Annual Meeting of the Exmoor Parish Council

Tuesday 21^st May 2019 at The Exmoor Forest Inn, Simonsbath at 7.35pm

Councillor(s): Brian Duke(BD), Alan Vigars(AV), Francis Schott(FS), Alan Chapman(AC)

District Councillor S Pugsley(SP) & County Councillor F Nicholson(FN) and Clerk C Hornsby

Members of the public: 2

Clerk ensured that all Declarations of Acceptance of Office had been signed before the meeting started.

01/19     Election of Chairman Mr Brian Duke, the retiring chairman asked for a proposer for the role of Chairman. AV proposed FS and AC seconded, All were in favour and FS accepted the office of Chair. He then duly signed his Chair acceptance of Office and took over from Mr Brian Duke.

02/19     Co-option of new members Teagan Gowland(TG) was proposed by AV and seconded by AC and all were in favour. TG then signed the Acceptance of Office. The Exmoor Parish Council now have their full quota of members. The Clerk informed the parish council of the latest training that was available to all. Details will be sent out.

03/19     Election of vice Chairman and appointment of representatives

              Vice Chairman   Name:  AV    Prop:  FS           2^nd:         AC  all AGREED   

              Exmoor Panel: AV

              Consultative Forum: This will be whom ever is available to attend

              Simonsbath Steering Group: JC, FS and TG

SP very kindly explained all about the three groups to the new cllrs.

Block proposal         Prop:  FS   2^nd AV

Clerk reminded all councillors for the need to return their Election Expenses paperwork asap.

04/19     Apologies for Absence: JC

05/19     Declarations of Notifiable Interests:  None

06/19     Approval of Minutes held on 28^th March 2019 Prop: AV  2^nd:  FS and all AGREED

07/19     Matters Arising from these Minutes None

08/19     Finance Report

Bank reconciliation as of 21^st May 2019: £6100.13

- for Precept has been paid – the full years amount. £2500

- Approval of Clerk’s pay and exp’ for 1st July for PAYE data was approved and the cheque was signed and dated 5th July 2018 £189.25 CHQ no: 231 Mrs C Hornsby.

- The Clerk presented the Insurance quote and this was approved and the cheque was signed            £184.13 CHQ No: 230 BHIB Ins.

Report from Internal Auditor The clerk read the following report from the Internal Auditor Mrs L Fisher. ‘The books and accounts are really clear, meticulous and transactions can be followed up and correlated - so thank you for making my job such an easy one. The only comment I could make relate’s to the requirement that " the authority assessed any significant risks to achieving its objectives and reviewed the adequacy of arrangements to manage these".  I can see that the PC reviewed their objectives, but I think I need to see that they've at least considered the risks relating to their objectives. I'd suggest when reviewing objectives, they think about adding something about meeting Standing Orders/managing their finances appropriately.  If these objectives were added, then a brief discussion about managing risks relating to these new objectives, and/or any others would be helpful (eg if responsible finance officer/clerk had to be absent or left - how would the PC manage? - ie appointing someone quickly, having one of the Parish Councillors more familiar with how the finances are managed, etc).’ Clerk requested that this be added to the July agenda for discussion and Chairman agreed.

Approval of gift vouchers for the Internal Auditor Last year was £20 gift voucher and £10 towards a bunch of flowers. This was Proposed again by FS  2^nd: TG, All AGREED.

Presentation of 2018/2019 accounts (previously circulated) The RFO presented the accounts and discussed the difference from the previous year. These were then Proposed for adoption by AV  2^nd:  AC, all AGREED

Accounts and Bank Reconciliation: This was Proposed by AV  2^nd:  AC and then signed by the Clerk and Chairman. The Certificate of Exemption was Proposed by AV 2^nd:  TG    and signed by the Chairman. This entitles EX PC Accounts to be exempt from a limited assurance review or to submit an Annual Governance and Accountability Return to the External Auditor. This form has been completed and will be published on the PC Website with the accounts.

09/19     Section 1 of Audit: Annual governance statement 2018/19         Proposer:   AV  2^nd:   AC   and was signed by the chairman and clerk 

10/19     Section 2 of Audit: Accounting statements 2018/19         Proposer:    AC  2^nd:  TG   and was signed by the Chairman

11/19     Code of Conduct, Standing Orders and GDPR: (Previously circulated) these were reviewed and Adopted. Proposer:  AV   2^nd:   TG    and All AGREED to adopt them.

Clerk informed the cllrs that there is a training course with SALC about the Code of Conduct that she would like to attend. It was agreed that this was of benefit. The financial standing orders will be looked at in the next meeting.

12/19     Highways: Current work by Highways was discussed, including verge cutting and pot hole repairs.

13/19     Planning 6/14/19/104       Duredon Farm, Simonsbath, Somerset                                                                                                               Proposer TG 2^nd AC votes fully supported by all cllrs

6/14/19/105       Boeveys Tea Room, Simonsbath, Exmoor, Minehead, Somerset

Proposer FS  2^nd  TG votes fully supported by all cllrs

14/19     Parish Maintenance: Clerk informed the Cllrs that the noticeboard could do with a bit of TLC, AC to take a look and do any repairs.

15/19     Correspondence:  Election of Parish Members to serve on the Exmoor National Park Authority. SP spoke about the need for all parish councils to vote in the forthcoming elections and Mr O Edwards from Exford parish council spoke about the need to make sure that there is a good balance of members to represent Exmoor fairly. It was agreed to attend the Husting to hear what all the candidates have to offer.

16/19     District and County Councillors: FN reported that the final decision on the winter salting had not been finalised as yet.

17/19     Report from Parish Council representatives of other groups

              Exmoor Panel -None

              Consultative Forum - None

              Simonsbath Steering Group – The clerk told the cllrs that at the recent coffee morning to raise awareness in the parish about the latest developments at White Rock and Ashcombe Garden, £30.12 was donated for refreshments. As the event was held in the church it was agreed by the Steering Group to donate this money to the church and it was presented to Mr Brian Duke who is the church warden. SP spoke about the formation of the Trust which should be in place by the next SG meeting in July. Work is under way on the Cottage and the cllrs were invited to attend a meeting there to see how the work is developing.

18/19     Date of next meeting

Thursday 25^th July 2019 – Sportsman Inn, Sandyway – This has been booked. AV has given his apologies in advance.

Future Meeting dates:

                                           Thursday 26^th September 2019 – The Exmoor Forest Inn, Simonsbath (tbc)

                                           Thursday 28^th November 2019 – The Sportsman Inn, Sandyway (tbc)

                                           Thursday 30^th January 2020 – The Exmoor Forest Inn, Simonsbath (tbc)

                                           Thursday 26^th March 2020 – The Sportsman Inn, Sandyway (tbc)

                                           Thursday 21^st May 2020 – The Exmoor Forest Inn, Simonsbath (tbc)

Before the Chairman Closed the meeting, he presented Mr Brian Duke with a picture of the church of Simonsbath which had a plaque which read ‘Presented to Mr Brain Duke in gratitude for service to Exmoor Parish Council 1972 – 2019’. Mr Duke was touched by the presentation and all said he would be missed.

The chairman then closed the meeting at 9.30pm

Chair………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………Date…………………….