Associated Papers LWPC Meeting on 22 nd September 2015 Page 1 of 12 Agenda Item 2 Councillor Dispensation If there is an item on this agenda for which you have a pecuniary interest you will not be able to take part in any of the discussion or vote on a resolution. However, if you wish the council to consider your request for dispensation you need to write to the Clerk ahead of the meeting stating your reasons on why you should be given a dispensation. Agenda Item 5 Routine Correspondence The only correspondence received is BDC’s acceptance of the nomination for the Swan I nn to be included in the register of the Community Right to Bid for the next 5 years.
Transcript
Associated Papers LWPC Meeting on 22nd September 2015
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Agenda Item 2 Councillor Dispensation
If there is an item on this agenda for which you have a pecuniary interest you will not be able to
take part in any of the discussion or vote on a resolution. However, if you wish the council to
consider your request for dispensation you need to write to the Clerk ahead of the meeting
stating your reasons on why you should be given a dispensation.
Agenda Item 5 Routine Correspondence
The only correspondence received is BDC’s acceptance of the nomination for the Swan Inn to be
included in the register of the Community Right to Bid for the next 5 years.
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Agenda Item 6 Clerk’s Report
Action Complete P
15/044 See Agenda Item 5 - 22nd September 2015 P
15/052 Victoria Mound's resignation notified to BDC. Following advert of vacancy BDC
has advised that vacancy can be filled by co-option. Notice of co-option
advertised on 15th September 2015.
P
15/054 Minutes circulated to councillors and placed on website. P
15/058 Payments made to suppliers. P
15/059 Planning response sent to BDC. P
15/060 SCC Right of Ways do not consider hedges along FP 3 to be overgrowing
footpath.P
15/062 New LWPC representative advised to Playing Field Committee chairman. P
15/063 Updated Financial Regulations posted to website. P
Clerk Hours
As at 30th August 2015 - 127.25 hours worked / 88 hours paid.
Minute
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Agenda Item 7a External Audit Report
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Agenda Item 7b Asset Register
LITTLE WALDINGFIELD PARISH COUNCIL
Asset Register as at 1st September 2015
APC
Asset No
Date
PurchasedDescription
Street
Furniture
Value
Tag /
ReferenceLocation Ins Value Notes
Street Light £0.00 £500.00
Street Light £0.00 £500.00
Street Light £0.00 £500.00
War Memorial £1.00 £7,000.00
Telephone Box £1.00
Grit Bin £95.00
Grit Bin £95.00
Playing Field
Removed as not a
LWPC Asset.
Dog Bins x 4 £0.00
Litter Bin £0.00
Mar-15 Projector £570.70 £570.70
Total £762.70 Total £9,070.70
Agenda Item 7c Insurance Cover
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Total £6,691.00 £7,477.24 Total £3,400.00 £6,691.00 £3,444.43
Assets Carried Forward £11,962.52
Total £15,406.95 Total £15,406.95
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Agenda Item 8e Status of planning applications
Application
Reference
Address Planning Details LWPC
Minute
Parish Council
Comments
Babergh DC Comments
B/15/00257 Surprise Cottage, Church
Road
Application for a Certificate of Lawfulness for a
proposed Use or Development - Erection of 1
No single storey outbuilding. Alteration to
existing vehicular access.
Will be decided by BDC
Legal Department so no
consultation on application.
Certificate Issued
B/15/00701/CEU Spinney Cottage, Humble
Green
Application for Certificate of Lawfulness of an
Existing Use - Continued residential occupation
of Spinney Cottage as a single dwelling house,
in non-compliance with condition 2 of planning
permission no. S/72/1394/M (agricultural
occupancy condition).
15/059a Objections confirmed Application Refused
B/15/00705/FHA 2 The Street Construction of vehicular access. 15/059b Support
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Agenda Item 11 Churchyard Report
Cllrs Andy Sheppard and Barbara Campbell compiled the following Inspection Report on the
Churchyard Memorials in July 2015.
Introduction
Burial authorities have a general duty under the Local Authorities’ Cemeteries Order 1977 to
maintain burial grounds in good order. In addition, according to the Ministry of Justice in their
“Practical advice for dealing with unstable memorials dated January 2009” operators should adopt
a risk-based and proportionate approach to managing memorials. MOJ guidance also suggests
that an effective, risk-based approach should include the following:
An overall assessment of the risks associated with memorials to assist prioritisation of more
detailed inspections;
A visual check for obvious signs that a memorial is likely to be unstable; and
Where a visual check suggests no stability defects, a hand test can help confirm that
assessment or identify stability problems
Inspection of Memorials
On July 10th, we undertook a visual inspection of both churchyards; LWPC is only responsible for
the closed churchyard, but it seemed appropriate to inspect both at the same time. Following the
MOJ guidance we looked for:
Damaged or eroding bonding;
Movement of parts of a memorial from its original position;
Undermined or unstable foundations;
Leaning memorials – particularly where there was evidence of movement; and
Evidence of structural damage or disturbance (e.g. cracks).
Where memorials have visible signs of damage or defects MOJ guidance suggests hand tests
should be used to determine memorial stability (carried out by standing to one side and applying a
firm steady pressure in different directions to ascertain to what degree a headstone is loose).
Where instability is detected by hand test, a judgment should then be made whether the movement
is limited, or if there is sufficient movement for the memorial to present a high risk to people’s
health and safety (by toppling over). MOJ guidance then notes that memorials may be so unstable
that there is an imminent risk of toppling, and in cases where this could result in serious injury,
immediate steps might be necessary to reduce the risk by restricting access or by laying the
memorial flat.
Results
As anticipated, there were many examples of memorials leaning and/or with obvious signs of
structural damage, so hand tests were generally applied to determine likelihood of toppling. The
vast majority of leaning headstones did not move, despite their lean, or just moved back and forth
a little bit with no vulnerability to toppling. We did however come across seven examples where
shockingly little force would be required to cause toppling, which due to the weight of the memorial
would definitely cause serious injury if a person (or even worse a child) were caught beneath; there
was no option but to lay these memorials carefully on the ground, and no memorial was damaged
by this operation.
Most of the seven memorials laid on the ground were of surprisingly recent construction in the
open churchyard, of a type consisting of a flat base stone attached to a foundation by just four thin
dabs of mortar and with the headstone attached along one edge. It appears this design is
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vulnerable to the mortar dabs losing their connection with the foundation so the entire memorial
becomes free standing; as the headstone is to one side, this design then becomes inherently
unstable, requiring precious little sideways movement to topple over.
Conclusions
The six memorials laid down in the open churchyard are the responsibilities of the families. Rev’d
Judith and the PCC have been advised and they intend to insert a piece in the Box River News to
advise of the actions taken (for health and safety reasons). It is also likely laminated A4 notices of
the actions taken will be put up at the entrance to the churchyard to warn visitors.
Regarding the one memorial laid down in the closed churchyard, this is the responsibility of LWPC.
By reference the photos, it will be seen that this is of an old fashioned type where there is a long
triangular memorial with a headstone attached to one end, unfortunately just by a single metal clip
- see second photo - which has caused some of the masonry at the back of the headstone to come
away. We are not masonry experts but it seems to us that Phil Scott could probably effectively
cement the headstone to the triangular section at a fraction of the cost of a monumental mason,
and no one would likely be any the wiser. It might also be sensible that we erect notices warning
visitors of the dangers of old headstones toppling. (Please note that this memorial has
subsequently been repaired).
Finally, it would seem sensible to repeat such inspections annually.
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Agenda Item 14 Policies & Procedures
Complaints Policy
1. This Policy sets out procedures for dealing with any complaints that anyone may have about Little Waldingfield Parish Council’s (LWPC) administration and procedures and it applies to the LWPC’s employees. Councillors are covered by Suffolk Local Code of Conduct which has been adopted by the council and any complaint against a councillor should be addressed to Babergh District Council’s Monitoring Officer. Complaints against policy decisions made by LWPC shall be referred back to the Council.
2. If a complaint about procedures or administration as practised by LWPC’s employees is
notified orally to a Councillor or the Parish Clerk, they should seek to satisfy the complaint fully. If that fails, the complainant should be asked to put the complaint in writing to the Parish Clerk and be assured that it will be dealt with promptly after receipt.
3. If the complainant prefers not to put the complaint to the Parish Clerk he or she should be
advised to put it to the Chairman or Vice Chairman.
4. On receipt of a written complaint the Chairman, Vice Chairman or the Parish Clerk (except where the complainant is about the Clerk’s own actions), shall try to settle the complaint directly with the complainant. This shall not be done without first notifying the person complained against and giving him or her an opportunity to comment. Efforts should be made to attempt to settle the complaint at this stage.
5. Where the Chairman or Vice Chairman receives a written complaint about the Parish
Clerk’s own actions, the Parish Clerk shall be notified and given an opportunity to comment.
6. The Parish Clerk, Chairman or Vice Chairman shall report to the next meeting of the Council any written complaint disposed of by direct action with the complainant.
7. The Parish Clerk, Chairman or Vice Chairman shall bring any written complaint that has not
been settled to the next meeting of the Council. The Parish Clerk shall notify the complainant of the date on which the complaint will be considered and the complainant shall be offered an opportunity to explain the complaint orally. (Unless such a matter may be related to Grievance, Disciplinary proceedings that are taking, or likely to take place when such a hearing may prejudice those hearings when the complaint will have to be heard under Exempt Business to exclude any member of the public or the press, or deferred on appropriate advice received).
8. LWPC shall consider whether the circumstances attending any complaint warrant the
matter being discussed in the absence of the press and public but any decision on a complaint shall be announced at the Council meeting in public.
9. As soon as may be after the decision has been made it and the nature of any action to be
taken shall be communicated in writing to the complainant.
10. LWPC shall defer dealing with any written complaint only if it is of the opinion that issues of law or practice arise on which advice is necessary. The complaint shall be dealt with at the next meeting after the advice has been received.
This policy was adopted by Little Waldingfield Parish Council at its meeting on
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Communications Protocol
Parish Council Correspondence
i. Official correspondence on behalf of the Council should normally be sent in the name of the
Clerk, rather than in the name of a Councillor. It may be appropriate in certain
circumstances (e.g. representations to a Government Minister) for a letter to appear in the
name of a Councillor, but this should be the exception rather than the norm.
ii. Correspondence that, for example, create obligations or give instructions on behalf of the
Council should never be sent out in the name of a Councillor.
iii. The point of contact for the parish council is the Clerk, and it is to the Clerk that all
correspondence for the parish council should be addressed.
iv. The Clerk should deal with all correspondence following a meeting.
v. No individual Councillor should be the sole custodian of any correspondence or information
in the name of the parish council or working party. In particular, Councillors do not have a
right to obtain confidential information / documentation unless they can demonstrate a
‘need to know’.
vi. All official correspondence should be sent by the Clerk in the name of the council using
council letter headed paper or via the council’s email account.
vii. Where correspondence from the Clerk to a Councillor is copied to another person, the
addressee should be made aware that a copy is being forwarded to that other person (e.g.
copy to XX).
viii. Where the Clerk or a Councillor wishes fellow Councillors to receive matters for
“information only”, this information will be circulated via the Clerk.
Communications with the Press and Public
ix. The Clerk will clear all press reports, or comments to the media, with the Chair of the
council.
x. Press reports from the council should be from the Clerk or via the reporter’s own
attendance at a meeting.
xi. Unless a Councillor has been authorised by the council to speak to the media on a
particular issue, Councillors who are asked for comment by the press should make it clear
that it is a personal view and ask that it be clearly reported as their personal view.
xii. Unless a Councillor is absolutely certain that he / she is reporting the view of the council,
they must make it clear to members of the public that they are expressing a personal view.
xiii. If Councillors receive a complaint from a member of the public on a council decision or
conduct of the Clerk or councillor(s), this should be dealt with under the Council’s adopted
complaints procedure, or via a council agenda item.
Councillor Correspondence to external parties
xiv. As the Clerk should be sending most of the council’s correspondence from the council to
other bodies, it needs to be made clear by the Councillor that it is written in their official
capacity and has been authorised by the parish council.
xv. A copy of all outgoing correspondence relating to the council or a Councillor’s role within it,
should be sent to the Clerk, and it be noted on the correspondence, e.g. “copy to the Clerk”
so that the recipient is aware that the Clerk has been advised.
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Communications with the Clerk and other members
xvi. Councillors must not give instructions to the Clerk, unless authorised to do so (for example,
three or more Councillors sitting as a committee or sub-committee with appropriate
delegated powers from the council).
xvii. No individual Councillor, regardless of whether or not they are the Chair of the council, may
give instructions to the Clerk which are inconsistent or conflict with council decisions or
arrangements for delegated power.
xviii. E-mails
Instant replies should not be expected from the Clerk; reasons for urgency should
be stated;
Information to Councillors should normally be directed via the Clerk;
E-mails from Councillors to external parties should be copied to the Clerk;
Councillors should acknowledge their e-mails when requested to do so.
xix. Meetings with the Clerk:
Wherever possible an appointment should be made;
Meetings should be relevant to the work of the Clerk.
Council Decisions
It should be noted that no decision can be made by Councillors outside of a parish council
meeting unless the appropriate Delegated Power has been given to the Clerk.
This protocol was adopted by Little Waldingfield Parish Council at its meeting on
