2026 Rauceby PC Minutes of Meetings

Minutes
Rauceby Parish Council
Minutes from the Annual Parish Council Meeting held on Wednesday, 20 May 2026 at 7.55 pm at The Village Hall, South Rauceby. 

Present:      Cllrs S Enstone (in the Chair), J Malloch, G Enstone, B Balderston, P Ireland, G Hall, and M Froggatt; Cllr J Clarke of NKDC and the Clerk, Mr I Grady. 

Public speaking time:  Two members of the public were present. 
1. Election of Chairman: Nominations for the position were invited from the councillors. Cllr S. Enstone was nominated and seconded by members of the council. Cllr S. Enstone had indicated that he wished to be considered for the post and was duly elected unopposed by unanimous vote. He signed the Chairman’s Declaration of Acceptance of Office which will be filed.
2. Election of Vice-Chairman: Nominations for the position were invited from the councillors. In his absence Cllr M. Ireland was nominated and seconded by members of the council. He had previously indicated that he wished to be considered for the post and was duly elected unopposed by unanimous vote and is deemed to have accepted the position. He will sign the Vice-Chairman’s Declaration of Acceptance of Office before the commencement of the next meeting.
3. Apologies for absence: Apologies were received from Cllrs. J Hoare, M Ireland and Cllr A Hagues of NKDC.
4. To Appoint the Responsible Finance Officer: Mr I Grady was appointed to this position.
5. To Appoint a Planning Sub-Committee: Cllrs M. Ireland, J. Malloch, M. Froggatt and S. Enstone were nominated and duly appointed to this sub-committee.
6. To receive any Declarations of Interest: Cllrs P Ireland and G Enstone declined to be involved in the discussion regarding church activities. No other declarations were received. 
7. To decide on any items to be carried out in Closed Session: None required. 
8. To Review the Insurance Policy and quotation: The Insurance policy renewal quote has been received and circulated. It was agreed that the policy from Zurich Insurance, will continue to meet the needs of the Parish. The premium was unchanged at £327.00.
9. To Review and Adopt the Standing Orders. The members reviewed this policy and considered it to be fit for purpose, unchanged. 
10. To Review and Adopt the Financial Regulations. The Regulations were modified during the year (as reported in earlier minutes). No further changes are considered necessary.
11. To Review the Contents and Safety Condition of the Asset Register (revision circulated). Cllr S Enstone has carried out an inspection of the PCs assets and produced a report which is available on demand. There is inevitable wear and tear on some of these assets but nothing that is considered a safety hazard. Any routine maintenance can be carried out as and when necessary. One previously identified problem is with the condition of the roof of the Main Street bus shelter which is scheduled to be replaced later this year. This report was reviewed and adopted.
New assets have been acquired during the last year: 
* Litter-picking equipment to augment that which is already held.
* A speed monitoring device on Rauceby Drove.
* A dog waste bin, outside the school.
12. Review of the Council’s other Policies, Procedures and Practices:  
All of the following policies, procedures and practices have been reviewed since the last meeting by the councillors who confirmed that they continued to be fit for purpose.
* Councillors Code of Conduct
* Records Retention Policy
* Communications/Press/Media and Social Media Policies
* Publication scheme
* GDPR: Data Protection Policies 
* GDPR: Data breach policy and procedure for handling a breach 
* GDPR: Subject access request (SAR) procedure 
* Freedom of Information Requests
* Equal Opportunities Policy
* Complaints Procedure
* Whistleblowing Policy 
* Other website sections: “About”, “Contact”, “Accessibility” and “Privacy”
* Risk Management and Assessment 

It should be noted that there has been no challenge during the year on the Parish Council that would invoke the exercising of any of these policies/procedures.

13. Adoption of New Procedures:  A new Tree Management Policy has been produced and after discussion was adopted in the meeting.
14. Review of the Council’s Expenditure incurred under Section 137 
of the Local Government Act 1972 or the General Power of Competence. One expense was incurred in the year that was considered to be allowable under S.137 provisions: the purchase of the Remembrance Wreath at a cost of £20.00. This is substantially below the maximum allowable of £4864.
15. Financial Matters:
i. To approve the internal auditor for 2025-26 and approve the Statement of Assurance: It was unanimously agreed to reappoint Mrs D Gascoyne as internal auditor for the coming year. The Statement of Assurance was duly approved.
ii. To formally adopt the Annual Governance Statement 2025-26 and to set the 
dates for public inspection (Section 1 of AGAR): The Annual Governance Statement 2025-26 was adopted in the meeting and signed by the Chairman and Clerk (RFO). The dates for public inspection of the AGAR documents will be specified shortly.
iii. To formally adopt the Accounting Statement 2025-26 (Section 2 of AGAR): The Accounting Statement 2025-26 was adopted and signed by the Chairman having already been signed by the Clerk (RFO).
iv. To agree and sign the AGAR 2 Exemption Certificate (Page 3 of AGAR): the AGAR 2 Exemption Certificate was agreed and signed by the Chairman having already been signed by the Clerk (RFO).
16. To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 18 March 2026: Unanimously approved; the Chairman signed the minutes.
17. Reports from Visiting Representatives and Police Matters if any: A summary report about recent NKDC activities by Cllr J Clarke was presented to the meeting.
18. Planning Applications Received from NKDC (This may include plans received since the agenda was circulated):
i. 26/0535/HOUS| Single storey rear extension, increased roof height and addition of dormer window to create first floor bedrooms and re-roofing of garage to single pitch| 20 Southgate Spinneys, South Rauceby, Sleaford, Lincolnshire, NG34 8QF. Comments required by 04/06/26 (No objections by full Council Meeting (May). Responded to NKDC 28/05/2026).
Plans decided by NKDC since the last meeting
ii. 26/0427/HOUS| Erection of single storey rear extension, single storey rear link extension to outbuildings and internal & external alterations| Ivy House, Tom Lane, North Rauceby, Sleaford, Lincolnshire, NG34 8QW. No objections by Planning Sub-committee; NKDC approved application (approval received immediately after May meeting). 
iii. 25/1478/FUL| Proposed change of use of land from agricultural to use as a cattery and erection of a new cattery and garage. | Land to the Rear Of 72 Main Street, South Rauceby, Sleaford, Lincolnshire, NG34 8QQ. Respond no later than 22/01/26 (No objections by full Council Meeting (March) but with several comments). Responded to NKDC with comments on 22/01/2026. NKDC approved application (approval received immediately after May meeting).
19. Matters Arising and New Business: Notified to Clerk prior to meeting
i. Anti-litter campaign Some typical road signs have been sourced and pictures circulated. It was agreed to defer a decision until the next meeting. (Cllr M Ireland/Clerk). 
ii. Litter-pick event 28 March 2026 Feedback from Cllr G Enstone was that the event went well. She believes an additional “litter-picking” road sign would make the task safer. It was agreed in the meeting that a new sign should be purchased. The purchase of additional picking equipment will be considered at the next meeting.
Action (May 1): Clerk
iii. Emergency Plan progress report Cllr G Hall gave a summary report on the status of the emergency plan. Much of this was given in more detail in the preceding Open Meeting.
iv. CVS Volunteering scheme Cllr S Enstone has notified LCC of our interest in the scheme and is awaiting a response.
v. Additional speed camera on A17 Cllr S Enstone has notified Cllr R Wright (of LCC) of the issue and is awaiting a response.
vi. Road drain clearing on A17 Cllr S Enstone has notified Cllr R Wright (of LCC) of the issue and is awaiting a response.
vii. Dog waste pavement fouling (reported in March meeting) (Dog poo fairy pamphlet circulated 10/04/26). The Councillors considered installing a new dog waste bin on the bend of Main Street, near the Old Post Office. A decision is being deferred until the next meeting
viii. Request by Village Hall Committee for a donation to help finance roof repairs (email circulated 14/04/26). Events have overtaken us in that the Village Hall fund raising activities have met their financial target for repairing the roof. The Councillors agreed that we will support the VH Committee if further finance is required during the rebuild process.
ix. Update on GOV.UK email address This has been obtained and registered. It still has to be put into operation.
Action (May 2): Clerk
x. Devise a Grants and Donations policy The Clerk (as RFO) has expressed a concern that our method of awarding grants and donations may not be as transparent as maybe it should be. It was agreed that he will prepare a formal Grants and Donations policy for submission for adoption at a future meeting. 
Action (May 3): Clerk
20. Update on Outstanding Matters
i. Actions from the last meeting: 

21. Financial Matters: 
i. The financial report was approved and signed off by the Chairman.
ii. This month’s payments were approved:
Zurich (Insurance): £327.00
Lloyds Bank fees: £4.25 (2 off)
S Clegg (payroll services): £28.80
Rauceby Village Hall (Hire for meetings): £20.00
I Grady (fees): GDPR
HMRC (PAYE): GDPR
D Gascoyne (internal audit): £180.00
iii. The Accumulated Parish Council Fund (comprising Cheque and Savings accounts) stands at £22704.37 at 30 April 2026.
iv. The Savings Account stands at zero at 20 May 2026. The account matured on 18 May and the principal (£10,000) and interest earned (£235.28) were transferred back to the main cheque account. A decision will be taken later in the year whether to commence a new savings programme.
v. Annual review of Direct Debit payments (only Information Commissioner’s Office). This was reviewed and deemed appropriate.
vi. A VAT claim for £591.08 will be made with HMRC for relevant parish council expenditure over the last year. 
Action (May 4): Clerk
vii. In accordance with RPC Financial regulation 6.6; pre-agreement for payment of routine expenditure may be given. It was agreed that the following accounts can be pre-agreed for payment on invoice:
Village Hall rental costs
Payroll management costs
Grass-cutting and leaf clearing costs
Internal audit fees
LALC and NALC subscription fees
HMRC PAYE costs
Bank fees are automatically deducted from the bank account.
22. Any other business: Any matters which have arisen after the agenda was published.
i. The bus layby on Rauceby Drove has been used as a car park recently, obstructing bus access. It is considered that this is a bus company issue and should be handled by them.
ii. The overhanging tree reported some time ago (and kept as a reminder below these minutes) has been fixed and the reminder removed.
iii. A query regarding the status of the rewilding project on the conservation area owned by the Rauceby Estate on Main Street was made. Cllr S Enstone will follow up.
Action (May 5): Cllr S Enstone
23. Date of Next Meeting: The next regular meeting will be on Wednesday, 15 July 2026 at the Rauceby Village Hall starting at 19h30.
24. The meeting closed at 21h00

Reminders: Matters which have been raised in previous meetings and which may be considered further at a future date:
* S Rauceby Well refurbishment: deferred until more appropriate.
* Watching brief on requirement for EV charging points for the public and for residents who do not have off-road parking facilities (from March 2024).
* Council’s new duty to prevent sexual harassment: when more information becomes available about how compliance is to be managed the Clerk will prepare a policy document for adoption by the PC (from March 2024). 
* The Council shall keep a watching brief on the progress of the Rauceby Foundation re-wilding project at the plot of land on Main Street ear-marked for a public leisure area (from May 2024).