Policy, Resources & Communications

Minutes

HASSOCKS PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of the meeting of the Policy Resources & Communications Committee held on 1 July 2025 at 7.30pm in Parish Centre, Adastra Park, Hassocks.

Attendees: Parish Councillors Paul Shepherd (Chair), Maria Angelaki-King, Lesley Cruickshank-Robb, Frances Gaudencio,

In Attendance: Elaine Langridge (Clerk & RFO)

MINUTES

PRC25/12    APOLOGIES – Cllrs Don McBeth, Ian Weir

PRC25/13    DISCLOSURE OF INTERESTS

Disclosure by Councillors of personal interests in matters on the agenda, and whether the Councillor regards their interest as prejudicial under the terms of the Code of Conduct. – None.

PRC25/14    MINUTES

The minutes of the meeting held on 3 June 2025 were accepted as a true and accurate record of the meeting.

PRC25/15    PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

No members of the public were present.

PRC25/16    POLICIES

PRC25/17    STANDING ORDERS

The Council’s Standing Orders were last updated in two years ago and Members were asked to consider a revised draft based on a NALC template.

Cllr Gaudencio queried the following clauses:

1l – amended to direct challenges on points of order through the Chair.

3r – it was clarified that this allows the Chair of a meeting an extra vote (two votes) on a matter, if a casting vote is required

3tiii – amended to make reference to both pecuniary and personal interests

3y – amended so speakers are not required to stand

4e – amended to ‘Non-councillors who have been co-opted onto Committees’ to clarify voting rights

5f – ‘they’ was replaced with ‘she/he’

There was some discussion about the roles of the various committees as detailed in clause 4i and the following amendments were recorded:

• ‘Accepts reports from representatives of external organisations’ was added to Full Council – this was in relation to Youth Issues which was deleted from the Policy, Resources and Communications Committee (PR&C) work and will be addressed through reports to Council.
• ‘Highways and PROW Improvements’ were added to the Grounds and Environment Committee work.
• ‘Highways Matters and Issues’ and ‘Public Transport’ were removed from the Planning Committee work and replace with ‘Road Closures’ and ‘Licensing’. It was suggested that the Rail Group agenda item at Full Council be changed to Rail and Public Transport to capture any future reports.
• Budget Monitoring was added to the PR&C work.

Members discussed the strategic role of the Neighbourhood Plan Committee and agreed this is useful and it is important to ensure there is good communication and liaison between this group and the Planning Committee. Councillors also stressed the importance of updating the Developer Protocol.

Cllr Shepherd queried the deletion of the ‘Handling Staff Matters’ section.  The Clerk explained that PR&C has responsibility for Personnel & Human Resource Issues so this is covered elsewhere.  Staff have statutory employment rights and the Council could draw up HR policies if required but they do not need to be incorporated into the Standing Orders.

The Clerk asked Members if they would like to change clause 18ciii to allow the Council to receive electronic tenders but it was agreed a sealed envelope is probably more secure than email submissions.  The Council could look into joining a shared procurement service in the future but this is not a pressing matter given the infrequency of advertising tenders.

Cllr Gaudencio intends to arrange a Chair/Vice-Chair’s meeting after the revised Standing Orders are adopted to ensure the Committees are all functioning correctly and smoothly.

Members RESOLVED to RECOMMEND that Council formally adopts the amended Standing Orders

PRC25/18    FINANCIAL REGULATIONS

The Council’s Financial Regulations were last updated in two years ago alongside the Standing Orders. Members were asked to review the revised draft based on a NALC template.

The Council’s auditor was invited to review the draft and will audit the Council against the new approved version. He may have comments and recommendation about the revised processes when he does the Internal Audit in October, and the Council may want to make further changes to the Financial Regulations in the future as they should be reviewed regularly.

Clause 2.6 was reinstated in light of the proposed changes to banking signatories, to ensure proper and regular Councillor scrutiny of the payment process.

With reference to clause 4.4, it was clarified that unspent funds for completed projects will be returned to Reserves and can be used for other purposes.

The Clerk drew Members attention to clause 5.22 which summarises the suggested financial approvals thresholds.

Clause 6.1 was amended to allow banking arrangements to be agreed by PR&C, rather than full Council, as is the case currently.

Members RESOLVED to RECOMMEND that Council formally adopts the amended Financial Regulations.

PRC25/19    RETENTIONS POLICY

Members were asked to review the draft Retentions Policy.

The Clerk advised that the reason Criminal Record Bureau Checks are only retained for 6 months is due to Government Guidance for Employers and this will be added to the schedule.

Cllr Cruickshank-Robb questioned why limitation period for Personal Injury was set at 3 years.  She thought 6 years was correct, but it may be possible to back date claims, so a 10-year period was agreed, subject to further advice from the Council’s insurers.  The Clerk stated that Health & Safety documentation will be retained for 21 years or indefinitely to ensure the Council can demonstrate it has been following correct protocols with regard to play inspections, hazardous materials and accidents recording.

It was noted that the retentions policy will only be effective from the date of adoption and papers before this date may not have been retained in accordance with the policy. This policy will be very useful to inform ongoing archiving of Council papers.

 Members RESOLVED to APPROVE the amended Document Retention Policy. 

PRC25/20    ONGOING POLICY REVIEWS

Members agreed to consider the Developer Protocol, Code of Conduct and Publications Scheme, to be produced by the Clerk, at the next meeting in September.

The Clerk mentioned that Data Protection will be scrutinised as part of the audit in the future so the Data Protection Policy has additional significance and will need to be adopted before the end of this financial year.  There is training and support available to help in the production of a new policy if required.

Similarly, the Clerk has identified a company that has been recommended and can assist with the development of the Health and Safety Policy.

PRC25/21    CHANGES TO THE BANK MANDATE

The Clerk highlighted that the proposed changes would enable the office staff to process payments, under £5,000 exc. VAT and within agreed budgets, without the day-to-day involvement of Councillors.  If the updated Financial Regulations are approved by Council, any expenditure which is higher than this amount or not within the agreed budget will be presented to Council for approval, except for capital projects spending which can be authorised by PR&C.

Cllr Gaudencio stated that the role of the RFO is to manage the Council’s finances, and the role of Councillors should be monitor and scrutinise, to ensure good financial management. If the new Financial Regulations are approved there will be a monthly inspection by the Chair of PR&C or a nominated Councillor to ensure the payments process is being correctly followed.

The introduction of internet banking will negate the need for the Clerk to visit the bank in Haywards Heath to make payments which is time-consuming and inefficient.

Signatories to the bank account will have access to view transactions online and all Councillors will receive a bank reconciliation with a list of payments made at monthly Council meetings but there will no longer be an opportunity to scrutinise and challenge payments before they are made.  Councillors who are signatories will also be able to authorise payments if the Clerk is absent.

 Members RESOLVED to APPROVE the following changes to the bank mandate:

• change to double authorisation to allow staff to set up and make payments, approved by the Clerk/RFO
• set up the Clerk/RFO as the Account administrator with authority to view, set up and authorise payments
• enable all Unity Trust Bank signatories to view account transactions and authorise payments
• remove Ian Cumberworth as an authorised signatory on the Unity Trust Bank and Barclays Bank accounts

PRC25/22    CORPORATE MULTIPAY CARD

A Corporate MultiPay Card will allow the Council to make purchases online which is currently difficult and to withdraw cash at the Post Office in Hassocks, rather than going to the bank in Haywards Heath.

Members RESOLVED to APPROVE making an application through Unity Trust Bank for a Corporate MultiPay Card.

PRC25/23    DEVELOPER CONTRIBUTIONS

Members of the PR&C Committee met on 30 June 2025 to review the CIL/S106 contributions available and consider how these funds might be applied to finance the delivery of projects in the Council’s Business Plan.

There are lots of overlapping priorities and funding available, particularly for football and tennis but not other sports such as cricket or stoolball.  There is a significant amount of S106 available for the London Road Recreation Ground masterplan and information is available online regarding a consultation exercise in 2022.  The Clerk will contact Mid Sussex District Council who own the site to request a progress update.

The Ockley Park development has generated S106 contributions toward formal sport and community buildings and secured a 0.1ha parcel of land.  The Parish Council will explore options for infrastructure improvements to be funded by these contributions including an upgrade to the public toilets in Adastra Park, which are managed by Mid Sussex District Council and in need of investment.

There are also a number of potential projects identified through the South Downs National Park Authority Infrastructure Business Plan to be considered, including improvements to Stonepound Crossroads and Public Rights of Way.

PRC25/24    REMEMBRANCE DAY

A risk assessment has been prepared which will need to be signed off by the Clerk.  Details regarding the procession route need further consideration to ensure traffic management, access and safety is fully addressed.

PRC25/25    COMMUNICATIONS

Members agreed to jointly draft an article for the August of edition of Hassocks Life to include information regarding

• Adastra Park and Anti-Social Behaviour in light of recent vandalism and complaints about dog owners (Cllr Cruickshank-Robb),
• Riparian Rights to include a re-issue of the information booklet, subject to printing costs and budget (Cllr Gaudencio),
• ‘save the date’ for the Remembrance Day event (Cllr Gaudencio),
• the Mid Sussex District Council Parking Strategy proposals following a discussion with MSDC Cllr Hobbs to clarify the arrangements (Cllr Shepherd), and
• the Adastra Park drainage project (Clerk).

The copy deadline is 22 July so all drafts need to be sent to the Deputy Clerk, who will collate the material, by 15 July.

PRC25/26    URGENT MATTERS AT THE DISCRETION OF THE CHAIRMAN – None

PRC25/27    DATE OF NEXT MEETING

To note that the date of the next meeting as Tuesday 23 September at 7.30pm