Hassocks Parish Council

Agenda

A meeting of the Parish Council will be held on Tuesday 10 November 2026 at 7.30pm in the Council Chamber, Parish Centre, Adastra Park, Hassocks.

Parish Clerk 3 November 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

1.1 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 13 October 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 AGREE THE FOLLOWING MINUTES

5.1.  Planning Committee – to note the minutes of 12 October 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.  Interim Internal Audit Report – Members are requested to note the contents of the Interim Internal Audit Report 2026/27 which is set out in Appendix 2. To view Appendix 2 please click here.
In the Executive Summary, the Auditor states, ‘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. We are pleased to report that overall, the systems and procedures currently in place are appropriate and effective. While this report may include recommendations for improvement, these should not be viewed as indicators of significant deficiencies. Rather, they are intended to support the continued development of what is, in our view, a well-managed and robust governance framework.’

9.3.  Data Protection Briefing – Members are required to undertake Data Protection training to comply with the audit requirements (Appendix 3). To view Appendix 3 please click here. 

9.4. Unbudgeted Expenditure – under Financial Regulations 5.17, ‘No expenditure may be authorised that will exceed the budget for that type of expenditure other than by resolution of the council.’ The 2026/27 Adastra Play Equipment – Repairs & Renewals budget (4110/181) has been fully spent and further maintenance is needed to fulfil the Council’s ongoing Health & Safety responsibilities. Members are therefore requested to APPROVE a release of £1,500 from the General Reserve to increase this budget.

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

11. DATE OF NEXT MEETING

To note that the date of the next Council meeting is Tuesday 8 December 2026.

EXCLUSION OF PUBLIC AND PRESS

Members are asked to RESOLVE that in view of the confidential nature of the following items, the press and public be excluded under section 1(2) of the Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960. If any members of the public or press are in attendance they will be requested to withdraw from the meeting in the public interest.

Confidential Matters:

12. Confidential minutes

12.1.  To accept the minutes of the Extraordinary Parish Council meeting held on 5 October 2026.

 13.  ALLOTMENT PROVISION (oral report)

 14.  ADASTRA PARK PUBLIC TOILETS – Councillors are asked to select their preferred design from the two costed options presented (Appendix 4) to enable the project to proceed.

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:  10 November 2026

Subject:  Finance – Agenda Item 7

Summary of accounts on 2 November 2026 – reconciliation reports (Appendix A).  To view Appendix A please click here.

Members are requested to:

a)  To AUTHORISE the list of payments in the sum of £40,193.22 issued between 1 – 31 October 2026 from the Unity Current Account (7654) (Appendix B). To view Appendix B please click here.

b)  To AUTHORISE the list of payments in the sum of £1,452.29 issued between 3 September – 2 October 2026 with the Corporate Purchasing Card (0651) (Appendix C). To view Appendix C please click here.