2026 Parish Council Minutes of Meetings

DRAFT MINUTES OF POINTON & SEMPRINGHAM PARISH COUNCIL MEETING

Held on Tuesday 6th January 2026 at 7.30pm in St Gilbert Primary School

Councillors present: Cllrs Christie, Clarke, Keeley, Mansell and Wesley (Chair).

In attendance: D Cllr K Abel, R. Boden (clerk) and 3 members of public.

Chairman’s Welcome and Housekeeping Arrangements. To be noted that the meeting will be recorded for the purpose of safe guarding.

26001. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION SESSION

To receive reports from outside bodies.

- Report from C. Cllr Hill. Apologies received. No report.

- Report from D. Cllr Abel. The new D Cllr introduced himself and thanked people for voting for him. There is a meeting of the budget scrutiny committee next week but as he is not part of the committee he can not attend. His party (Reform) have asked for the meeting information pack before the meeting for them to discuss and present questions. There has been a decrease in the reserves due to costs regarding council houses. This ‘dip’ into the reserves has happened four times.

Finally, if anyone needs any help, please feel free to reach out.

Cllr Wesley stated that the Environment Agency had been forced into a corner over the flood remodelling connected with the area.

Cllr Abel agreed and also mentioned that LCC would be changing shortly as well.

- Questions or Points raised by residents and members of the public. Public questions will be held at the end of the meeting.

COUNCIL SESSION

26002. To receive Declarations of Pecuniary or Non-Pecuniary Interest. No declarations of Pecuniary or Non-Pecuniary Interest were declared.

26003. To receive and accept Apologies for Absence. It was resolved to accept the apologies of Cllrs Green and Ross.

26004. To approve the clerk’s notes for the meeting held on the 2nd December 2025 and for the chair to sign. It was resolved the approve the clerk’s notes for the meeting held on the 2nd December 2025 and for the Chair to sign.

26005. To receive an update of the RoSPA inspection and for Cllrs to discuss the outcome. The RoSPA inspection had been carried out on the 15th October 2025 by The Play Inspection Company and the report sent to Cllrs. 

Cllr Wesley asked Cllr Clarke to comment on the report. Work has started but the weather has not been kind but nothing is marked as critical. Work will resume when the weather improves and all will be rectified by the time of the next inspection.

26006. To consider the use of a handyman to complete various tasks that need finishing. A discussion was held and it was questioned if a local volunteer could be given a monetary gift for their help. This can not be done as they volunteered, but the Council can pay expenses. The volunteer would be covered by the council insurance whilst a handyman would be expected to have their own insurance.

It was resolved in principal that a handyman would be useful to complete various tasks but Cllr Wesley wanted to speak to a potential volunteer first. A list of jobs and tasks that need completing needs to be produced and Cllrs to come together to assess what they can do themselves to keep costs down.

26007. To consider sharing the cost of the Routine Inspections Course on the 24th June 2026 with examination at a cost of £260 + vat. It was resolved to share the cost of the Routine Inspections Course on the 24th June 2026 with examination at a cost of £260 + vat.

26008.  Finances:

a) To ratify the payments recorded on the agenda of 2nd December, item 10 a), of payments made between meetings. It was resolved to ratify  the payments recorded on the agenda of the 2nd December, item 10 a), of payments between meetings.

b) To receive the clerk’s report on payments between meetings

It was resolved to accept the clerk’s report on payments between meetings.

c) To approve payments as list below.

It was resolved to approve the payments listed above.

d) To note payment received from SKDC (Community cleaner grant) of £463.32. It was noted that the payment of £463.32 for the Community cleaner grant from SKDC has been received.

e) To note the donation of the Chairman’s Allowance to St Gilbert School and Christchurch for Christmas activities. It was noted that donations of £50 each to St Gilbert’s School and Christchurch have been made from the Chairman’s Allowance to go towards Christmas Celebrations.

f) To approve the bank reconciliation and for the Vice-Chair to sign. It was resolved to approve the bank reconciliation and for the Vice-Chair to sign.

g) To approve LALC as the Internal Auditor for financial year 2025 - 2026. It was resolved to approve LALC as the Internal Auditor for the financial year 2025 - 2026

h) To consider and approve the budget for the financial year 2026 -2027. It was resolved to approve the budget of £18,150 for the financial year 2026 – 2027.

i) To consider and approve the precept figure for the financial year 2026 -27. It was resolved to approve the precept of £18,150 for the financial year 2026 – 2027.

26009.  Clerk’s Report - To receive an update of developments between meetings. Since the agenda went out planning application S25/2044 has been approved. Cllr Keeley has recently attended FOI training and Cllr Green will be attending Cllr training in March. Cllr Mansell is due to attend training later in January and our community cleaner will be attending COSHH training shortly.  

26010.  To consider the purchase of extra hrs for the website, as down to last 43 mins. Cost will be 3hrs hours = £54 plus vat. It was resolved to purchase an extra 3hrs at a cost of £54 + vat for the website maintenance.

26011. Policies - To review and accept the following policies:

a) Sexual & General Harassment Policy (New). It was resolved to accept the Sexual & General Harassment Policy.

b) IT Policy (Assertion 10) (New). It was resolved to accept the IT Policy to conform with Assertion 10.

c) Subject Access Request Procedure. It was resolved to accept the Subject Access Request Procedure.

d) Absence Policy. It was resolved to accept the Absence Policy.

The policies below have been updated to cover the use of the camcorder.

e) Records Retention Policy. It was resolved to accept the Records Retention Policy.

f) Communication Policy. It was resolved to accept the Communication Policy.

g) Data Protection Policy. It was resolved to accept the Data Protection Policy.

26012. Planning matters 

a) Current

S25/2044 (Bracewell) Gosdale House, Pointon Fen, Lincs – Approved.

S25/0887 -Windy House, Sempringham, Lincs – Decision: Approved

S25/1059 - Pointon House, 25 High Street, Pointon, Lincs – Decision: Approved

S25/1450 – Gosdale House, Pointon Fen, Lincs – Decision: Approved

26013. Grant Application: To consider a grant of £249 for the recent event organised by the Village Hall Committee. It was resolved to refuse the grant application made by the Village Hall in connection with an event.

Cllr Keeley asked if the Grant Policy could be added to the next agenda for discussion. It needs to be placed on the next agenda so that it is available for financial year 2026 – 27.

26014. To update the Council on the Subject Access Request received from a member of the public on 4/12/25, seeking a full copy of the audio/video recording of the Parish Council meeting held on 2/12/25. 

A member of public requested on the 4/12/25 a full copy of the audio/video recording of the Parish Council meeting held on the 2/12/25, under a Subject Access Request. The Clerk had advised that the recording contained the personal data of several identifiable individuals, including councillors and members of the public, and that disclosure of unredacted data would not be lawful under the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018 but that she could give a transcript or written summary of their own personal data contained within it.

As there were many individuals shouting out during the meeting a transcript could not be given but a written summary of their data was produced and sent to the member of public within a month of the request. They were also given how to contact the ICO if they did not agree with the response.

The clerk was asked how long this had taken her by a Cllr. The written transcript had taken around three hours but this did not include communication with LALC or the initial email. 

26015. Date and time of the next Parish Council Meeting – 3rd March 2026

26016. Public Participation:

- D. Cllr Abel wanted to clarify that the recording should only be held 30 or 31 days depending on the month and it could not be held for 6 weeks.

- A member of public also stated that the camcorder was being used as surveillance equipment and much that the council was doing, along with the policies was incorrect. 

- Another resident asked if the clerk was the right person to carry out the playground inspection when there were seven Cllrs that could do it. It would mean that the clerk would have to travel to the village for each inspection and it would be more hours that she would need to be paid for, raising costs. The clerk added that despite what had previously been put across facebook she had never claimed for any hours to cover the SAR or previous FOIs. 

- It was expressed that the village was predominately made up of elderly residents and they could not afford the rise in budget/ precept. It was asked what the Council had in reserves and what was ring fenced money for. The clerk answered this.

- It was asked why the Council didn’t ask people what they wanted to happen to the Pavilion, as many people had attended the meeting during the summer on the field.

The meeting closed at 8.21pm.