Present: Cllrs Irwin (Chairman), Barnes, Dodds, Strike, Rutland and Watson.

Also in attendance: J McGeeney Town Clerk and J Stevely, Admin Assistant.

1. Housekeeping: The Chairman advised those present of the emergency escape procedures and outlined the Town Council’s protocol on public participation.  It was requested mobile phones be switched to silent.  If a call was received and had to be taken Members were politely requested to leave the room.  


2. Notice of Meeting: Public Notice has been given in accordance Schedule 12 of the Local Government Act 1972. The Chairman noted the Notice of the Meeting had been published on the Town Council’s website and on the notice board at the Ingleby Barwick Community Hall, Beckfields and the Rings Community Hub.


3. Apologies for Absence:  Cllrs Brown, Emmerson, Patterson, Fryer Kirby and Turnbull.


4. Declaration of Interests: Cllr Watson declared as her role as a Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council (SBC) Ward Councillor and as the owner of Fix-It DIY.  Cllr Strike declared a personal/non-prejudicial interest in all items involving his role as a Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council (SBC) Ward Councillor, Chairman of the Ingleby Barwick Community Partnership and Cllr Rutland highlighted she would leave the meeting for Item 11 due to her involvement with the services of the applicant.


5. Public Participation Part 1 – None.


6. Community Safety – Richard Bradford from the Enforcement team was unable to attend the meeting. The statistical documents were circulated, and the Town Clerk gave an overview of them. As the anti-social behaviour numbers had dropped Cllr Strike requested this be put on the Town Council’s Facebook page.


7. CPAD Ingleby Barwick – Update. Deborah Gale from CPAD was in attendance and explained from the map, provided to Councillors, where new defibrillators had been installed in Ingleby Barwick. Six new ones had been installed on lamp posts. She explained there had been 42 deployments since March hence the validity and importance of the equipment. A letter had been sent to the new MD of Stockton Borough Council regarding the importance of extra funding. As yet there had been no response. CPAD had received funding from Kier to install equipment at Allen’s West and Preston Park.


8. Minutes of the Town Council Meeting held on 15TH November 2022. PROPOSED by Cllr Strike and SECONDED by Cllr Barnes RESOLVED - the Minutes of the Town Council meeting held on 15th November 2022 be accepted as a true and accurate record of the meeting.


9. Clerk and Chairman’s Report
   
   
   • Community Newsletter - Councillors were given a copy of the newsletter and the Town Clerk explained it had now gone to print and would be dropping on doormats very soon.
   
   
   
   • St Francis of Assisi Church Christmas Tree Festival - The Town Clerk explained how the Town Council’s Christmas tree had been put up on Thursday November 24 and taken down by her and Jacky Stevely and placed in the foyer of The Hub.
   
   
   
   • Warm Spaces Update - The Town Clerk explained how the Hub is open to residents each Monday between 12 noon and 3.00pm. However, so far, no residents had used the facility. The newsletter contained information which may increase take up. Several councillors had signposted the facility on their Facebook page.


10. Committee Minutes and Committee Update reports - The following minutes were unable to be approved due to only Cllr Irwin being present and so would be dealt with at the January 2023 meeting of the Town Council.
    
    
    1. Finance Committee held on 13th December 2022
    
    
    
    2. Policy Committee – held on 19th December 2022


11. Grant Application – At this point in the meeting Cllr Rutland left the meeting. The Town Council had received a Grant Application for £1,300 from AMALAwellness CIC. Following discussion and consideration by the Finance Committee it was felt that the Company did not meet two of the specified criteria and it was further discussed at this meeting. Town Councillors fully scrutinised the application. However, the outcome remained the same AGREED the application did not meet the required criteria. Therefore, the application was rejected.
    
    Cllr Rutland returned to the meeting


12. Town Council Policies –
    
    
    • Co-option Policy. Cllr Irwin gave an overview of the Policy following NALC’s guidance. PROPOSED by Cllr Irwin and SECONDED by Cllr Dodds. The Town Clerk to check on the point relating to Bankruptcy status.
    
    
    • Minutes Policy – Cllr Irwin gave an overview of the Policy. PROPOSED BY Cllr Irwin and SECONDED by Cllr Strike.


13. Borough Councillor Reports – A written report was received from both East and West Wards
    
    East Ward
    
    
    • Beckfields Green Development 
    • Additional Salt Bin 
    • Bus Stop Damage 
    • Car Park Lighting 
    • Broken Bollard 
    • Road sign 
    • ASB/drugs Issues 
    
    
    West Ward
    
    
    • Christmas Wishes to the Town Councillors and Staff  
    • Muddies Development  
    • IB Christmas Lights  
    • Car Park Lighting 
    • Romano Park  
    • CPAD 


14. Finance – The Town Clerk presented the Town Council’s financial transactions for the General Account from 1st to 30th November 2022 and the Hub Account from 1st to 30th November 2022. In addition, the Town Council’s Bank Reconciliations from 1st to 30th November 2022.  RESOLVED that all the financial transaction and bank reconciliation statements be APPROVED. Councillor Dodds signed the corresponding Bank Statements.
    
    Councillor Strike made a request that in future the financial information should contain details of any ‘unpaid’ outstanding amounts to enable a clearer picture of the funds the Town Council currently held in the accounts. This to include such as Enforcement and Mortgage. The Town Clerk would implement this as a standing item following the budget.


15. Budget 2023-24 – The Town Clerk wished to alert Councillors that she would be preparing the budget for next year and required Councillors to submit any ideas or requests on how monies should be spent. She requested that Councillor email their ideas in the first week of 2023.


16. Planning Applications – Details of the Planning Applications up to week ending 27th November 2022 were submitted.


17. Matters of Concern to Councillors - Cllr Dodds highlighted that the downstairs heating had still not been fixed.


18. Date of the next Town Council meeting - The next Town Council meeting will be held at 7.00pm on Tuesday 17th January 2023 at The Rings Community Hub.  


19. Public Participation Part 2 – None.   

The Chairman thanked all for the attendance and participation and closed the meeting.

The meeting ended at 7.45pm