Minutes of the PC Meeting 18th January 2022

Present: Cllrs Irwin (in the Chair), Fryer, Kirby, Rutland, Strike, and Watson.

Also in attendance: . McGeeney, Town Clerk and J Stevely Admin Asst. Ward Cllr Dixon, Ward Cllr Patterson (Item 5 only). Gazette Reporter. Four members of the public.

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

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.

Apologies for Absence: Cllrs Barnes, Brown, Dodds, Emmerson, Patterson and Turnbull.

Declaration of Interests: Councillor Fryer declared a personal/non-prejudicial interest as an employee of Ingleby Manor Free School and Sixth Form. 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 as an attendee of the Living Hope Church.

Public Participation Part 1 – Deborah Gale advised Town Councillors that there had been 46 cardiac arrests in Ingleby Barwick between 2018 and 2021, of which 45% received bystander CPR. A Community Public Access Defibrillator (CPAD) had only been used once which led to the only survivor of those 46 arrests. This highlighted the need for further CPADS in Ingleby Barwick. It was hoped that all residents would have access to a CPAD within a 500m radius to enable any person suffering a cardiac arrest a fair chance of survival. Deborah had established a small Committee of residents and had started a campaign to raise funds for the installation of CPADS across the estate. It was the aim to increase public awareness regarding the importance of early defibrillation in the event of a sudden cardiac arrest. At present there were only two external CPADS with 24/7 access located at the Rings Community Hub and Ingleby Barwick Community Centre. For every minute a person has no CPR and defibrillation the chance of survival decreases by 10%. Early CPR and defibrillation increase the person’s chance of survival from 6% to as high as 74%. It was hoped to install at least another seven CPADS to add to the two in place. The full cost of each CPAD was approximately £1,600. Cllr Strike had previously brought to Members’ attention a request for further defibrillators at the Town Council meeting held on 20th July 2021 where it was agreed the Hub and Town Maintenance Committee would investigate the possibility and look at possible venues. The Town Clerk had been advised that a Committee of residents had been established and was keen to work in conjunction with this Committee for the procurement of CPADS. It was advised that the Town Council had a grants policy in which funding could be sought. Further information would be submitted to a future meeting of the Town Council.

Annual Return 2021/21 – The Clerk reported that Mazars had completed the external audit for the Town Council’s accounts for the year 2020/21. The external auditor report had been presented. A minor scope for improvement in 2021/22 was that the internal control objective ‘the Council has met its responsibilities as a Trustee’ was ticked ‘no’ by the internal auditor. Given that the Council are not sole trustees of any trust funds the box should have been ticked ‘not applicable’. Although the Council provided explanations for all significant variances the reasons initially given for unusual income or expenditure in a particular year did not include values, so it was not possible to determine whether the variants were sufficiently explained from the information submitted for audit. In future, all explanations provided on the variants analysis should be quantified. RESOLVED that the Annual Audit 2020/21 be ACCEPTED.

Enforcement – Stockton Council’s Enforcement Service had submitted statistics for the month of December for both Ingleby Barwick East and West wards relating to anti-social behaviour related jobs and vehicle related jobs. Totals for the month were submitted with a comparison to previous months including a breakdown of key dates, times and locations. Calls received were low in comparison to previous months.

Minutes of the Town Council Meeting held on 16th November and 21st December 2021.
PRPOSED by Cllr Fryer and SECONDED by Cllr Rutland and RESOLVED that the minutes of the Town Council meeting held on 16th November 2021 be accepted as a true and accurate record of the meeting. PROPOSED by Cllr Kirby and SECONDED by Cllr Watson and RESOLVED that the minutes of the Town Council meeting held on 21st December 2021 be accepted as a true and accurate record of the meeting.

Clerk and Chairman’s Report –
1. Forestry Commission for Local Authority Treescapes Funding (LATF) - The Town Clerk reported that following a letter of support regarding Stockton Borough Council’s application to the Forestry Commission for Local Authorities Treescape funding the application had been accepted. As well as funding for heavy standard trees, Stockton Borough Council had acquired a number of fruit trees including apples, pears, plums and cherries that could be planted in appropriate locations within the Town Council area. The grant covered the costs of supply of the fruit trees with stakes, mulch and guards and the planting. The Town Council would commit to the maintenance of the trees. It was suggested that whilst Stockton Borough Council had the final say as to where the trees would be planted, Town Councillors suggested that school grounds could be a possibility as a location for the trees. Further information on the planting would be submitted to a future meeting.
2. Defibrillators - The Town Clerk reported that the two defibrillators under the guardianship of the Town Council had been switched from the North East Ambulance Service database to the British Heart Foundation’s National Defibrillator Network, The Circuit.

Finance – Budget/Precept 2022/2023 - Councillors were presented with a series of documents outlining:
1. Cash Books for each of the Town Councils Bank Accounts
2. The 2021-22 budget as at 31st December 2021 with relevant information against each budget head
3. The projected outturn as at 31st March 2022
4. Budget proposals for 2022-232. The budget was broken down into a number of sub-headings:-
  - Direct costs of the Town Council including Councillor Costs, Staff Costs, Office Costs and other costs such as the Annual Audit and Community Consultation.
  - Activities including CCTV, Community Protection, Christmas Tree, Grants, Events
  - The Rings Community Hub including Loan Repayment, Utilities, Licences, Maintenance Contracts, Repairs and Renewals, Youth Facility.
  Against these were shown the various sources of income, including the Local Government Support Grant, Seamer Windfarm receipts and VAT reclaimable.
  
  Councillors discussed each element of the budget. Details of the bank balances of each of the Town Council’s accounts as at 31st December 2021 were submitted for Members’ information. As no amendments were offered to the draft budget it was PROPOSED by Cllr Rutland and seconded by Cllr Kirby and unanimously AGREED. It was RESOLVED to submit to Stockton on Tees Borough Council a Precept demand in the sum of £180,300.

Freedom of Information requests – The Clerk reported that two requests under the Freedom of Information Act had been received regarding ANPR/CCTV public consultation and staff diaries. The Clerk reported that in respect of the public consultation request had been responded to, the author requested a review of the information as it was felt the response was ‘general’. It was reported that the Town Council did not have an internal review process and the applicant would be required to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner’s Office. Cllr Irwin felt the number of requests received of late were well beyond the threshold of what the ICO would consider vexatious. Whilst a multitude of requests were received under different names, it was felt that they were being submitted by the same person. It was RECOMMENDED that the Clerk contact Stockton Borough Council on addressing the issue.

Committee Minutes and Committee Update Reports –
1. Events Committee 23rd November 2021 – PROPOSED by Cllr Rutland and SECONDED by Cllr Fryer. Cllr Rutland provided an update on the Events Committee which included the postponement of ‘Bopping Bingo’ event due to Covid restrictions.
2. Policy Committee 7th December 2021 – PROPOSED by Cllr Irwin and SECONDED by Cllr Watson. Cllr Irwin provided an update on the Policy Committee.
3. Finance Committee 9th December 2021 – PROPOSED by Cllr Rutland and SECONDED by Cllr Kirby. Cllr Rutland provided an update on the Finance Committee.

Town Council Policies – The following policy had been presented to the Town Council for approval following its consideration by the Policy Committee-
1. Internal Control, Internal and External Audit Procedures – PROPOSED by Cllr Irwin and SECONDED by Cllr Watson. AGREED that the Internal Control and External Audit Procedures by adopted.

Borough Councillors’ Reports – A written report from the East Ward Councillors was presented with issues relating to –
1. Town Centre refurbishment
2. Reports of ‘boy racers’ on Barwick Way
3. Cars stopped – drugs found
4. Meet the Neighbourhood Police Team
5. Shrubbery at Beckfields Community Hall
6. New eateries planned for Lowfields
7. Other issues
It was noted that a West Ward report had not been received.

Ingleby Barwick Communities – A written report from the Chair of Ingleby Barwick Communities, Cllr Kirby, was presented.

Finance – The Town Clerk presented the Town Council’s financial transactions for the General Account from 1st – 30th November 2021 and 1st to 31st December 2021 and the Hub Account from 1st – 30th November 2021 and 1st to 31st December 2021. RESOLVED that the financial transactions be approved.

Planning Applications – Details of the Planning Applications up to week ending 9th January 2022 and the delegated decisions up to week ending 9th January 2022 were presented.

Matter of Concern to Councillors – None.

Date of next Town Council Meeting – Tuesday 15th February 2022 at The Rings Community Hub.

Public Participation Part 2 – Mrs Pamela Beddow was in attendance and reported that a litter bin she had previously requested bad been installed. She detailed an ongoing rubbish situation behind the shops at Beckfields regarding discarded oil. Mr S Fryer was in attendance and highlighted his disappointment regarding social media posts on the IBIS Noticeboard regarding the ANPR/CCTV cameras.

The meeting ended at 8.25pm