Hassocks Parish Council

Agenda

A meeting of the Parish Council is being held on Tuesday 9 June 2026 at 7.30pm in the Council Chamber, Parish Centre, Adastra Park, Hassocks.

Parish Clerk 3 June 2026

Members of the public are encouraged to come to the meetings and there is an opportunity for them to address the Council relating to the non-confidential items on the published agenda. A period of 15 minutes will be set aside in item 4 Public participation. It may be necessary to consider particular items in confidential session and where this arises, these items will be considered at the end of the agenda.

AGENDA

1. APOLOGIES

1.1         To accept Apologies for absence

2. DISCLOSURE OF INTERESTS

2.1         To deal with any disclosure by Members of any disclosable pecuniary interests and interests other than pecuniary interests, as defined under Hassocks Parish Council’s Code of Conduct and the Localism Act 2011, in relation to matters on the agenda.

3. MINUTES

3.1         To accept the minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on 12 May 2026.

4. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

Up to fifteen minutes will be available to allow for the public to make representations, answer questions or give evidence in respect of any items of business included in the agenda, in accordance with Standing Orders.

5. TO ACCEPT THE FOLLOWING MINUTES

5.1. Planning Committee – to agree the minutes for 27 April 2026 and note the minutes for 18 May 2026

5.2. Grounds & Environment Committee – to note the minutes for 7 May 2026

5.3. Policy Resources & Communications Committee – to note the minutes for 28 April 2026

6. REPORTS

6.1. Police Report

6.2. West Sussex County Councillor

6.3. Mid Sussex District Councillors Report

6.4. Rail and Public Transport Matters

6.5. Community Initiatives

6.6. Reports from Councillors on meetings with outside bodies where the Council is Represented.

7. FINANCE – Members are required to approve financial report and authorise the lists of payments (Appendix 1).

8. CHAIR’S REPORT

8.1. Current matters (oral report).

9. CLERK’S REPORT

9.1. Current matters (oral report).

9.2. Rialtas Accounting Modules – the Council is currently charged £304 exc. VAT for an Allotments Module which is not being used but because we are in a contract until 16 August 2027, we cannot stop the annual payments. Rialtas have agreed that we can transfer this to an Asset Inventory Module which costs £275 per annum plus a one-off set up fee of £779 for the software and initial training (Appendix 2). This will be useful as the Clerk intends to update the Council’s Asset Register during the coming financial year. The costs can be covered through the Website and IT Support budget. To view Appendix 2 please click here.

10. INTERNAL AUDIT REPORT 2025/26To receive and note the contents of the Final Audit Report for the year ending 31st March 2026 (Appendix 3). The internal audit tests and reports on whether systems of internal control are adequate and working satisfactorily. The attached report sets out the work undertaken by the auditor together with any findings and recommendations. The Internal auditor noted ‘Our testing did not identify any procedural errors requiring reporting to the external auditor at this time, nor did we observe any material weaknesses in internal controls that would pose a risk to public funds. In fact, the processes and procedures together with own built in compensating controls are robust, strictly followed and in many respects a model of good practice.’  The Audit Report makes one recommendation – that the Council completes a data audit during 2026/27 to comply with GDPR regulations. To view Appendix 3 please click here.

11. ANNUAL GOVERNANCE AND ACCOUNTABILITY RETURN.Members are required to consider and APPROVE the Annual Governance and Accountability Return (AGAR Form 3) for the year ending 31 March 2026 as follows:

11.1. Annual Internal Audit Report 2025/26 (Appendix 4). To view Appendix 4 please click here.

11.2. Annual Governance Statement (Section 1) (Appendix 5). To view Appendix 5 please click here.

11.3. Accounting Statements, certified by the RFO (Section 2) (Appendix 6). To view Appendix 6 please click here.

12. LOCAL GOVERNMENT REORGANISATION CONSULTATION
The Government have launched an additional phase of consultation on the options for local government reorganisation in Sussex (Appendix 7). The consultation closes on 15 June and Members are asked to consider the Council’s response. To view Appendix 7 please click here.

13. URGENT MATTERS AT THE DISCRETION OF THE CHAIR for noting and/or inclusion on a future agenda.

14. DATE OF NEXT MEETING
To note that the date of the next Council meeting is Tuesday 14 July 2026.

FILMING, RECORDING OF COUNCIL MEETINGS AND USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA
During this meeting members of the public may film or record the Committee and officers from the public area only providing it does not disrupt the meeting. The Confidential section of the meeting may not be filmed or recorded. If a member of the public objects to being recorded, the person(s) filming must stop doing so until that member of the public has finished speaking. The use of social media is permitted but members of the public are requested to switch their mobile devices to silent for the duration of the meeting.

APPENDIX 1

HASSOCKS PARISH COUNCIL

Committee Meeting:  Full Council

Report of:  Parish Clerk

Date:   9 June 2026

Subject:  Finance – Agenda Item 7

Summary of accounts on 31 May 2026

Members are requested to:

a)  To AUTHORISE the list of payments in the sum of £275,204.85 issued between 1 – 31 May 2026 from the Unity Current Account (7654) (Appendix A). To view Appendix A please click here.

b)  To AUTHORISE the list of payments in the sum of £55.50issued between 1 – 31 May 2026 from the Barclays Current Account (2114) (Appendix B). Appendix B

c)  To AUTHORISE the list of payments in the sum of £280,000.00issued between 1 – 31 May 2026 from the Barclays Current Account (3548) (Appendix C). To view Appendix C please click here.

d)  To AUTHORISE the list of payments in the sum of £93.38issued between 1 – 31 May 2026 with the Corporate Purchasing Card (0651) (Appendix D). To view Appendix D please click here.

e)  To note the investment in the CCLA PSDF investment fund (Appendix E). To view Appendix E please click here.

f)  To note the investment in the Virgin Money fixed term deposit account (Appendix F). To view Appendix F please click here.