Minutes of the meeting of Perton Parish Council, held at Perton Civic Centre on Monday 14th June 2021, 7.00pm

PRESENT:
Councillors K Elder (Chairman), AA Bourke, D Glynn (Vice- Chairman), Mrs PA Allen, N Caine, P Davis,
Mrs A James C Rathbone, J Sherlock, J Turner, Mrs B Walters, Ms S Wilkes.

Parish Clerk Mrs B Hodgetts
Assistant Parish Clerk Mrs L Higgins
Members of the public – Thirteen
Staffordshire County Councillor J Abrahams
Chief Inspector Wain and PCSO A Price (part of meeting)

22/21 – PUBLIC OPEN SESSION
Several members of the public raised the following issues :
River Penk clearing of weeds and desilting of lakes, lack of grounds maintenance, grass cutting, rats, litter, speeding, broken glass, geese/dog fouling, pot holes, management of traffic islands, broken bridge in bluebell wood, damaged traffic signs.
The Chairman informed the residents that South Staffordshire Council are in the area completing grass cutting this week and they have agreed to cut back some vegetation to aid the rat issue. Some areas of Perton are left as meadow grass to encourage wildflowers.
Lower lake has not been completed for approximately 14 years.
Anti-social behaviour is a problem. Chief Inspector Wain informed residents that if criminal damage is in progress e.g. smashing glass then it should be reported to 999, if the offenders have moved on then it is 101 or alternatively message through the website or social media. Twitter posts are regularly updated.
Chief Inspector Wain confirmed that speeding is a problem throughout the district.
The County Councillor present will look at the County matters. The Parish Council will request that the footpath sweeper spend some time around the lake and nearby footpaths. The damage to the bridge will be reported again to South Staffordshire Council.
Resolved to move standing order 3f) to allow further public participation.
23/21 – APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Apologies received and noted from Cllrs R Bradley, Mrs L Dew, Mrs R Heseltine.
24/21 – POLICE MATTERS AND REPORT
A written report received from PCSO A Tooth was available for the members.
Chief inspector Wain addressed the council. The main priority is the cross border crimes includes county lines drug dealing.
Also ASB is as problem, it is also a geographical issue but is reviewed every week. Additional operations have been set up to be proactive which have had fantastic results.
Crime is South Staffordshire is down by 8% against this time last year while in lockdown.
The ability for PCSO’s to issue parking tickets was raised, it was thought the power was removed nationally some years ago.

25/21 – DECLARATION OF DISCLOSABLE PECUNIARY AND OTHER INTERESTS
a) Declaration received from Cllr D Glynn for item 28/21 transaction number 4329
b) Councillors were reminded to review their Declaration of Disclosable Pecuniary Interest. Resolved Clerk to email declarations for revision.

26/21 – REQUESTS FOR CODE OF CONDUCT DISPENSATIONS
a) No requests for dispensation received.
b) Code of Conduct – Resolved to delay adoption of the revised code until South Staffordshire Council have approved and adopted it.
27/21 – MINUTES
a) Resolved that the minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held on 10th May 2021 were a true and correct record and signed by the Chairman.
b) Noted for information the minutes of the following committees:
• Management committee held on 19th May 2021
• Finance Committee held on 8th June 2021

28/21 – FINANCE
a) Paid Expenditure Transactions between paid between 01/05/21 and 31/05/21

Cheque Tn no Gross amount Details
DDbRates05 4320 £1435.00 South Staffordshire Council Rates – May
DDbWebsite 4321 £30.00 Kalidescope Website & Email Hosting/Maintenance
BacsReimRH0 4322 £38.93 National Association of Local Councils Staff Training
BacsAERepair 4323 £249.00 Acquiesce Environmental Compliance Ltd Repairs to Heating System
Bacs2ndPR05 4324 £300.00 Perton Rainbows Grant – Agenda Ref: 171/20 a
DDbASH05 4325 £149.30 Ash Waste Services General & Recycle Waste
BacsDTE05 4326 £108.00 Down to Earth Grass Cutting to Playground – April
BacsSGS05 4327 £439.20 S G S Systems Limited Remedial Works on Emergency Lighting
BacsWCT05 4328 £3690.00 Westcotec Ltd Portable Speed Sign and Bracket
BacsSPCAT05 4329 £50.00 Staffordshire Parish Council’s Association Cllr Training – Be a Better Councillor
BacsAE05 4330 £84.00 Acquiesce Environmental Compliance Ltd Legionella Monitoring & Testing May
BacsPEN05 4331 £2,769.90 Staffordshire County Pension Fund Pension – April
BacsIR05 4332 £2,514.90 Inland Revenue Tax & NI – April
BacsElec05 4333 £417.76 Eon Next Electricity Electricty Supply 1st – 30th April
BacsBT05 4334 £72.54 British Telecom BT Telephone & Broadband – April
BacsGAS05 4335 £572.25 Contract Natural Gas Ltd Gas Supply – April
BacsAmazon0 5a 4336 £138.54 Amazon Laptop Docking Station and Cable
BacsBRS 4337 £210.42 Black Rose Solutions Limited Internal Audit
BacsHalls05 4338 £141.82 Halls SMS Hand Towels, Centre Feed & Toilet Rols
BacsCTUK05 4339 £82.80 Ceiling Tiles UK Ceiling Tiles
BacsESPO05 4340 £144.72 ESPO Stationary & Cleaning Materials
BacsAmazon0 5b 4341 £42.32 Amazon Acer – Projector Mount Kit
BacsRHReimb 05b 4342 £203.21 Screwfix Direct Electrical supplies
BacsRHReimb 05c 4343 £239.98 Currys PC World TV Bracket and HD TV
BacsSalaryM02 4344 £9,331.50 Salaries Month 02 (May)
DDbDMR05 4345 £169.87 Siemens Qtrly Lease – May to July
Total £23,625.96

a) Cash book received and noted for information, copy attached to these minutes.
b) Income statement received and noted for information.
c) Expenditure and budget to date received and noted for information.
d) Resolved to allow the continued use of BACS payments with payment schedule emailed to councillors weekly.
e) Concessionary room hire request from Perton Girl Guiding Groups. Resolved to approve the concessionary rate for both 3rd Perton Rainbows and 3rd Perton Guides.
29/21 – FINANCIAL ACCOUNTS
a) Internal Auditors report – No concerns raised by the auditor. Resolved to approve the Internal Auditor Report received for 2020/21. The council also thanked the office staff for the hard work to complete the year end.
b) Accounts for Year Ending 31st March 2021 – Resolved that the Annual Accounts for year ending 31st March 2020, having previously been distributed be approved.
c) Annual Governance Statement – Resolved that the Annual Governance Statement having previously been distributed be approved. The Chairman and Clerk signed the statement.
d) Annual Accounting Statement – Resolved that the annual accounting statement having previously been distributed be approved. The Chairman and Clerk signed the statement.
30/21 – HOT WATER AND HEATING SYSTEM
Issues with the hot water and heating system are complex. A full survey of the system has been completed. Resolved to form a small working party consisting of Cllrs Mrs P Allen, N Caine, K Elder, and D Glynn to look at the issues and take further advice. Recommendations to be brought back to Full Council in September.

31/21 – MINUTE BOOKS
The signed minutes from 2002 are currently stored in ring binders. Resolved to have all minutes bound at a cost of £29.50 plus post and packaging per book.
32/21 – STAFFORDSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL
a) County Cllr Abrahams addressed the council. An update on the ANPR camera for the bus lane was given. The camera has been ordered, County Highways will be liaising with Wolverhampton for delivery in the autumn.
A further report on the crossing and traffic light reconfiguration on the A41 will be forwarded to the clerk as soon as possible.
County Cllr Abrahams has been chasing up work required on overhanging trees and Ivy at the entrance to Perton on the Bradshaws side.
Flooding in Dippons Lane, County Cllr Abrahams will organise a site meeting with relevant parties to discuss further.
Pot hole reporting, use the mystaffs app as well as online. The more an issue is reported, gives more leverage for repairs.
Cllr Abrahams will look at the issues regarding the chicanes with County Highways at a meeting scheduled for 30th June.
b) Flooding at Dippons Lane – A brief update was provided but no further information available.
c) Chicanes at Severn Drive and Parkway/St. Andrews – the issues will be looked at by County Cllr Abrahams as above.

33/21 – SOUTH STAFFORDSHIRE COUNCIL
a) South Staffordshire Council verbal reports were noted for information.
Cllr P Allen – verbal report
Discussion on the local plan and boundary commission continues
South Staffordshire Council are back to face to face meetings. A tour of the new offices shows it has all been done to a very high standard.
Cllr AA Bourke – verbal report
A conversation with other councillors highlights additional educational requirements are not put in place for new housing developments.
County Cllr Abrahams to confirm if Academies are entitled to any of the s106 education funding
The boundary review is continuing to look at the number of Councillors and parish boundaries.
Cllr P Davis – verbal report
South Staffordshire Council have confirmed that grass cutting will commence this week in Perton.

Cllr N Caine – verbal report
A lot of emails have been received regarding grass cutting and over hanging trees. There are some issues with the housing association land. Dog fouling is still a problem especially in Browning Grove and around the lake. Resolved the clerk to request the footpath sweeper visits the area.
b) Rats are still a problem in Perton not just around the lakes. A meeting with representative from South Staffordshire Council was held. Some further ground works were agreed. Perton First School agreed to complete some ground works on their land, but nothing heard from Lakeside Medical Centre who had been approached several times.
County Cllr Abrahams has agreed to help where possible.
c) Climate Change Locality Forum. The revised date for the meeting is September. Resolved to defer this item to the July agenda.
d) Boundary review Consultation – the Boundary Commission are looking at the ward boundaries within South Staffordshire. There will be approximately nine District Council seats less at the next election in 2023. Perton will almost certainly lose one councillor. The review would like to see wards roughly the same size throughout the county at 2133. Several options on how to split the wards equally were discussed. Resolved to discuss again at the July meeting to formulate a Council response.
The general consensus was to retain Kingswood and Trescott within Perton parish. It was agreed that the roads should be used as ward boundaries.
e) Asset of Community Value – Resolved to submit the application to South Staffordshire Council for the Pear and Partridge.
34/21 – REPORTS
a) Weekly clerks reports having previously been distributed were noted for information.
b) Environmental report – the Chairman updated the council on the Great Perton Spring Clean. 27 residents volunteered. Other organisations have also litter picked various locations There are spare litter pickers if anyone would like one.
9.30pm Resolved to move standing order 10a x) to allow further time to complete the agenda.

35/21 – TRAFFIC ISLAND
There is an issue of maintenance on the south traffic island. The volunteer who did look after the island is no longer able to do it. Some members of the council will meet up and discuss the options. The clerk informed the meeting that the caretakers would also be willing to help as there is spare capacity within their weekly hours.
Resolved a small group to meet and look at what is needed. The Civic centre caretaker to be included and the clerk to obtain a quote for tidying it up from South Staffordshire Council.
9.37pm Councillor P Davis leaves the meeting
36/21 – WORKING PARTIES/COMMITTEES
a) To agree membership of the following working parties :
I. Health & Safety – Cllrs Mrs B Walters, Mrs P Allen, Clerk to contact Mrs R Heseltine and
Mrs L Dew to confirm they would be happy to join the working party.
Further advice required Clerk to contact District Council and Health & Safety consultants, they may join a zoom meeting.
II. Youth
III. Skatepark
Resolved that the youth and skatepark working parties be joined to form one. Members to include the following councillors
J Sherlock, S Wilkes. To contact R Bradley to confirm he is still happy to sit on this working party. An invitation to join to be sent to every parish councillor. Hopefully PCSO A Tooth will continue to be involved.

b) Committees to become working parties. Following discussion it was resolved to retain the committee structure
c) Policy review – Resolved that each committee will review their relevant polices making recommendations to Full Council for ratification
37/21 – DATE AND TIME OF NEXT MEETING
Full Council Meeting of the parish Council – Monday 12th July 2021 at 7pm, Perton Civic Centre

Meeting closed at 9.49pm

Crime & Disorder Implications Section 17 of the Crime & Disorder Act 1998
Where relevant any decisions made at the Parish Council meeting have taken this duty of care into consideration.

Signed ………………………………………………………………… Date: …………………………………………
Chairman