Meeting 9th November 2022

Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting
held on
Wednesday 9th November 2022
at 7.30pm at the Village Hall

Present: Cllr A Birmingham, Cllr S Luxton, Cllr R Tillett, Cllr E Hollingsworth, Cllr B Hillson and Cllr H Gent (DCC)
In Attendance: Tracy Watkins (Clerk) and no members of the public

43/22 Apologies:
Cllr N Vickers, Cllr W Honan, Cllr J Kemp (EDDC) and Cllr S Randall Johnson (DCC)

44/22 Declarations of interest
None

45/22 Minutes

The minutes of the Annual Parish Council Meeting held on 7th September 2022 were agreed as a true record and SIGNED by the Chair.

46/22 Public Question Time

No questions were raised.

47/22 Asset Register

The asset register for the Council was agreed in principle. The Defibrillator and pads need to be added with valuations for replacements included. Clerk will check what regulations require to be included in the register and report back in the January meeting. Grit box move to also be discussed in January.

48/22 Health and Safety Policy and Equality and Diversity Policy

Both policies were ADOPTED. Proposed by Cllr Birmingham and seconded by Cllr Luxton. Clerk to make available on the Parish website.

49/22 Lead Councillor Updates
• Highways & Traffic Management – (Cllr Tillett)
Cllr Tillett will contact Peter Stewart regarding drains at bottom of Burridge Hill.
• BSVHT – (Cllrs Tillett & Honan)
Clerk to ensure the Hall is included as an action point on every agenda.
• Planning – (Cllr Honan)
Paws a while application discussed. No objections. Clerk to feed this back to Cllr Honan and EDDC portal to be updated.
Slipperstones – Both agencies have removed objections and appears this is now awaiting a planning department decision.
• Verges – (Cllr Luxton)
Still need cutting back, opposite farm and at the bottom of North Hill and around the village up to the bus shelter. Lakes Bridge corner.
• Communications – (Cllr Vickers)
Carried forward as Cllr Vickers is not attending this meeting. Wifi usage to be discussed then.
• Trees and Natural Environment – (Cllr Hollingsworth)
Some power lines in the village are going to be replaced. WW1 area around trees has been tidied up (with thanks to all concerned).
• Footpaths (including items from the Footpath Warden) – (Cllr B Hillson)
DCC has spoken to the landowner regarding disabled gate access but with no success. Run off from Station Hill has been better since it was cleared. Church path to be cleared once leaf fall stops. The leaf blower on the asset register is with the Footpath Warden. WS to speak to Ed Rogers to ascertain best way of clearing without losing the path surface. Suggest volunteers to help on Saturday 7th January. Cllr Tillett will seek volunteers in Speke Up. Cllr Hollingsworth to donate use of a large leaf blower to the Council, thanks expressed to Cllr Hollingsworth for this
• Finance – Cllr A Birmingham
Budget needs to be reviewed by January 2023. Allow 10% for inflation. Clerk to put together a draft budget by mid-December. Please let Cllr Birmingham know of any suggestions, especially footpaths for P3 funding. May need to increase Precept. Accounts for October have not been agreed this month as a slight adjustment needs to be made to the savings account to accommodate an interest payment. VAT reimbursement of £631.10 was claimed on 5th November. The Insurance policy has now been renewed and added to the action table as an annual commitment. Clerk to check who insures the Hall with BSVHT.

50/22 Village Hall

There has been no update yet from roofing contractors. Trustees have agreed in principle to suspend use of the Hall whilst works are being carried out. Possible dates for work are Christmas, February or Spring half-term.

The bat survey invoice had not yet been received for payment. Cllr E Hollingsworth to chase.

51/22 Financial Items

The accounts summary to October 31st 2022 (previously approved by Cllr A Birmingham) was NOTED

It was NOTED that the following payments were approved remotely in accordance with Financial Regulations.
2 x Payments to Tracy Watkins (September and October)
2 x Payments to HMRC (September and October)
3 x Payments of £31.67 to BT for Village Hall WiFi (paid by DD on 28.08.2022, 28.09.2022 and 28.10.2022)
1 x payment to Zurich for Council Insurance Policy of £241.00
1 x payment to Cllr Tillett or reimbursement of Defib batteries and pads of £172.80
1 x receipt of Precept payment from EDDC of £3750.00
Note: Payments approved by Councillors S Luxton, A Birmingham and R Tillett in accordance with the Financial Regulations.
An updated version of the Financial Regulations Policy was proposed by the Chair and seconded by Cllr E Hollingsworth. ADOPTED. Clerk to publish on the Council website.

52/22 Risk Assessment

To be brought forward to the January meeting. Clerk to do further updating.

53/22 East Devon District Councillor update

Cllr Kemp was not present at the meeting. Clerk to contact for an update. 

54/22 County Councillor update

Cllr Gent advised that the Devon County Council budget is under pressure this year and for the future. Prior to this budget the Children’s services deficit had been ring marked. This deficit is mounting and waiting lists are growing.

Cllr Gent and Randall Johnson have agreed to alternate who attends meetings so there is a presence at each one. The Chair, on behalf of the Parish Council, thanked them for agreeing to attend.

Cllr Tillett expressed concerns that the ditches have not been cleared this year and therefore run off could freeze. Will send a map of areas of concern to Cllr Gent. He can then investigate and speak to relevant authorities.

Cllr Randall Johnson sent the update below as was unable to attend the meeting.

DCC Monthly Report November 2022
Cllr Sara Randall Johnson
Free Flu Vaccination
From mid-October, people aged 50 years old or over (including those who will be 50 years old by 31 March 2023) can have a free NHS flu vaccine.
All primary school and some secondary school children are eligible for the flu nasal spray this year, which is usually given at school.
GP surgeries are also inviting children aged two and three years old (age on 31 August) for their nasal spray vaccination at their practices.

Police update
Devon & Cornwall Police has a new Chief Constable. The Police & Crime Panel endorsed the appointment of DCC Will Kerr OBE. He is currently Deputy Chief Constable for Police Scotland. A highly experienced officer, where before his current appointment he held senior appointments in the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the National Crime Agency.
Hate Crime – 2,564 hate crimes were recorded in the 12 months to June 2022. This is worryingly a 46% increase (+800) when compared to the statistical ‘baseline’ year, the 12 months to June 2019. Despite the observed increase, it is difficult to make objective inferences about performance based on increases or decreases in hate crime; victims may be more confident to report to the police. Conversely, the trend could also be interpreted as negative because it could be reflective of a ‘real’ increase in victimisation. 44% of all hate crimes were public order related and these were predominantly racially or religiously aggravated.
101 call waiting times – 101 or P1 (Priority 1) non-emergency calls are those calls that are identified by the Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system as high priority. These include calls relating to domestic abuse, sexual offences, hate crime, missing persons, and road safety. In the year to July 2022, the average wait time on the P1 line was 17 minutes – this is an increase of 11 minutes 57 seconds when compared to the ‘baseline’ year the 12
months to July 2020. Unsurprisingly, fewer calls have been received in the latest period, fewer answered and a higher abandonment rate is evident.
The Police and Crime Commissioner is addressing this as a matter of urgency and I will continue to lobby her for the re-opening of the front desk at Honiton Police Station for face-to-face reporting.
Media Release: 01.11.22
Grave budget warning from Devon County Council leader
Deep cuts to Devon's vital local services are inevitable unless the Government provides more support, county council leader John Hart warned today.
Mr Hart said he fully agreed with new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak that the country faced a "profound economic crisis".
But he urged Mr Sunak and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to use the extra time they now have to produce their economic recovery plan to ensure the balance between tax rises and spending cuts was fair and equitable. And that local government is not singled out for cuts.
"I have been a county councillor for more than 30 years and leader of Devon County Council for nearly 14 years during which time we have been through the austerity years and the pandemic," said Mr Hart.

"But our financial situation has never been so bleak as it is now.
"Before the summer we revealed a black hole in our finances for this year due to surging demand for help and support for vulnerable children and adults, the continuing costs of the pandemic and the dramatic rise in costs and inflation.
"We have been working hard to find savings in this current financial year but it's like filling the bath with the plug out as demand for our services and our costs keep escalating.
"On top of that we now calculate that - as things stand - we face a £75 million shortfall in our budget for next year."
Mr Hart said a report from the National Audit Office had revealed a 53.7 per cent cut in Government funding for local councils between 2010 and 2020. Devon's core funding from the Government had reduced by 72 per cent in real terms in the 11 years up to 2021/22.
"Despite that, this council has maintained help and support for the young, the old and the vulnerable by becoming more effective and efficient," he said.
"When other councils were closing libraries to save money, we kept all ours open. We maintained a youth service in every district. We've seen a steadily reducing number of potholes on our roads. We've ensured communities weren't cut off by subsidising bus services. We maintained our farms estate to give aspiring young farmers a chance to begin a career in farming.
"And we've helped to drive economic growth by overseeing infrastructure improvements on the A380 in South Devon and the North Devon link road, re-opening the Okehampton railway line and other stations and investing in improving high-tech skills through developments like the new training centre at Exeter Airport and support for work hubs for start-up businesses and small companies across the county.
"We've done all that without large-scale staff redundancies and we've kept council tax as low as possible. And we’ve done it all while committing to be net zero carbon by 2030.
"I am proud of that legacy. But all of the work we do will be under threat if we have to make drastic cuts across all our services to balance the books as we are required to do by law. However, that will be the reality if the Government doesn't act to protect local government."
Mr Hart said Devon was not just calling for financial support and doing nothing to help itself.
The council had already put a freeze on staff recruitment in non-frontline areas, delayed planned investment in IT and infrastructure projects, cut its heating and lighting bills, squeezed all external contracts, stopped some routine road maintenance and reduced winter gritting routes as well as reviewing its school transport contracts and public transport subsidies.
Devon MPs were being briefed so they could champion the county's case at Westminster and the authority was working with the County Councils' Network and the Local Government Association on national lobbying.
“We are here to do the very best for local people and to protect and support the most vulnerable and those in real need” he said.
“We will do everything in our power to continue to do this and find new ways to do things better and more sustainably.
“But, quite obviously, a bankrupt council can do none of these things and we have no choice now but to make savings that will inevitably hurt some people.”

 
55/22 Other information/correspondence received for possible action/ discussion/attendance /action items pending or carried forward

• Speke Up submissions – to include update on roof and leaf clearing volunteers
• East Devon local plan is out for consultation – other areas have significant amounts of new housing in the pipeline
• The Council need to have a representative at the Raddon Hills meetings. Agreed that Cllr Luxton will go to the next meeting on 25th January at 730pm. Proposal is that each Councillor will attend two meetings on a rota basis.
• Village Hall Audit – the Hall Trustees are dealing with.

56/22 Next Meeting

• Meeting closed at 8.50 pm. Next Meeting on Wednesday 11th January 2023 – Village Hall