May 2026 Minutes (Annual Meeting)
Scopwick and Kirkby Green Parish Council
The minutes of the Annual Meeting of Scopwick and Kirkby Green Parish Council, held on Tuesday 26th May 2026. The meeting was held in Scopwick Village Hall. These are notes of the meeting until approved by the Council as a true and accurate record.
Present: Cllrs M Williams (Chair), J Flett (Vice-Chair), O Davies, C Kerrigan and D Nelson; County Councillor R Kendrick and Parish Clerk - J Sargent.
1. To elect a Chair of the Council for the forthcoming term of office.
Cllr Williams was nominated and seconded. With no other Councillors proposed, it was resolved unanimously to elect Cllr Williams as Chair of the Council for the forthcoming term of office.
2. To receive the Declaration of Acceptance of Office of the Chair.
The Declaration of Acceptance of Office of the Chair was signed by Cllr Williams and the Clerk.
3. To elect a Vice-Chair of the Council for the forthcoming term of office.
Cllr Flett was nominated and seconded. With no other Councillors proposed, it was resolved unanimously to elect Cllr Flett as Vice-Chair of the Council for the forthcoming term of office.
4. To receive the Declaration of Acceptance of Office of the Vice-Chair.
The Declaration of Acceptance of Office of the Vice-Chair was signed by Cllr Flett and the Clerk.
5. Public Forum
There were no members of the public in attendance.
Lincolnshire County Councillor
Cllr R Kendrick provided a monthly update circulated via email and provided a detailed report at the Annual Town Meeting, adding that there were issues with parking in Metheringham outside the Post Office and that LCC are carrying out extensive ongoing repairs to the 5,500 miles of roads throughout the county.
Cllr Nelson advised of roads in Scopwick, Timberland and Martin that are in desperate need of repairs. Cllr Kendrick mentioned how Highways survey roads and when a surface dressing is applied as a preventative measure. Cllr Nelson mentioned that Councillors were not updated by LCC on upcoming highways works.
Cllr Flett advised that the new curbing around the green had not yet been signed off and that it was previously mentioned that LCC would resurface the road once the curbing project had been completed. Cllr Flett queried whether this would happen. Cllr Kendrick to put some photos on fixmystreet and send them to Cllr Kendrick.
North Kesteven District Councillor
Cllr A Bailey was not in attendance and no report submitted.
6. Welcome from the Chair of the Parish Council.
Cllr Williams thanked Councillors for re-electing him as Chair and mentioned looking forward to working together again for the community.
7. Apologies for Absence.
It was resolved unanimously to accept apologies from Cllr P Frost (holiday).
8. Declaration of Interest.
None received.
9. To approve as a correct record the minutes of the full Council meeting held on Tuesday 31st March 2026.
With no matters arising, it was resolved unanimously to accept the minutes as a true and accurate record.
10. To approve the record of accounts for:
a. March
b. April
With no matters arising, it was resolved unanimously to accept the accounts submitted for consideration. A copy of the Accounts Report included as an attachment to the minutes.
11. To receive the bank reconciliation for:
a. March
b. End of Year 2025-26
c. April
The Clerk provided the bank reconciliation to keep Councillors up to date with the financial status of the Council, for information purposes only. A copy of the bank reconciliation is included as an attachment to the minutes.
12. To consider a schedule of regular payments.
This is a requirement within the Financial Regulations which can be amended throughout the year. It was resolved unanimously to approve the schedule tabled, signed by signatories Cllrs J Fleet and D Nelson. A copy will included as an attachment to the minutes and with the Financial Regulations.
13. To receive a budget review for the fourth quarter of the 2025-26 financial year.
The Clerk provided a budget review for the fourth quarter of the financial year to keep Councillors up to date with where funds are allocated within the budget, for information purposes only. No questions were raised. A copy of the budget review is included as an attachment to the minutes.
14. To receive the account summaries for 2025-26:
a. Community Account.
b. Reserve Account.
c. Combined Accounts.
The Clerk provided a summary of the Treasurers and Reserve Accounts for the fourth quarter of the 2025-26 financial year, for information purposes only. No questions were raised. A copy of the summary is included as an attachment to the minutes.
15. To approve the Annual Governance and Accountability Return (AGAR) forms for the 2025-26 financial year:
a. To approve section 1, points 1 - 10 of the Annual Governance Statement.
b. To approve section 2, the Accounting Statement.
The Clerk explained that the Annual Return had to be completed using Form 3 for 2025-26, as the expenditure had been over £25,000.00 and noted that the internal auditor marked the Council as not complying with proper practices relating to digital compliance. However, the Clerk advised that the Council have agreed to move to gov.uk email address in the current financial year and was therefore confident that the Council have put in place effective IT management. It was resolved unanimously to mark yes on points 1-8 and 10 and N/A on point 9. Cllr Williams signed the Annual Governance Statement and Account Statement.
16. To confirm the dates of the period for the exercise of public rights relating to the 2025-26 accounts commencing on Wednesday 3rd June 2026 and ending on Tuesday 14th July 2026.
The Clerk advised the accounts have to be available for 30 working days, including the first 10 working days of July and that these were the recommended dates. It was resolved unanimously to confirm the dates.
17. To approve the direct debit payments to Nest Pensions.
With no matters arising, it was resolved unanimously to approve the direct debits.
18. To appoint bank signatories.
It was resolved unanimously to appoint Cllrs Flett, Kerrigan and Nelson as the bank signatories and to remove Cllr Baumber.
19. To review policies:
a. Standing Orders
b. Financial Regulations
c. Scheme of Delegation
d. Code of Conduct
e. Reserves Policy
f. Risk Management and Risk Register
All policies were circulated with Councillors via email prior to the meeting. There were no updates. It was resolved unanimously to adopt all policies tabled for review.
20. To consider a new IT Policy.
The IT Policy was circulated with Councillors via email prior to the meeting, taken from the LALC template. It was resolved unanimously to adopt the policy.
21. To review terms of reference for:
a. Personnel Committee
b. Grievance Committee
The Terms of References were circulated with Councillors via email prior to the meeting. There were no updates. It was resolved unanimously to adopt terms tabled for review.
22. To appoint members to Committees of the Council:
a. Personnel Committee
It was resolved unanimously to appoint Cllrs Kerrigan and Williams to the Personnel Committee.
b. Grievance Committee
It was resolved unanimously to appoint Cllrs Davies and Flett to the Grievance Committee.
c. Playing Field Committee.
It was resolved unanimously to appoint Cllr Nelson to the Playing Field Committee.
d. Village Hall Committee.
It was resolved unanimously to appoint Cllr Flett to the Village Hall Committee.
23. To appoint members to areas of interest:
a. Highways and footpaths.
It was resolved unanimously to appoint Cllr Frost to monitor highways and footpaths.
b. Maintenance of grass, trees, and hedging.
It was resolved unanimously to appoint Cllr Baumber to monitor the maintenance of grass, trees, and hedging.
c. Traffic and road safety.
It was resolved unanimously to appoint Cllr Frost to monitor traffic and road safety.
d. Risk assessments and health and safety.
It was resolved unanimously to appoint Cllr Kerrigan to monitor risk assessments, defibrillators and health and safety.
e. Environment and Sustainability
It was resolved unanimously to appoint Cllr Davies to monitor environmental and sustainability issues.
24. To consider projects to use the funding to be received via the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL).
The Clerk advised just over £5,700.00 had been received in CIL funding and recommended allocating funds to the play area repairs, if the grant application was unsuccessful and for tree maintenance in the conservation area.
Cllr Flett suggested new village entrance signs to help slow traffic entering Scopwick. Cllr Davies suggested white gates with the village name plate and speed limit.
Cllr Kerrigan suggested allocating £200.00 to ramps to access the village green if a dropped curb is not installed.
It was resolved unanimously to approve funding for the play area repairs, if the grant application was unsuccessful, tree maintenance, and a ramp if a dropped curb is not installed.
25. To receive a record of previous resolutions and action points.
The Clerk provided a record of previous resolutions and action points that were ongoing and complete.
26. To confirm the date of the next meetings as Tuesday 28th July 2026.
It was resolved unanimously to hold the next Full Council meeting on Tuesday 28th July 2026, in the Village Hall.
27. To receive an update on:
a. Fosse Green Energy Solar Farm Proposals
b. Navenby Substation
c. Battery Storage, near Navenby
d. Springwell Solar Farm
Cllr Williams advised that Springwell Solar Farm have been granted planning permission by the Secretary of State, however, NKDC and LCC think they have strong grounds for a Judicial Review, which they are working through the process for. If the Judicial Review is accepted by a judge, it would mean there would be another 6-12 months of work before a final decision is made.
Whilst the Planning Inspectorate recommended that Springwell should not start before the Navenby Substation was approved, the Secretary of State overrode that. However, Cllr Williams suggested that the Judicial Review will raise this issue, as without the substation, there will be no connection to the grid. The Substation is critical to all the solar applications. Cllr Williams advised that if objections had been raised against Springwell, then objections should also be raised against the substation and suggested that the area would be turned into an industrial zone if all these projects got the go-ahead.
Cllr Williams advised that the Leoda Solar Farm application had been withdrawn but may return until further information is available on the substation.
Cllr Nelson suggested that land use changes over time, the solar project will bring growth to the area and around £300,000.00 a year in community funding.
With no further comments, Cllr Williams closed the meeting at 8:00pm.
Signed: ……………………………………………….
Chair of the Council - Cllr Marc Williams
Signed: ……………………………………………….
Parish Clerk - Jack Sargent
28th July 2026