Approved minutes Annual Finance Meeting 2026

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THE ANNUAL FINANCE MEETING FOR BOZEAT PARISH COUNCIL WAS HELD ON MONDAY, 12^th JANUARY 2026 AT BOZEAT TLC, DYCHURCH LANE, BOZEAT, NN29 7JP, STARTING AT 7pm.

PRESENT: – Cllrs Skittrall [Chairman]; Docker; Duckles; Gibbins; Pollard; Pritchard; Steel and Todd.  Cllr Cooke arrived during the course of the meeting.

PUBLIC: – No members of the public were present at the meeting.

It was resolved to accept apologies for absence received from Cllrs Brown and Foward, Cllr Cooke to arrive during the course of the meeting.

2. Declarations of interest.

• Cllr Duckles declared a pecuniary interest in agenda item 5a and a non-pecuniary interest in agenda item 5b.
• Cllr Gibbins declared a non-pecuniary interest in agenda item 17b.

3. Employees.
4. review of salaries: –

• Clerk/Burial Registrar – noted that the Parish Council reflects the national pay awards for local government employees. Cllr Docker proposed that a 2.5% increase in salary be paid backdated to 1^st April 2025.  This was agreed.
• Allotments Manager – noted that an increase in salary was awarded from 1^st April 2025 it was agreed to make no change this year.

1. PAYE – noted that all Parish Council employees are employed and that PAYE is operated.
2. Pensions – noted that the requirements of the Pensions Regulator have been fulfilled.

4. Cemetery.

• Review of Cemetery fees. It was agreed to defer a decision on fees pending research on the fees being charged in other local cemeteries. It was further agreed to consider introducing a deposit system for grave space reservations in order to protect the council against a reduced income in the future.
• Review of Cemetery guidelines. It was resolved to make no changes at this current time.

5. Allotments.
6. Review and set the rents for the year 1^st January – 31^st December 2027. Noted that the council had agreed that rents for 2027 would be the same for all tenants, regardless of age.  Having considered the number of plots, potential income and potential expenses for the allotments, Cllr Skittrall proposed that the rent for a half plot from 1^st January 2027 be set at £21 with the rents for a full plot being set at £42.  This was agreed, with 1 abstention.
7. Review of Allotment guidelines. Agreed to make no change at this time.

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1. Review of the Allotment Tenancy agreements. Noted that agreements were reviewed and revised in January 2025 and agreed to make no change at this time.

6. Review of insurance cover.

Amendment to the current policy were noted and the addition of the new village hall to be investigated.

Cllr Cooke arrived at this point in the meeting.

7. Review of policies.

Noted that amendments had been made to several policies during the year.  It was agreed to make the following amendments: –

• Code of Conduct policy to add a note that all members are expected to confirm that they will adhere to the Council’s adopted Code of Conduct.
• Debit Card policy – to add a note that the council’s debit card is not to be used for online purchases due to financial security concerns.
• Community Engagement/social media – to note that this requires updating to reflect changes of the council’s use of social media etc.
• Village Events Protocol – to add a note that any licences required are obtained.
• Website policy- to add approved policies to the list of documents that may be uploaded.

8. Review of risk assessments and schedule.

It was agreed to note the following: –

• Bleed boxes were added to the risk assessments during the year.
• Water troughs to be added to the Allotments assessments.
• Tree safety assessments were completed in the cemetery during 2025.
• Seat 1 in the Cemetery assessments has been renamed the Coronation Seat for ease of identification.
• The council has entered into a contract to have the MUGA cleaned annually.
• All grit bins were checked in December 2025.
• A new planter has been ordered for the Village Green and will need to be added to the assessments when installed.
• Annual risk assessments are now overdue, agreed to arrange for these to be done soon.

9. Review of Terms of Reference.

It was agreed to make the following amendments: –

• To note that there are two allotment representatives so all references have been pluralized.
• Agreed to adopt the draft BEES terms of reference.
• Change the word “must” to “should” and note that any concerns should be reported via representatives to the spokesperson.
• For the Chairman, add a line about 100^th birthday greetings.
• Agreed to adopt a draft Community Engagement/social media, noting that this is currently under revision.
• For the Highways Representative, change the word “will” to “should” and add liaising with Highways Officers.
• For the Rights of Way/Parish Paths Warden – amend the reference to the current local authority.

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• Agreed to adopt the draft Skateboard Ramp Working Party terms of reference.
• Agreed to remove Town Well Trustees from the terms of reference.
• For the Village Events Working Party, update to cover the annual summer fete and compliance with the law and insurance cover.
• Agreed to adopt the draft Village Green Representative terms of reference.
• For the Website Working Party, add revisions to policies to the list of documents that may be uploaded.

10. Review of additional Standing Orders.

It was agreed to make the following amendments: –

• Item 5 – amend wording to “after Local Government elections”.
• Item 16 – amend all references to electronic mail to email and preferred method to email unless considered inappropriate.
• All following items to be re-numbered.

11. Review of the Parish Plan Action Plan.

It was agreed to make the following amendments: –

• Separate out completed actions from outstanding actions.
• Under Community/Social, add brownies, cubs etc. as closed groups and Open Fires as a group now running.
• Under Environment, amend the wording to “grants for Pocket Parks are no longer provided”.

12. Review of GDPR documents and report any data breaches.

Noted that NorthantsCALC acts as Bozeat Parish Council’s Data Protection Officer.  No amendments to documents were recommended and no data breaches reported during 2025.

13. Review of the Emergency Plan.

No amendments noted.  Noted that a new Emergency Plan was adopted in 2024 and this is displayed on our website and has been shared with nearby parishes.

15. Review of the effectiveness of internal controls for audit purposes.

Current controls and procedures were noted and it was agreed that internal controls are effective.

16. Review of the Training Policy.

Training courses attended by members of the council during 2025 were noted.  Noted that a budget is available for any training courses requested.

17. Precept for the year 1^st April 2026 – 31^st March 2027.
18. Bozeat Playing Field Association – it was agreed to include funds in the budget towards costs incurred by Bozeat Playing Field Association.
19. Village Hall – it was agreed to include funds in the budget towards set up costs for the new village hall.
20. Review of all budgets – a detailed review of all budgets was carried out.

Cllr Cooke then proposed that Bozeat Parish Council requests a Precept of £44760 for the financial year beginning 1^st April 2026.  This was seconded by Cllr Steel and unanimously agreed.

There being no further business, the meeting was declared closed.

Signed by the Chairman, 16^th February 2026.