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Minutes August 2021

WOLSINGHAM

 PARISH COUNCIL

MINUTES OF EXTRAORDINARY MEETING

 

17th August 2021 at 7.00 pm in the Town Hall.

 

FOR THE CONSIDERATION OF THE AGAR

(Annual Governance and Accountability Return 2021)

 

PRESENT: Mr. D. Sugden (Chair), D. Jones, Mrs. A. Savory,

Mrs. Y. Bell. J. Bell, A. Vipond, Iain Rogers, Anne-Marie Parkin

 

APOLOGIES:      Mrs. E. Johnson, Mrs. P. Dobson Mr. O. Gardiner

 

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST: None

 

  1. Internal Audit Report: The report had been completed by Mr. M. Ackroyd , with the assistance of the clerk via Skype meetings and e mails between 19th and 29th July.

The report had been delayed because of the illness of the clerk.

This report is seen as an integral part of the submission of the Annual Governance and Accounting Statements,( Annual Return)  for the year ended 31st March 2021.and should have been completed before the end of June and submitted to the external auditors , Mazars LLP .

The report was considered in detail and where possible the recommendations of the internal auditor would be implemented.

Councillor J. Bell, wished for his name to be recorded as not being in favour of the report as in his opinion financial inaccuracies were evident and true financial figures had not been supplied to the auditor. Not unsurprisingly, the Clerk refuted these most serious allegations, as totally unfounded and without substance.

Mr Bell again made reference to his ongoing complaints which stand referred to the Monitoring Officer. He told us that he has gone beyond that process, by making contact with Kamila Coulson-Patel (Governance Solicitor) and with Cllr David Bell (Chair of CDALC). He was advised to focus his attention solely on this agenda.

In particular the Business Rates payable by Wolsingham Parish Council for the St. Anne’s Centre and Wolsingham Town Hall were brought into question. Business Rates are a topic that Mr. Bell is apparently an expert in. Also aligned to this were the substantial amounts of COVID Grants given to both these facilities so that they would continue to be maintained and used. The opinion of Mr. Bell was that the grants should not have been applied for. The Clerk informed Mr. Bell that no grants had been applied for, they had been given by Durham County Council to all properties that were on the Business Rates register.

  1. It was agreed to transfer £9200 to the existing Business Premium A/c as this was a requirement of Sport England, regarding a Sinking Fund for the replacement of the skate park over a period of 20 years. The cost of the skate park was £92000, and the £9200 represented two years funding being 5% of £92000 (£4600 multiplied by two).

Mr Bell considered that the cost of the skate park had been substantially higher at £140000, a figure apparently obtained from a previous member of Wolsingham Parish Council. No supporting evidence was offered.

  1. The auditor had commented on the appointment of a Project Manager for some of the work which had been undertaken throughout the year, and that the person appointed, if a serving Parish Councillor, could not be paid and that any payments for work done could only be made by the Clerk. Certain aspects of the appointment of a PM had been investigated by the Parish Council during the year, in particular the Insurance Liability issues, these had been fully satisfied. The Parish Council members were happy to continue with this arrangement. Cllr Jones has appropriate professional qualification and substantial experience of work with public contracts.

Cllr. J. Bell contested this arrangement as in his opinion the PM should be undertaken by paid professional personnel.

  1. Wolsingham Parish Council were informed that they had been misinformed by the internal auditor some years previously, as to the allocation of charitable donations, as being allowable under the 2011 Localism Act. This in fact for Wolsingham Parish Council should be S.137 .

The total allowance for the year could be as much as £18308 which is derived from the total electorate 2177 multiplied by £8.41

  1. The Information Technology payments for Adobe and Microsoft were considered to be too high and better prices should be obtained.
  2. Part of the Internal Auditors remit is to ascertain any risks or liabilities which could impair the safe running of the council’s functions, in this regard two items were raised :
  1. The Business Interruption Premium paid to the Council’s insurers had not been honoured and was disputed by Aviva as the wording was quite clear as to what could be classed as business interruption and what was not. The clerk had challenged both replies and was now minded to contact the Financial Conduct Authority on the replies from Aviva, for a resolution, as in the auditor’s opinion the loss was in the region of £8572.
  2. The Internal Auditor again raised the question of the continued payments from Durham County Council regarding S.136 payments amounting to £24170. These payments were agreed and paid, firstly from Wear Valley D.C. and subsequently, as a legacy agreement, from Durham C.C.  The payments are classed as concurrent expenses from one authority to the other and are as a result of the Local Govt. Act 1974.

Mr J. Bell questioned the legitimacy of these payments and would investigate further.

  1. A list of all properties land etc. was asked for by Mr J. Bell so that he was aware of what was owned by the Parish Council. This can be easily achieved as members are issued with a Fixed Assets Register printout each year as a matter of course.

Because of COVID, this year the annual inspection of land and property by councillors had not been undertaken but this can now be arranged.

Not withstanding any formal inspection, members are able to inspect facilities and land in their own time whenever they wish.

Mr. J. Bell said that inspections of property should be undertaken professionally.

  1. Various items were highlighted by the auditor, regarding minutes and agenda items. All meetings of Council, including progress reports or working groups, should be formally recorded. Ideally, Agendas should be on the website, together with all payments of a non personal nature, and income and expenditure and budget statements each month. Agendas are on the website, but only in the period between when they are formalised and when they are replaced by the records of the meeting.

Only items brought to the council’s attention for consideration at least seven days before the meeting can be considered. No items of AOB to be considered unless of an urgent matter, making a delay unwarranted.

  1. Planning issues were reported to council but for new applications often no comments had been recorded. In future all notified planning issues to be considered and any comments raised to be recorded. If no comment then record ‘no comment’ or ‘no objection’.

Mr. Bell commented that the planning tracking details were no longer available on the website. The Chair agreed to ascertain why this has occurred.

  1. Mr J. Bell asked for the contact details of the Internal Auditor.

The same request had been made last year and on asking the internal auditor for permission to pass on these details, he had refused. The clerk would ask again.

 

  1. ANNUAL GOVERNANCE return accepted and signed by Clerk and Chairman

Mr. J. Bell was not in agreement and asked to be recorded as such

 

  1. ANNUAL RETURN: return accepted and signed by Clerk and Chairman

Mr. J. Bell was not in agreement and asked to be recorded as such

 

The Chair thanked those in attendance and also the clerk for his efforts in working towards the completion of the audit and the documentation for submission to the External Auditor under extenuating personal circumstances.