 24/41. Arrange road sweeper work

RFO 24/42. Pay £500 allotments invoice to Allbuild

Clerk 24/43. Get 2 more quotes to take down height of the hedge to the rear of the cemetery, for comparison before voting.