Please Note: The minutes shown here are an abridged version, for the purposes of inclusion on this web site. The full official records may be viewed, by a pre-arranged appointment with the Parish Clerk.

Meeting:                     Blo’ Norton Parish Council

 

 

Date:                           Monday 23 February 2004

 

 

Present:                      Geoffrey Leigh – Chairman

Shirley Hamilton

Sue Nixon

Colin Biggs – Clerk

 

Members of Public:   None

 

 

1 Apologies

               

Duncan Potter

 

2 To Receive Declarations of Interest

 

Sue Nixon declared a personal interest in item  5.2 of the agenda, as the claimant

 

3Minutes

 

The Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting of 26 January 2004 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman

 

4 Matters Arising

 

4.1 Community Day report

GL circulated reports of the comments and observations of the villagers attending the Community Day event.

Resolved: The Clerk to deliver the report to those not present. Councillors to consider the report for further discussion.

 

4.2 Quiet Lanes Network

No further information had been received from the County Council.

Resolved: Noted

 

4.3 Hall Lane – tanker unloading

No response had been met from the letter addressed to the farmer concerned.

Resolved: Noted

 

4.4 ‘Grupe’

The Clerk informed the meeting that he awaited  replies in response to his telephone enquiries

Resolved: Clerk to pursue

 

4.5 Sandbanks, Fen Road junction with Thelnetham Road

The Clerk had referred to previous correspondence and awaited a reply to his letter

Resolved: Clerk to pursue

 

5 Financial

 

5.1 Cheque raised for £19.98, in respect of the internal audit, in favour of BKT Services

 

5.2 Cheque raised for £13.78, in respect of the purchase of a second-hand filing cabinet for Council documents, in favour of Sue Nixon.

 

5.3 The Community Grants Panel, Keystone Development Trust, has rejected the Council’s application for a grant in respect of the costs of the creation of the Council’s website.  The rejection was based on the fact that the Council was a statutory body and, as such, ineligible for such a grant

Resolved: Noted

 

 

6 Breckland District Council

 

6.1 Breckland Council’s  Standards Officer, has written to Parish Councils to clarify two issues regarding the Register of Interest for members:

(a) Registering and declaring membership of the Freemasons.

Membership of charities or bodies directed towards charitable purposes must be registered in the Register of Interests – para 13 (c) of the Code of Conduct refers.  As advised by the United Grand Lodge, when Freemasons pay their annual subscription fee to their respective Lodges, part of the fee goes automatically to the Freemasons’ Grand Charity.  Therefore, Freemasons must register membership of the Grand Charity on the register of members’ interests and declare, when appropriate their membership of the Grand Charity as a personal or prejudicial interest, before or during Council meetings.

(b)Registering and declaring membership of political party council associations

Membership of councillor associations should be registered with the authority.  Para. 13(d) of the Code of Conduct requires the registering of membership of bodies ‘whose principal purposes include the influence of public opinion and policy’.  Political-party councillor associations fall under para 13(d) and membership of political-party councillors associations therefore need to be registered.

The above advice has been extracted from the Standards Board of England Bulletin, dated 16 January 2004.

Resolved: Noted

Breckland Council’s Standards Officer has written to draw attention to the regulations regarding ‘dispensation’

 

6.2 The Standards Officer has written a reminder to Parish Councils of the Regulations concerning ‘dispensations’:

Dispensations from the Standards Committee

 Such Regulations refer to circumstances where a member, or more usually a number of members, find they are in a position where they have to declare a prejudicial interest under the Code of Conduct, and leave the room.  The parish council’s code of conduct states; “A member with a prejudicial interest in any matter must withdraw from the room or chamber where a meeting is being held whenever it becomes apparent that the matter is being considered at that meeting, unless he has obtained a dispensation from the Standards Committee of the responsible authority” - para 10(1)(a) refers.  In the circumstances described in the Regulations, those members might be able to obtain a dispensation, i.e. permission, from the Standards Committee to stay in the meeting after declaring the interest and either just speak, or speak and vote according to the dispensation granted.

The Regulations state that the Standards Committee can only grant dispensation in two circumstances:

(1) if more than half of the members entitled or required to participate in the business of the authority would not otherwise be able to, or

(2) the authority would not be able to comply with political balance principles.  (These do not apply to parish councils)

Breckland Council’s Standards Committee can grant dispensation for a single occasion or for a period of upto 4 years.  Any dispensation is to be recorded, and kept with the relevant Register of Interests.

Breckland Council’s Standards Committee is aware that dispensation may be appropriate where all members of a parish council are trustees of a parish charity.

The Standards Officer wishes to determine whether the Regulations apply to this parish council.  If the parish council feels that a dispensation is required, a written application is to be made to Breckland Council’s Standard Committee explaining why a dispensation is requested.

During  discussion the following points were raised:

(a) all current Parish Councillors are Trustees to the ‘Highway Surveyor’s Land Charity’; dispensation would appear to be appropriate; 

(b) further advice is required in respect of, say, planning applications.  In a small village such as Blo’ Norton, a situation may it may arise whereby three of the five Councillors entitled or required to participate in the business would not otherwise be able to, having declared a prejudicial interest in the application

(c) bearing in mind the delays encountered when corresponding with the District Council on previous occasions on unrelated matters, the Parish Council was concerned that it would not be able to fulfil its duties and obligations if it was required to act within a certain time scale and yet awaited a decision regarding dispensation.

Resolved: To bring these concerns to the attention of the Standards Officer, for her comment and observations.

 

7 Correspondence

Victim Support Norfolk

The organisation was seeking donations.

Resolved: With the small precept allocated, the Council felt that it was unable to make any donation: suitable reply to be made.

 

8 Matters for Further Discussion

 

8.1 Norfolk Playing Fields Association

Invitation to membership

Resolved: To be forwarded to Blo Norton Village Hall Management Committee for its consideration

 

9 For Circulation

 

9.1 EDP Norfolk Village of the Year 2004 Competition

 

9.2 Norfolk County association of parish & Town Councils newsletter

 

9.3 Norfolk County Council ‘Your Norfolk, Your Say’ consultation pack

 

9.4 Breckland District Council

Additional item for agenda of Council meeting on 29 January 2004

 

9.5 Norfolk Constabulary ‘Criminal Justice in Norfolk’ Conference on 2 March 2004

 

10 Next meeting

Monday 22 March 2004 at 7.30 p.m. at Blo’ Norton village hall.

There being no other business the Chairman closed the meeting at

8.15 p.m.