Minutes of the Statutory Annual General Meeting – Thursday 28 May 2020
BRACKLA COMMUNITY COUNCIL
ANNUAL MEETING OF COUNCIL
Thursday 28 May 2019 at 6.00 pm
Via Video-link
Members Present:
Cllr T Giffard – Chairperson
Cllr D Aston
Cllr J Brett
Cllr E Capparos
Cllr I Hibble
Cllr K Hughes
Cllr A Pucella
Cllr K Rowlands
Cllr J Spanswick
Cllr T Walsh
Mrs R Keepins – Clerk of the Council
Mr P Ley – Assistant Clerk/Responsible Finance Officer
Miss H May – Admin Officer
1 Apologies for Absence
None
2 Outgoing Address of the Chairperson
Cllr J Spanswick thanked the Clerk R Keepins, for all the hard work that had been done since she joined last June. He also thanked the Responsible Finance officer P Ley for looking after the Councils finances and the Admin Officer H May for all her hard work. Together the Officers were keeping the Council ticking over during these difficult times and were helping the Council to perform at the top of their league in terms of what was being achieved in the community.
As Chair he had had the honour of collecting the Wales in Bloom award 2019 in which Brackla won a Silver Gilt Award. He thanked Cllr D Aston for all his hard work towards this as well as local resident Mr Morgan who had assisted with the Wales in Bloom and Brackla in Bloom projects for many years and helped it to achieve its awards.
He wished to thank the Council and residents of Brackla for their generous donations towards the Chair’s Charity, the Alzheimer’s Society. £1031.56 had been raised and sent to the Charity and the Council had received a thank you letter and certificate which has been displayed on the website and Facebook page. He further thanked the Council for all their support over the past year and stated that he looked forward to the Council moving onwards and upwards.
3 Election of Chairperson 2020/21
Cllr K Hughes nominated Cllr T Giffard, seconded by Cllr K Rowlands.
Resolved:
It was agreed that Cllr T Giffard be appointed as the Chairperson for Brackla Community Council for 2020-2021
4 Declaration of Acceptance of Office of the new Chairperson 2020/21
Cllr T Giffard thanked Cllr J Spanswick for all the work he had done as Chair over the past year. He nominated Bridgend Samaritans as the Chair’s charity for 2020-21 stating that during these difficult times we were facing it would be good to support them through raising funds.
Resolved:
Cllr T Giffard verbally accepted the office of Chairperson 2020/21. It was agreed that arrangements would be made for the signing of the form by the Clerk and the Chair in line with social distancing guidelines.
5 Election of Vice Chairperson 2020/21
Cllr J Spanswick nominated Cllr I Hibble, seconded by Cllr J Brett
Cllr A Pucella nominated Cllr T Walsh, seconded by Cllr K Rowlands
Resolved:
It was agreed, via the Chair’s casting vote, that Cllr T Walsh be appointed as Vice Chairperson of Brackla Community Council for 2020-2021
6 Payments to Members 2020/21 in line with the Annual Report of the Independent Remuneration Panel for Wales
Resolved:
The content of the report was noted including the allowance for payments to Members.
It was proposed by Cllr J Spanswick, seconded by Cllr J Brett and subsequently agreed that one payment of £500 would be made to the Chair of the Finance Committee in recognition of the specific responsibilities of this role.
It was proposed by Cllr D Aston, seconded by Cllr K Rowlands and subsequently agreed that the Chair be provided with a payment up to the amount of £750.00.
It was proposed by Cllr K Rowlands, seconded by Cllr D Aston and subsequently agreed that no payment be made to the Vice Chair.
7 Review of Terms of Reference for Committees
Members discussed amending the Planning Committee Terms of Reference to clarify that it would only meet when needed relating to the time constraints surrounding the planning process.
Members also discussed the TOR for the Community Centre Committee, with the proposal that there should be some mention of engagement with users, stakeholders and/or the public. It was proposed however that this should be for the Community Centre Committee to determine if, how and with who they wish to engage with as part of their work.
Resolved:
The Clerk agreed to amend the TOR for the Planning Committee to clarify the grounds for meeting based on the time constraints of the planning process.
8 Appointment of any New Committees in Accordance with Standing Order 4
Resolved:
It was agreed that the Committee structure would remain the same.
9 Appointment of Members to Committees and to Confirm Delegation of Powers of Authority to these Committees
Resolved: It was agreed that the Committee membership would remain as set out and agreed at the Council’s meeting on 14 May 2020 and presented in Appendix A.
The Council agreed delegated powers of Authority to the Planning Committee to submit comments and recommendations directly to the local authority in the name of the Community Council. This enabled the Committee to bypass the need to have their recommendations to be submitted to the Full Council for approval before being forwarded on. Any recommendations or comments would then be reported back to the Council at the next available opportunity for information purposes.
10 Appointment of Chairs to Standing Committees and Other Committees
Cllr D Aston proposed that the Chair of the Council be Chair of any Committees that he sits on. This was seconded by Cllr K Rowlands.
Resolved: The Chairs for each Committee were therefore agreed as follows:
Appeals – Cllr E Caparros, proposed by Cllr J Spanswick, seconded by Cllr I Hibble.
Complaints – Cllr K Hughes, proposed by Cllr D Aston, seconded by Cllr T Walsh
Community Centre – Cllr T Giffard
Disciplinary/Grievance – Cllr T Giffard
Finance – Cllr K Hughes, proposed by Cllr T Walsh, seconded by Cllr K Rowlands
Health and Safety – Cllr D Aston, proposed by Cllr K Hughes, seconded by Cllr K Rowlands
Humans Resources/Personnel – Cllr T Giffard
Planning – Cllr K Hughes, proposed by Cllr T Walsh, seconded by Cllr J Brett
Youth – Cllr T Giffard
11 Determination of Time and Place of Ordinary Meetings of Council up to and Including the Next Annual Meeting
Resolved:
It was agree that Full Council meetings would be held at 6:30pm on the 3rd Thursday of every month excluding August where there would be no Council meeting.
12 Appointment of Representatives to External Bodies
a) The Town & Community Council Forum
Resolved:
It was agreed that Cllr C Jackson remain as representative for the Town and Community Council Forum, proposed by Cllr J Spanswick and seconded by Cllr J Brett.
b) The One Voice Wales Area Committee
Resolved:
It was agreed that Cllr K Hughes be appointed as the representative for the One Voice Wales Area Committee, proposed by Cllr K Hughes and seconded by Cllr T Walsh.
c) The local School Governing Bodies;
Resolved:
It was agreed that the School governors will remain as follows:
Brackla Primary – Cllr J Brett
Tremains Primary – Cllr C Jackson
Archdeacon John Lewis – Cllr T Walsh
13 Review and Adoption of Standing Orders and Financial Regulations
Resolved:
Members approved the proposed amendments to the Standing Orders and furthermore agreed that the wording be amended throughout to make it more gender neutral. The Financial Regulations were approved which contained the amendments considered at the Council’s previous meeting on 14th May 2020.
14 Review of the Council’s and Staff Subscriptions to other bodies
Resolved:
Members noted the annual subscription with One Voice Wales which was previously approved at the Council’s meeting on 14 May 2020 and furthermore agreed the annual subscription for the Clerk and Assistant Clerk/Responsible Finance Officer at a total cost of £397.00. These were proposed by Cllr I Hibble and seconded by Cllr J Spanswick.
15 Review of the Council’s expenditure incurred under s.137 of the Local Government Act 1972 or the power of well-being
Resolved:
It was agreed that the underspend from the 2019-20 Section 137 budget will be carried forward into the same budget line for 2020-21. This was proposed by Cllr T Walsh and seconded by Cllr J Spanswick.