May 2025 Minutes
MINUTES OF SILK WILLOUGHBY ANNUAL PARISH COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON 29 MAY 2025 IN SILK WILLOUGHBY VILLAGE HALL IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THE ANNUAL PARISH MEETING.
Present Cllrs Roberts, Thackray, J Wright, K Wright, and H Bell.
In Attendance County Cllr R Whittaker, District Cllr R Jackson, 3 members of the public and Denise Gascoyne Parish Clerk.
1.Election of Chair. The Clerk asked if anyone was willing to stand as Chair. It was proposed, seconded and
Resolved that Cllr L Roberts be re-elected as Chair. Cllr Roberts signed the formal Declaration of Acceptance of Office as Chair. This was countersigned by the Parish Clerk as Proper Officer of the Council.
2.Election of Vice-Chair. No Cllr wished to accept the position of Vice-Chair, so this remains vacant.
3.To receive Declarations of Acceptance of Office and Members’ Disclosable Pecuniary and other interests. All remaining Cllrs signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office, and these were countersigned by the Parish Clerk as Proper Officer of the Council. All Cllrs signed the Members’ Disclosable Pecuniary and other interests’ form. A copy will be sent to the Monitoring Officer and a copy added to the website.
4.Election of Finance Officer
a. It was proposed, sec and
Resolved to elect Cllr K Wright as Finance Officer.
5. Apologies for Absence. There were no apologies.
6. To approve and accept as a true record the notes of the meeting of the Parish Council held on 20 March 2025 and authorise the Chair to sign the official minutes. It was proposed, seconded and
Resolved: that the notes of the meeting held on 20 March 2025 be accepted as a true record and the Chair signed the minutes.
7.To review and accept new Model (2025) Standing Orders. The new Model (2025) Standing Orders had been circulated to all Cllrs. It was proposed, seconded and
Resolved to adopt the new Model (2025) Standing Orders and a copy would be added to the website.
8.To review and accept 2025 Financial Regulations. The Clerk had not had time to make the amendments to the 2025 Financial Regulations. Therefore, it was proposed, seconded and
Resolved to defer the 2025 Financial Regulations to the next meeting.
9.To approve and accept the Asset Register to 31 March 2025. The Asset Register had been circulated to all Cllrs. However there appeared to be a duplicate item on the list. There was only one dog bin on Gorse Lane It was proposed, seconded and
Resolved to remove Item 8 from the Asset Register and this could then be accepted.
10.To declare eligibility and adoption of The General Power of Competence (compliant with S.1-8 Localism Act 2011 and the Parish Councils (General Power of Competence Prescribed Conditions) Order 2012.
It was proposed seconded and
Resolved to declare eligibility and adoption of The General Power of Competence as CiLCA was obtained on 20.05.19.
11. To review and accept the following new/amended policies
• Annual Investment/Earmarked Reserve’s Policy – General Fund
• Annual Investment/Earmarked Reserve’s Policy – Solar Monies
• Code of Conduct
• Data Breach Policy
• Subject Access Request Procedure
• Records Retention Policy
• Claim for out-of-pocket expenses.
The above polices had been circulated to all Cllrs. It was proposed, seconded and
Resolved that the above polices be adopted en-bloc and copies added to the website.
12. To accept new Zurich Insurance Policy as from 01 June 2025. It was proposed, seconded and
Resolved to accept the new Zurich Insurance Policy as from 01 June 2025 and to pay the premium.
13.Finance.
a. Section 1 of the Annual Governance and Accountability Return (AGAR) 2024/2025 was read out by the Chair. It was proposed, seconded and
Resolved: that Section 1 of the AGAR 2024/2025 be accepted and signed by the Chair. This was recorded as Minute Reference 13(a).
b. Section 2 Accounting Statement of the AGAR had been circulated to all Cllrs. It was proposed, seconded and
Resolved: that Section 2 of the Accounting Statement of the AGAR be accepted and signed by the Chair. This was recorded as Minute Reference 13(b).
c. The Internal Audit Report had been circulated to all Cllrs. This was discussed in full, and It was proposed, seconded and
Resolved: to accept the Internal Audit Report.
d. The Certificate of Exemption Part 2 (AGAR) had been circulated to all Cllrs. It was proposed, seconded and
Resolved: to accept the Certificate of Exemption Part 2 (AGAR) and this was signed by the Chair. This was recorded as Minute Reference 13(d).
e. The Statement of Accounts had been circulated to all Cllrs. It was proposed, seconded and
Resolved to accept the Statement of Accounts and these were signed by Cllr Roberts.
It was proposed, seconded and
Resolved to continue with the Ordinary Parish Council Meeting. This began at 7.15pm
14. Report from County Cllr and District Cllr
a. County Cllr Whittaker introduced himself and said things would be changing, but not overnight. Cllr Sean Matthews had taken over from Cllr Martin Hill as leader of LCC.
b. District Cllr Jackson had sent a report prior to the meeting, which had been copied to Cllrs. There was a brief discussion on this.
15. Chair Report
a. As the Clock had been donated to the village in 1903, it would now be classed as the village clock opposed to Church clock.
Cllr were concerned that Time Assured had not mentioned that the auto regulation had not been included in the price paid. Cllrs were told that the company were looking into all options available for the supply of an Automatic Regulation module. It was hoped to hear from the company by 16 June. After a long discussion it was proposed, seconded and
Resolved that the Parish Council write to the company expressing their disappointment.
b. The Chair expressed her thanks to County Cllr Hagues who had supported the Parish Council. He had attended most meetings and was always willing to help. A thank you card would be purchased.
c. A recent village hall meeting which the Chair attended along with a representative from ACRE outlined health and safety issues that need immediate attention. The fire exit is not suitable for wheelchairs, although there is a ramp, this could be a trip hazard. The Fire door is not suitable, and the disabled toilet needs attention.
d. The three sets of white gates in Silk Willoughby needed cleaning. Ancaster Parish Council had used a company called Sudmeister. It was proposed, seconded and
Resolved to ask them for a quotation to clean the gates.
e. The Clerk’s Appraisal was due before the next meeting. It was proposed, seconded and
Resolved that the Appraisal be conducted by Cllr Roberts and Thackray.
16. Parish Clerk Update
a. New Mandatory rules for email were coming into effect. The Clerk would report details to the next meeting.
17. Village Hall
a. The village hall minutes to 24.3.25 had been circulated to all Cllrs. INFORMATION ONLY.
b. The village hall bank statement to 31.3.25 had been circulated to all Cllrs. INFORMATION ONLY.
18. Correspondence
a. LALC e-news – circulated to all Cllrs.
b. NKDC Parish and Town Council Newsletter March and April 2025 – forwarded to Cllr Roberts
c. Notification of Temporary Traffic restrictions 9.6.25 to 17.6.25 8am-6pm School Lane to install new telecoms ducting.
d. The Clerk – passed to Cllr Roberts.
e. Clerks & Councils Direct – passed to Cllr Roberts
19.Planning
a. 23/1410 Refusal of planning permission for solar far Eastern and Western side of Mareham Lane between Scredington and Silk Willoughby.
20.Finance
a. Bank reconciliations and Cashbook to 31 March and 30 April had been circulated to all Cllrs. It was proposed, seconded and
Resolved to accept the Bank reconciliations and Cashbook to 31 March and 30 April and these were signed by Cllr Thackray.
b. To resolve to approve and accept the following Retrospective Approval List and payments made in April.
100336 L.A.L.C Website £108.00
100337 Tidy Gardens Grass cutting £198.50
c. The Approval List for payments had been circulated to all Cllrs. It was proposed, seconded, and Resolved to authorise Cllr J Wright and Cllr Thackray to sign the following cheques.
100343 Cathedral Stationery Stationery(original chq 3338 cancelled £358.22
100343 Cathedral Stationery Stationery £43.08
100344 Tidy Gardens April grass cutting £397.00
100344 Tidy Gardens May grass cutting £198.50
100345 Zurich Insurance £241.00
100346 Staff/Cllrs Wages/expenses £492.90
100347 SW Village Hall Hire charges £40.00
e. The Clerk confirmed that HSBC Investment account had matured and £41818.09 had been reinvested for a further 4 months.
f. The village hall had requested monies from the Solar Funds for 2 benches at the village hall. One at the village hall and the other on School Lane. After a brief discussion it was
Resolved the village hall trustees needed to concentrate on the key issues with the village hall and leave the benches to a later date.
g. The Clerk confirmed that the Data Protection Fee had been increased from £35 to £47. She confirmed the budget had been adjusted and the fee would be taken by DD in June.
h. Lloyds Bank had contacted the Chair to say they had changed the account to a Community Account, and we owed £12.79 to date. The account had never been used, but before it could be closed we had to pay the bank charges. It was proposed, seconded and
Resolved the Chair to go to the bank pay the bank charges and close the account.
21.Training
a. Cllr Roberts said that LALC had asked to use the village hall for a training session in the past. It was proposed, seconded and
Resolved to contact LALC to see if this was still the case.
22.Date of Next Meeting
a. The date of the next meeting was confirmed as 31 July at 7.00pm in Silk Willoughby Parish Hall.
23.To resolve to exclude the media, press, and members of the public from the meeting in accordance with S.1(2)Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960 due to the confidential nature of business to be transacted.
Post Office – it was resolved that the village hall committee draw up a lease between the Post Office/Village Hall and Parish Council.
Solar Farm Funds – As the funds were invested, a new account had been set up with an emergency fund of £10000 in it.
There being no further business the meeting closed at 8.40pm
Chair …………………………..
Silk Willoughby Parish Council
31 July 2025