24/144. Public recess. No public.
24/145. Approval of apologies given.
Absence with apologies: Cllrs Jackson and Quidwai have work commitments. Cllr Ford has a dispensation. Cllr Howlett and Cllr Sunners are away. Cllr Rawlings has a prior commitment.
No apologies from Cllr Whitehead.
Apologies also received from Ward Cllrs Lawrence and Elliott who are attending SBC training.
A proposal was made to approve the apologies given with the reasons stated. The proposal was seconded and all Cllrs were in favour.
24/146. Co-option of Parish Cllrs. No candidates
24/147. Declarations of interest. None
24/148. Approval of minutes from 11th November 2024. No changes.
A proposal was made to approve these minutes as an accurate account of the meeting. The proposal was seconded and all Cllrs were in favour.
24/149. Action points from previous meeting.
Clerk
23/29. Chase up Badbury hedge cutting and white line painting issues with Ward Cllr Sumner. TO BE CLOSED. SBC have the issue logged.
24/92. To include planning app S/OUT/24/0982 on all Full Council agenda’s until further notice.
24/136. Update Cllr Howlett and do the actions required for the December meeting. DONE
Ward Cllr Hopkins and Elliott
20/16. Investigate end of Badbury footpath being blocked. Waiting for SBC officer update. Clerk to chase the SBC ROW officer.
24/150. Police and Community report.
No report received and PSCO Townsend did not attend.
24/151. Ward Cllrs reports.
Ward Cllr Sumner – Ridgeway Ward.
Badbury Bottom still affected by flooding. SBC has dug some gullies in an effort to mitigate the water flowing down the hill. The recent rain overwhelmed these gullies. WC Sumner is chasing this with Cllr Watts at SBC. Still waiting for Thames Water response with the S19 flood report. The rest of the issues are down to the landowners in the area to resolve – riparian issues.
Wiltshire, Dorset and Somerset have submitted an expression of interest to the Government for a devolution deal. They have indicated Swindon could join too.
The SBC Labour Party are looking at a deal with Slough/Reading and Oxford. These scenarios would require a new Mayor position, like London. Funds from tax payers would go straight to the Mayor’s office.
He suggests that PC’s hold a future agenda item for where they feel they belong – as part of Wiltshire or part of Slough etc. The Clerk will make arrangements for this.
The devolvement deals do not mean that current councils are taken over or merged into other councils. Control would be retained.
Ward Cllr Sumner leaves at 19.42.
24/152. To approve the new policy for allowing Listening Companions “LC” to sit in on confidential agenda items, if they sign a confidentiality agreement. (This does not affect a LC sitting in on any other agenda item)
Background – the public (which would include a LC) are prohibited from sitting in on confidential agenda items.
It was noted that this policy will cover all accessibility requirements for all Cllrs both currently and in the future.
A proposal was made that this agenda item and the following 2 be deferred until Jan 25 when Cllr Howlett can attend. There was no seconder for this proposal and therefore no vote.
A proposal was made to approve that a LC can attend a confidential agenda item with the Cllr they are supporting, so long as they sign a confidentiality agreement that prohibits them from discussing the item the same as all Cllrs and staff present. The proposal was seconded and all Cllrs were in favour.
24/153. To approve the new confidentiality agreement for LC’s to sign when sitting in on confidential agenda items with the Cllr they are supporting.
A proposal was made to approve the confidentiality agreement for all LC’s to sign if they wish to sit in on confidential agenda items with their Cllr. The proposal was seconded and the majority of Cllrs were in favour.
24/154. Approval of new Amanuensis and Listening Companion (LC) Policy. New policy
A proposal was made to approve the new Amanuensis & Listening Companion policy. The proposal was seconded and all Cllrs were in favour.
24/155. To discuss and vote on a way to better track changes to council documents that are shared with all/some Cllrs, for amendment or review.
A proposal was made to use “Comments” on documents, with Cllrs either adding them themselves, or still emailing through comments to the Clerk for the Clerk to add. The proposal was seconded and all Cllrs were in favour.
24/156. PLANNING. To vote on any applications provided by SBC after the agenda was published. There were none.
24/157. To approve the council’s bank reconciliation for October 24.
A proposal was made to approve the details of the bank reconciliation. The proposal was seconded and all Cllrs were in favour.
24/158. To approve the November 24 Finance figures.
A proposal was made to approve the November 24 financial reports as an accurate representation of the councils finances. The proposal was seconded and all Cllrs were in favour.
24/159. Financial overview from Cllr Kearsey
Points noted:
There had been no precept rise for the past 2 years.
The precept is now increasing from £160,000 to £173,000 to consider SBC removing or scaling down some public services. This equates to an 8% increase.
24/160. Annual vote on whether CPC will provide allowances to its elected Cllrs. (Co-opted Cllrs are not eligible)
A proposal was made to not provide any allowances for the forthcoming year. The proposal was seconded and all Cllrs were in favour.
24/161. To review and vote on the council’s budget for the 25/26 financial year.
Cllr Woodham – The Finance Committee reviewed the updated budget and approved it. Most of the increases are because costs of goods and services have increased. There is £8000 allocated to cover parish appearance improvements with cost savings made elsewhere.
Thanks to Cllr Woodham and to Nina Hempstock the RFO for the work on the budget.
A proposal was made to approve the councils proposed 25/26 budget. The proposal was seconded and all Cllrs were in favour.
24/162. To review and vote on the council’s precept amount for 25/26.
A proposal was made to approve the precept amount of £173,000 for the 25/26 financial year. The proposal was seconded and all Cllrs were in favour.
24/163. To discuss and vote on whether CPC wish to be involved in a new thermal imaging camera scheme to allow residents to check their own homes for heat loss.
The scheme would mean PC’s would buy 1 or more cameras costing between £250 and £450 each and hire them out from their offices.
A proposal was made to respond with an overall interest in taking part in the scheme, pending more information.
24/164. To approve Cllr Jefferies and Cllr Hinton as additional reps for the Swindon Local Council Forum.
A proposal was made to approve Cllr Jefferies and Hinton as additional reps for the SLCF. The proposal was seconded and all Cllrs were in favour.
24/165. To discuss and vote on a “Vote of No Confidence” to be sent to Swindon Borough Council (SBC) by the Parish Council.
Cllr Jefferies noted the standards and quality of work by SBC have been falling. However new projects and works appear to go ahead in other areas of the borough. SBC need to be aware that CPC are unhappy with the level of services provided to local people.
A proposal was made to approve a “vote of no confidence” letter to be sent to SBC, and all 3 Ward Cllrs CC’ed in. The proposal was seconded and all Cllrs were in favour.
24/166. To discuss and vote on signing up to the national “Civility and Respect” pledge that Parish Councils can sign up to.
A proposal was made to approve signing up to the pledge. The proposal was seconded and all Cllrs were in favour.
The Clerk will make the necessary arrangements.
24/167. To discuss and vote on creating a rural south coalition of PC’s to enable better bargaining power for goods and services we all require.
A proposal was made to discuss the next steps with the Clerks of the relevant PCs – Wanborough, Liddington, Bishopstone and Wroughton. The proposal was seconded and all Cllrs are in favour.
The Clerk will make the initial contact with other Clerks.
24/168. Committee reports, Correspondence and risk assessments.
Finance – Cllr Woodham. There is a note on overspend for the Rec Hall roof against the current year’s budget which needs to be monitored and discussed further. An agenda item will be added for the Jan agenda to discuss this as a council.
EGPA – Cllr Rawlings. No report.
Planning – Cllr Jefferies. No report. Risk Assessments. No issues reported on completed RA.s Volunteers needed for Castle View play area, Rec hall and grounds, and Millennium Wood. The Clerk will do the washpool ponds and cleaner RA.
24/169. Items for next agenda. None
Cllrs Stevens and Jefferies gave their apologies for the next planning meeting.
Meeting closed 20.40
Actions
All Actions to be completed by the next Full Committee meeting unless otherwise specified.
Clerk
24/92. To include planning app S/OUT/24/0982 on all Full Council agenda’s until further notice.
25/151. Add an agenda item to a future agenda to discuss how the PC feel about the proposed devolvement options for SBC.
24/154. Load the new policy onto the council’s website.
24/162. To arrange for the precept paperwork to go back to SBC, along with the RFO.
24/163. Respond to organiser of the thermal imaging scheme that CPC are interested in finding out more.
24/164. Advise on 2 new Cllrs joining SLCF.
24/165. Create and send a document to SBC and Ward Cllrs ref no confidence vote.
24/166. Arrange for CPC to be signed up the Civility and Respect pledge.
24/167. To talk to other rural south PCs about a coalition.
24/168. Add agenda item to Jan 25 to discuss the Rec Hall future.
Ward Cllr Hopkins and Elliott
20/16. Investigate end of Badbury footpath being blocked. Waiting for SBC officer update.