MINUTES OF EXTRAORDINARY MEETING OF NEWBY AND SCALBY TOWN COUNCIL
held in the Community Hub, Council Office, 445b Scalby Road, Scalby,
on Wednesday, 26th January 2024 at 9am.
PRESENT: Councillors R Thompson (Chairman), D Bastiman, J Fennell, B Kendall (from 9.06am), B Marley, J Shepherd (from 9.05am), J Smith.
ALSO IN ATTENDANCE: 2 members of public (co-opted to council at various times), Mrs J Marley (Clerk to Council).
ABSENT: Cllrs. S Barnes, S Foote, R Holliday.
17/24 NON-ATTENDANCE OF COUNCILLORS
17/24.1 Apologies received from Cllrs. Foote and Holliday.
17/24.2 Reasons for absence accepted from Cllrs. Foote and Holliday (personal commitments).
18/24 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST: None to receive.
19/24 VACANCIES
19/24.1 Received application from J Shepherd for co-option to the Ordinary Vacancy (Newby Ward) created at the election by reason of insufficient nominations & agreed J Shepherd be co-opted to the vacancy and her Declaration of Acceptance of Office completed, countersigned by the Proper Officer and accepted.
At this point (9.05am) Janet Shepherd took her place at the council table.
19/24.2 Received expression of interest from a member of the public present and application from D Pickersgill for co-option to the Casual Vacancies in Newby Ward (4) & agreed B Kendall and D Pickersgill be co-opted to two of the vacancies. Declaration of Acceptance of Office by B Kendall was completed, countersigned by the Proper Officer and accepted. Council agreed D Pickersgill’s Acceptance of Office to be completed and countersigned by midnight on 14th February 2024.
At this point (9.06am) Bob Kendall took his place at the council table.
20/24 HUB EVENTS Council confirmed that the Hub remained open for bookings and the meeting space and facilities were available for hire (bookings via Council’s website or direct to Council).
21/24 SCALBY TOILETS [Minute 8/24.1 refers]– Noted report by Clerk that 1] some legal technicalities had been encountered which were delaying the lease and 2] the Toilet Trust had officially handed the toilets back to North Yorkshire Council. Council agreed it wished to keep the toilets open and to that end it authorised the Clerk to negotiate an interim agreement or Tenancy At Will with North Yorkshire Council. It was further agreed to take on the existing ways of working/contractors for the moment.
22/24 FINANCE MATTERS
22/24.1 Sirius Small Capital and Training Grant – Clerk reported there was an element of this grant which had not been used. Council agreed to refund the balance (£1,559-06), Cllrs. Smith and Thompson were to authorise the bank payment.
23/24 EXCLUSION OF PRESS AND PUBLIC
It was resolved that in accordance with section 1 of the Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960 the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the next item of business on the grounds it related to personnel/staffing, financial or legal matters.
24/24 CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS
24/24.1 Resolved that the Chairman’s confidential report be noted. Resolved that following a meeting with the Chief Executive of The Woodsmith Foundation, an external investigation was necessary to get an independent view of what had taken place as well as to protect the reputation and integrity of both the RFO/Proper Officer and the Council. Resolved that Maoni Consulting (Ian Morris) be appointed to carry out an investigation at a cost of £1,000 plus any additional costs agreed by N&STC. Resolved that it be delegated to the Clerk to enter into and sign a contract with Maoni Consulting. Resolved that the Clerk write to the Woodsmith Foundation confirming an external investigation had been commissioned and giving brief details of the scope thereof. As part of the correspondence the Clerk would place on record with the Foundation that in the period 1st June 2023 to 31st December 2023 it had not given any staff or councillors authority to hold meetings with Woodsmith or make offers on behalf of the Town Council. It was noted a further meeting would be held in February with the Foundation.
24/24.2 Staffing – Cllr. Smith reported from a meeting with Council’s HR consultants in respect of the urgent need to amend the line management arrangements (from Chairman to Proper Officer) of a staffing post. Due to ongoing issues concerning a grant to the council, the consultant had recommended that Council considered making a staffing post redundant. The Council discussed the situation at length and in depth. Resolved that the recommendation of the Council’s external HR consultant be adopted and a redundancy consultation letter be sent to the postholder.
24/24.3 Allegation (by a member of the public) of inaccuracy in a previous minute. The Clerk had obtained advice from the YLCA who confirmed it was possible to change the wording of an approved minute if it was found the approved minute was incorrect and did not reflect the proceedings of the meeting. Resolved that the Council did not wish to change the wording of the approved minute and Clerk to inform parishioner accordingly.
24/24.4 The Council considered a proposal for a solicitor’s letter to be sent to another councillor arising as the result of an outburst by a councillor at the meeting of 20/12/23. It had not been possible to action anything over the Christmas and New Year period. A firm of solicitors had now confirmed they were able to write a warning letter for the sum of £400. Council carefully deliberated the proposal. Resolved that it be reluctantly agreed that as the person was technically still a councillor (having not submitted their resignation in writing despite verbally resigning) a warning letter was not an appropriate course of action. The Clerk was instructed to inform solicitors of decision.
There being no further business, the Chairman declared the meeting closed at 10.30am.
Cllr. Richard Thompson, Chairman
Dated: 14th February 2024