A meeting of the Town Council will be held on Tuesday, 5 May 2020 starting at 19:30 hrs
The meeting will be held with participants being present through remote attendance by virtue of Statutory Instrument 2020 No 392 (The Local Authorities and Police and Crime Panels (Coronavirus) (Flexibility of Local Authority and Police and Crime Panel Meetings) (England and Wales) Regulations 2020.
In accordance with the Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960 members of the public and press are very welcome to attend the meeting.
Members of the public who would like to attend this meeting must notify the Deputy Town Clerk by telephone or email before 9am Tuesday 5 May 2020. Further instructions will be given to allow them to join the meeting on Skype. The public are invited to submit their questions or raise issues relevant to the work of the council to the Deputy Town Clerk. The overall time available for this session is restricted to 15 minutes unless the Chair decides otherwise. Individual speakers are restricted to 3 minutes and are asked not to repeat points that have been made previously. It is helpful if potential contributors can make themselves known to the Meeting Administrator when they are contacted on Skype before the meeting so that the session can be programmed effectively.
Public participation is not part of the formal meeting of the Council however a note will be made of matters raised and recorded at the start of the minutes of the meeting.
The business to be transacted at the meeting is outlined on the Agenda below. Any reports listed as “to follow” will be made available as soon as possible, and in any event at least 30 minutes before the start of the meeting.
Yours sincerely
Julie Earp
Deputy Town Clerk
AGENDA
- Apologies for Absence
To receive apologies for absence from Councillors unable to attend the meeting.
- Declarations of Interest
To receive any declarations from Councillors and Officers of interests in respect of matters to be considered at this meeting, together with an appropriate statement regarding the nature of the interest.
- Standing Orders
To consider an amendment to the Town Council’s Standing Orders to hold meetings remotely
- Minutes
To consider the minutes of the previous meetings held on 21st January 2020 and 28th January 2020.
- Motion under Standing Order No.9 Put Forward by Councillors
Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic – Virements to create an emergency fund (Mayor Philip Burton). That the Town Council considers making virements to both the 2019/20 and 2020/21 budgets to create an emergency fund to support the Town Council’s local response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic.
- Scheme of Delegation
To ratify that the Deputy Town Clerk is given delegated authority, following consultation with the Mayor and the Chair of the Resources Committee, to take any necessary steps to deal with the emerging coronavirus situation, recognising that the health and safety of staff, councillors and the public is the priority
- Co-option of Councillors
To determine, by the co-option method, the filling of 2 casual vacancies on the Town Council. The Town Council will receive presentations of approx. 5 minutes duration from interested candidates and have an opportunity to ask them questions and will then vote thereon.
- Annual Town Council Meeting 19 May 2020
The Annual Town Council Meeting was originally scheduled for 19 May 2020. The Annual Town Council Meeting is where the Town Council elects its Mayor, appoints the Deputy Mayor, agrees committee membership etc. The Government has passed new, temporary legislation due to the coronoavirus pandemic which removes the requirement for an annual meeting this year. This means that the Town Council may choose to
- Have an Annual Town Council Meeting as scheduled (provided that confirmation has been received that such a meeting can be held virtually)
- Postpone the Annual Town Council meeting to a date to be agreed
iii Postpone the Annual Town Council meeting with a date to review the postponement
iv Agree that the next annual Town Council meeting will be held in May 2021
In all but the first option the existing office holders i.e. Mayor etc continue in post until the next Annual Town Council meeting is held.
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