May 2025 Minutes (Annual Meeting)
Clerk’s Contact Details:
Clerk’s Office, Franklin Hall, Halton Road, Spilsby, PE23 5LA.
07872943179 | croftparishclerk@gmail.com
Croft Parish Council
Minutes of the Annual Meeting of the Council held at Croft Village Hall on Tuesday 6th May 2025, commencing at 7:00pm. These are notes of the meeting until approved by the Council as a true and accurate record.
Present:
Cllrs C Drury (Vice-Chair), G Batten, N Dennis, S Drury and S Gould; and Clerk - J Sargent.
There were no members of the public in attendance. In the absence of Cllr Coxall - Chair of the Council, Vice-Chair - Cllr C Drury opened the meeting.
1. To elect a Chairperson of the Council for the forthcoming term of office.
Cllr Coxall was proposed and seconded, with no other Councillors nominated, it was resolved unanimously to duly elect Cllr Coxall as Chair of the Council.
2. To receive the Chairperson’s Declaration of Acceptance of Office.
Cllr Coxall was not in attendance to sign the Declaration of Acceptance of Office.
3. To elect a Vice-Chairperson of the Council for the forthcoming term of office.
Cllr C Drury was proposed and seconded, with no other Councillors nominated, it was resolved unanimously to duly elect Cllr Drury as Vice-Chair of the Council.
4. To receive the Vice-Chairperson’s Declaration of Acceptance of Office.
The Declaration of Acceptance of Office was signed by Cllr C Drury and the Parish Clerk.
After being re-elected as Vice-Chair, Cllr C Drury chaired the remainder of the meeting, in the absence of Cllr Coxall.
5. Public Forum
There were no members of the public in attendance.
To receive a report from District Councillor C Drury
No report provided.
To receive a report from County Councillor J Brookes
No written report provided, nor was Cllr J Brookes in attendance.
6. Welcome from the Chair of the Council.
The Vice-Chair welcomed all present, thanking them for their attendance.
7. Apologies
It was resolved unanimously to accept apologies from Cllr A Coxall through ill health. No apologies received from Cllrs G Bowser and N Cooper.
8. Declarations of Interest
None received.
9. To confirm the minutes of the Council meeting held on Monday 6th April 2025.
With no matters arising, it was resolved unanimously to accept the minutes as a true and accurate record of the meeting.
10. To approve the list of accounts submitted for consideration for April.
With no matters arising, it was resolved unanimously to accept the list of accounts. The Accounts Report to be included as an attachment with these minutes.
11. To receive bank reconciliation for April
The Clerk provided the bank reconciliation for information purposes only, to keep Councillors up to date with the financial status. The Bank Reconciliation Reports to be included as an attachment with these minutes.
12. To receive notification of any planning permissions, refusals, or amendments.
No planning notifications received.
Cllr Drury provided an update on issues with Kartworld, Low Road - an enforcement notice has been issued.
13. To receive a report from:
a. The Chair
No report provided.
b. The Clerk
No report provided.
14. To receive an update on the installation of a bench in memory of Sid Dennis.
Cllr C Drury advised quotes were required for a base for the bench. It was recommended that the bench is secured to a concrete base. Cllr C Drury to send the invoice to the Clerk once the bench has been ordered.
15. To consider policies:
a. Standing Orders
b. Financial Regulations
c. Schedule of Delegation
The Clerk advised that Standing Orders and Financial Regulations were adapted to Croft from LALC updates provided recently. Notice of the updates was circulated with Councillors prior to the meeting.
The Schedule of Delegation also came recommended by LALC. The Clerk highlighted the procedure for delegating decisions on planning, where the deadline for a reply to ELDC was before the next meeting. No questions were raised.
It was resolved unanimously to adopt all policies tabled for consideration and are to be reviewed for updates annually.
16. To review policies:
a. Code of Conduct
b. Complaints Procedure
c. Reserves Policy
d. Risk Management
e. Staffing Committee Terms of Reference
f. Grievance Committee Terms of Reference
The Clerk circulated the Policies and Terms of Reference for review via email prior to the meeting; there were no updates to the Policies and Terms of Reference. The Clerk confirmed that all policies were adapted to Croft from LALC templates and are to be reviewed for updates annually. No questions were raised. It was resolved unanimously to adopt all Policies and Terms of Reference tabled for consideration.
17. To appoint members to:
a. Staffing Committee
b. Grievance Committee
The Clerk recommended appointing 3 members to each committee, not including the Chair of the Council on either. It was resolved unanimously to appoint Cllrs C Drury, N Dennis and S Gould to the Staffing Committee and Cllrs G Batten, G Bowser and S Drury to the Grievance Committee.
18. To appoint bank signatories.
It was confirmed that Cllrs A Coxall and C Drury are the signatories for the Council. The Clerk suggested that all Councillors could be signatories and would prefer if all Councillors had viewer access only to the Council’s online banking, in the interest of transparency. It was resolved unanimously to defer to the June meeting.
19. To approve direct debit payments to BT.
It was resolved unanimously to approve direct debit payments to BT for the WiFi in the Village Hall.
20. To approve a schedule of regular payments for 2025-26.
It was resolved unanimously to approve the schedule of regular payments for 2025-26.
21. To consider using .gov.uk email addresses for Council business.
The Clerk advised that the set-up costs would be approximately £200.00, and the annual costs would be approximately £60.00. Using .gov.uk emails was recommended by LALC as the external auditors - PKF Littlejohn will be marking Council’s not using .gov.uk emails as non-compliant. However, using .gov.uk emails is not currently a legal requirement. It was resolved unanimously to defer to the June meeting.
22. To receive a copy of the Action Points list.
The Clerk provided a copy of the Action Points list to keep Councillors up to date with work on previous resolutions. The Action Points list to be included as an attachment with these minutes.
The Vice-Chair of the Council closed the meeting at 7:30pm.