Minutes of a Meeting of Parish Council held on Thursday 7th March 2019 at 7.00pm in the Village Hall at Colmworth

Present: Cllr. E. Pegler, Cllr. L. Knight, Cllr. P. Ball, Cllr. T. Frew, Cllr. G. Palmer, Cllr. B. Brightman (arrived at 7.30pm), L. Crawford (Clerk), Mayor Dave Hodgson (for the Open Forum), Borough Cllr. Tom Wootton (from 8pm) and two members of the public.

2019/016. Apologies None

2019/017. Declarations of Interest and Confirmation of Changes to Registers of Interest None.

2019/018. Approve the minutes of the Parish Council meeting on 10th January 2019 Having been previously circulated the minutes were approved as an accurate record of the meeting. Proposed by Cllr. E. Pegler and seconded by Cllr. P. Ball.

2019/019. Public Open Forum

Mayor Dave Hodgson confirmed that average speed cameras will be installed in Colmworth in 2019.

He explained that these cameras measure the average speed over a length of road, rather than measuring it at a fixed point. This means they have a greater long-term effect on how fast people choose to drive rather than just slowing down for a speed camera. They also help drivers choose a more appropriate lower speed across the road network.

The Borough Council does not make money from the cameras, with the fines being retained by Central Government but the Mayor is campaigning for the fines to be retained by the Council for road safety improvements.

He thanked the Parish Council for their offer of a £10,000 contribution and explained that in the average speed had reduced from 39mph to 29mph after similar cameras were introduced.

Parish Councillors thanked the Mayor and expressed their delight at the news.

The editor of the Chronicle (John Douglas) offered to distribute some fliers to publicise the news about the speed cameras with the newsletter.

The Mayor also explained that he supported route D for the East West rail route (which goes through the rural villages to the north of . This is because it would provide a station in Bedford town and it would not take up valuable building land to the south of Bedford.

2019/020. Average Speed Cameras (ASCs) • Cllr. L. Knight explained that Bedford Borough Council Highways Department had agreed to install data recorders before and after installation to measure the difference the cameras make. She reported that Bedford Borough Council Highways Department would conduct a full road survey of the village to establish the best

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locations for the cameras. She then expects them to advise the Parish Council of the location of the ASC’s after the survey is completed. • The Clerk will contact Bedford Borough Council to see whether some of the pledges can be paid direct to the Borough so that the Parish Council turnover does not exceed £25,000 which would necessitate changing our accounting system and would incur external audit fees. • It was agreed that the Clerk should publicise the news on the website, PC Facebook, the Trumpet and in the Chronicle.

2019/021. Events • Litter pick Saturday 9th March 10am meeting at the Triangle. 20 sets of equipment will be delivered to Cllr. T. Frew.

2019/022. Ward Report • Borough Cllr. Tom Wootton’s report

Black Cat Upgrade

Following a public consultation which received over 4000 responses, Highways has announced the preferred option to upgrade the Black Cat roundabout and the selected route for a new bypass between the junction and Caxton Gibbet in Cambridgeshire.

The roundabout is to be reconfigured as per the below diagram taken from the Highways England website. The junction will become three-tier, with the A1 passing beneath the junction and the A421 over it.

The preferred route for the bypass is provided below. Highways England is of the view that it will remove traffic from the A428 to and reduce rat running on local roads. The estimated cost of the project is £810m - £1.4bn. For more information see https://highwaysengland.co.uk/projects/a428-black-cat-to-caxton-gibbet/

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Bromham Road Bridge

It has been confirmed by Network Rail that it will begin demolishing and reconstructing the railway bridge over Bromham Road in the town centre on the 4th March. This work is being undertaken to enable the electrification of the Midland Main Line.

Pedestrian access will still be allowed, but the road will be partially closed, meaning that drivers will need to follow a diversion via Clapham Road. It is likely that these works will cause disruption across the town.

Council Website

You may have seen that the Council has a new website as of December 2018. A feature of the new site is the inclusion of ‘customer journeys’ which aim to make it easier to report or discuss certain issues. For example, residents can now report potholes, graffiti and noise nuisance using the website. New customer journeys are undergoing testing and are being added to the site incrementally. See www.bedford.gov.uk

Green Bins

The Council is reminding residents that green waste collections resumed on the 1st March. Collections days can be found at http://apps.bedford.gov.uk/bcs/search.aspx

Voter Registration

Borough residents have until the 12th April to register should they wish to vote in the local elections on the 2nd May. Details of how to register can be found at https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote

The election on the 2nd May will be for the Mayor, Borough Councillors and Parish Councillors.

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Advice for Families

The Borough Council has a website which provides advice on a range of services designed to support families including child behaviour support, early years and childcare and youth clubs. For more details see https://earlyhelp.bedford.gov.uk/home.aspx

Power Cut Support for Vulnerable People

UK Power Networks (UKPN), the organisation responsible for maintaining electricity lines and cables, is raising awareness of a scheme to assist vulnerable people in the event of a power cut.

Pensioners, families with young children and people with disabilities, health conditions or special needs can be provided with accommodation, meals and home visits if necessary.

Applications to join UKPN’s Priority Services Register can be submitted via www.ukpowernetworks.co.uk/priority, 08001699970 or [email protected].

Cllr Tom Wootton: 07771575227 / [email protected]

• Ward Fund o Cllr. T. Frew proposed that the remaining funds for the planter on the Triangle (£230.72) be set aside in an earmarked reserve to be used by the Gardening Club to create a “Green Man” sculpture and to purchase bulbs. Seconded by Cllr. L. Knight. The motion was passed. o Village Hall projector. £374.99 has been received from the Ward Fund and the purchase was approved with the other receipts and payments. o Cllr. L. Knight explained that the church would want to consider changing the gates to the churchyard and wondered if it might be a suitable use of Ward Funding in 2019. Cllr. T. Frew suggested that the gates needed a maintenance regime. Councillors agreed that the church should apply for Ward Funding directly rather than through the Parish Council. • Ward Forum. Cllr. L. Knight o Police. Cllr. L. Knight reported that the police officers attending was not aware of the proposal by Katherine Holloway for Parish Councils to fund PCSO’s for £31,200 per year but they said that they would find out more about it. PC Kerry Jones suggested that more special constables would be helpful in the villages of north . Borough Cllr. Tom Wootton reported that some parishes in other parts of the country had funded PCSO’s and found that they saw very little of them as they were drawn into policing other areas. and are investigating the possibility of engaging a private security firm to reduce burglaries. o Speeding. There was some discussion about average speed cameras and how to get them along with mobile speed indicators and what to do with the data. o Infrastructure. Roxton are holding discussions with Highways England about noise abatement and landscaping of the Black Cat roundabout. Wilden were concerned about the proposed northern routes for East West rail which appeared to go through / close to their village.

2019/023. Planning • The Clerk reported that Solar Farm is due to commence construction in May.

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2019/024. Highways, Rail and Rights of Way • Preferred option announcement for A428 Black Cat to Caxton Gibbet scheme. This was reported under 2019/022: Ward Report. • Consultation on East West Rail. Cllr. L. Knight proposed that the Parish Council support Route B for the reasons given by the Council for the Protection of Rural England (available on the parish website https://colmworthparishcouncil.bedsparishes.gov.uk/assets/documents/cpre-briefing- east-west-rail). Cllr. E. Pegler seconded this proposal and Councillors voted unanimously in favour. Cllr. G. Palmer agreed to respond to the consultation on behalf of the Parish Council. • Church path. Cllr. E. Pegler and Cllr. L. Knight met with Kate Abrahams (Church Warden) before the Parish Council meeting. She explained that the letter which suggested that the Parish Council should share responsibility for the church path (dated 2009) was outdated and that she would arrange for a new letter to be written to supersede it to explain that the Parish Council do not have any responsibility for maintaining the path. She will present this to the Parochial Church Council for St Denys for their approval. • Apparatus licence for planter on the Triangle. Bedford Borough Council provided a licence for permission to position the wooden planter on the highway verge. Cllr. L. Knight proposed that this be accepted and Cllr. E. Pegler seconded the proposal. The Clerk signed the licence.

2019/025. Finance • All documents listed below were circulated to Councillors in advance of the meeting. o Receipts and payments and the schedule of payments for March 2019 and for the forthcoming financial year. These were examined in advance of the meeting by Cllr. L. Knight and Cllr. G. Palmer who proposed them for payment / approval. They are listed on p6. o The bank reconciliation was checked against the bank statements by Cllr. L. Knight and is presented on p7. o Reserves were allocated and the new reserve for the Gardening Club green man sculpture and bulbs was noted and presented on p8. Earmarked reserves are funds set aside for a specific purpose. These can only be reallocated to another purpose if the council passes a resolution to do so. Available reserves = total balance in the accounts less the earmarked reserves. This should be between 50-100% of our annual precept at the end of the financial year (ie. £6,835-£13,670). By 31st March 2019 we expect to have £10,576.74 of available reserves so this is well within the recommended range. o The performance against budget was reviewed and is presented on pp. 9-13. The parish council are forecast to underspend on our regular budget (which comes from precept) by £685. Other payments were met from other income (such as grants) or from earmarked reserves. Cllr. L. Knight proposed that the money saved on training (£90) be earmarked to be used towards an accounting package for the Clerk such as Scribe (£275 per year). The Clerk will add this to the next agenda for consideration. o The Financial Regulations were reviewed and the new payments account was added. • Standing orders were set up for grass cutting and for the Clerk’s salary. • Barclays have approved the mandate change for Cllr. G. Palmer and he will request access to online banking shortly.

2019/026. Police and crime • Crime reports were reported by the Clerk and are available on the parish website.

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• Parish Councillors were not in favour of funding a PCSO or paying for private security and felt that should be providing this service and that rural areas should not have to pay twice.

Colmworth Parish Council Summary of 2018/19 Transactions for Approval at Meeting on 7th Mch 2019

Receipts to Main Parish Council Account 73419584

Date Payee Details Payment type Amount 09/01/2019 ASC donor 2 Donation towards ASC Credit £500.00 14/01/2019 HGV donor 4 Donation towards HGV signs Credit £100.00 21/02/2019 HGV donor 5 Donation towards HGV signs Credit £500.00 07/03/2019 Country Park cash receipt Proceeds from guess the pond depth event Credit £28.00 07/03/2019 Bedford Borough Council Ward fund for VH projector Credit £374.99 07/03/2019 T. Frew Donation towards Village Hall projector Credit £20.01 25/03/2019 HMRC VAT refund Credit £1,111.76 Total £2,634.76

Payments from Main Account 73419584

Date Payee Details Payment type Amount 24/01/2019 NEST Clerk's pension 2nd Jan to 1st Feb Direct Debit £68.40 28/01/2019 NEST Clerk's pension 2nd Feb to 1st Mch Direct Debit £68.40 28/01/2019 L. Crawford Clerk's salary Jan 2019 Standing order £342.91 04/02/2019 Beds & Cambs Whole Home MaintenanceJanuary play area inspections BACS £20.00 04/02/2019 Currys PC World Business Computer, printer & software for Chronicle BACS £863.38 11/02/2019 1&1 Ionos Internet Colmworthpc.org.uk e-mail accounts Direct Debit £1.19 21/02/2019 Opus Energy Electricity for street lights 6th Jan - 5th Feb Direct Debit £29.55 25/02/2019 Bedfordshire Association of Town and ParishVAT training Councils Old Warden (Clerk) BACS £20.00 25/02/2019 Bedfordshire Association of Town and ParishVAT training Councils (Clerk) duplicate payment (error)BACS £20.00 25/02/2019 Naturescape Bluebells in the green BACS £120.55 28/02/2019 L. Crawford Clerk's salary Feb 2019 Standing order £342.91 28/02/2019 NEST Clerk's pension 2nd Mch to 1st April Direct Debit £68.40 04/03/2019 Beds & Cambs Whole Home MaintenanceFebruary play area inspections & works BACS £30.00 07/03/2019 L. Crawford Clerk's expenses Jan-Feb Cheque £22.92 07/03/2019 Bedford Borough Council HGV signs BACS £3,000.00 07/03/2019 Cartridge Save Yellow ink cartridge BACS £91.03 07/03/2019 F. Frew Sack barrow for gardening club Cheque £12.99 07/03/2019 F. Frew Sundries for Country Park Cheque £23.97 07/03/2019 Colmworth Village Hall Hall hire invoice Apr-Jun BACS £37.00 07/03/2019 W T Saunders Moss control less £55.11 credit BACS £160.80 10/03/2019 PC World Business Projector for Village Hall BACS £474.00 11/03/2019 1&1 Ionos Internet Colmworthpc.org.uk e-mail accounts Direct Debit £1.19 20/03/2019 Bedfordshire Association of Town and ParishVAT training Councils refund of duplicate payment Refund -£20.00 21/03/2019 Opus Energy Electricity for street lights 6th Feb - 5th Mch Direct Debit £26.65 28/03/2019 L. Crawford Clerk's salary Mch 2019 Standing order £342.91 Total £6,169.15

Transfers Date Recipient / Payee Details Payment type Amount 04/02/2019 CPC paymts acc to main Transfer to check authorisation OK Transfer £1.00 04/02/2019 CPC paymts acc to main Transfer to check authorisation OK Transfer -£1.00

Posted balances after the above transactions clear Main Parish Council Account 73419584 £18,586.75 Chronicle Account 10232793 £0.00 Payments Account £10.00 Total £18,596.75

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COLMWORTH PARISH COUNCIL BANK RECONCILIATION 1st APR 2018 TO 5th Mch 2019 Date of bank statem't 05/03/2019 Line of cash book: 158 9 Prepared by Mrs. Lucy Crawford, Parish Clerk BARCLAYS DATE Main Account 73419584 Receipts Payments Transfers Balance 01-Apr-18 Balance bf £15,142.74 Posted balance 05-Mar-19 per accounts £21,253.34 £17,537.70 £13,306.33 £1,879.23 £21,253.34 Unpresented cheques / uncleared payments: None

Balance as per 05-Mar-19 bank statement £21,825.20 Posted balance - 05-Mar-19 cleared balance -£571.86 05-Mar-19 Balance cf £21,253.34

BARCLAYS Chronicle Account 10232793 Receipts Payments Transfers Balance 01-Apr-18 Balance bf £2,619.23 Posted balance 05-Mar-19 as per accounts £- £78.00 £808.00 -£1,889.23 £0.00 Balance per 05-Mar-19 bank statement £- Posted balance - 05-Mar-19 cleared balance £- 05-Mar-19 Balance cf £-

BARCLAYS Payments Account 50579823 Receipts Payments Transfers Balance 01-Apr-18 Balance bf £- Posted balance 05-Mar-19 as per accounts £10.00 £0.00 £0.00 £10.00 £10.00 Balance per 00-Jan-00 bank statement £10.00 Posted balance - 00-Jan-00 cleared balance £- 00-Jan-00 Balance cf £10.00

SUMMARY OF ALL ACCOUNTS Receipts Payments Transfers Balance 01-Apr-18 Balance bf £17,761.97 Balance per 05-Mar-19 accounts £21,263.34 £17,615.70 £14,114.33 £- £21,253.34 Balance per 05-Mar-19 bank statements £21,835.20 05-Mar-19 Balance cf £21,253.34

Public Works Loan for Country Park. Loan Number 494311 Opening Balance Principal Outstanding Repayments to Closing Balance Outstanding 01/04/2018 05/03/2019 05/03/2019 £14,565.56 £692.31 £13,873.25 7

March 2019

Reserves (changes highlighted)

Date of Parish Council Meeting: 07 March 2019

Transfers to / Funds Expenditure from Current up Funds Fund Name Reserved Income to reserve from reserve to Reserved Comment

01/04/2018 07/03/2019 07/03/2019 07/03/2019 07/03/2019

Transparency code fund £179.65 £41.66 £137.99 For software for Clerk's computer

Insurance excess £250.00 £250.00

Hedge cutting £100.00 £100.00 £0.00 Used in autumn 2018

Tree surveys and works £0.00 £150.00 £150.00 To be used for tree survey in 2019

Spent £19.91 for wildlife posters in the hide & £100.46 for bluebells (£78.31 from remaining donations for J. Hutchings, remainder covered by some of the income Country Park £1,078.31 £28.00 £120.37 £985.94 from guess pond depth £28) Neighbourhood Plan (if grant funds don't cover) £1,000.00 £1,000.00 CPC Traffic calming / street light £1250 used for HGV signs installed in replacement £3,400.00 £1,000.00 £1,250.00 £3,150.00 Wilden Road in Jan 2019 HGV Sign donations £0.00 £1,250.00 £1,250.00 £0.00 Purchased Mch 2019 Average Speed Camera donations £0.00 £1,000.00 £1,000.00 Training £0.00 £0.00 £250.00 £250.00 For Clerk's Core Skills course

Elections £750.00 £750.00

Ward fund for planter. Bulbs purchased July, Triangle planter Sep, perspex Nov, Garden Club £320.77 £207.52 £113.25 lights Dec

Planter purchased Dec 2018. Remainder Garden Club Ward Fund (for to be spent on green man sculpture May planter 2018) £391.67 £160.95 £230.72 2019 Funds transferred to hall and Chronicle equipment & projector purchased. £20.01 Ward funding for Chronicle & Hall £0.00 £1,580.03 £1,580.03 £0.00 £0.00 donation from T. Frew for projector

Projector cost £395. £374.99 from Ward Donation towards VH projector £0.00 £20.01 £20.01 £0.00 £0.00 Fund and £20.01 from donation Remaining Chronicle funds transferred to Chronicle £2,619.23 £78.00 £808.00 -£1,889.23 £0.00 unearmarked reserve.

Total earmarked reserves £9,697.96 £5,347.71 £5,538.54 -£1,489.23 £8,017.90

The figure shown for 7th March is actually the predicted figure for 31st March after all payments and expected receipts approved Available reserves £8,064.01 £10,576.74 on 7th Mch clear. Figure for 7th March is end of year Total reserves £17,761.97 £18,594.64 prediction.

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Budget Report Mch 2019

Actual Year to Budget Year to Forecast Year to Forecast less 31st Mch 18 £ 31st Mch 19 £ 31st Mch 19 £ budget Comment REGULAR RECEIPTS Brk'dn Total Brk'dn Total Brk'dn Total Precept 13,406.00 13,670.00 13,670.00 0.00 Council Tax Support Grant 21.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 Beds Borough Council phased this out Total Regular Receipts 13,427.00 13,670.00 13,670.00 0.00 Should cover regular payments OTHER RECEIPTS

Chronicle advertising 1,434.00 1,220.00 78.00 -1,142.00 PC Chronicle closed - reopened independently Interest 0.00 0.00 Ward Fund for planter (£391.67) recorded under Gardening Club - remainder under Gardening Club Reserve 496.52 0.00 391.67 391.67 "Ward Fund" Country Park Reserve 377.50 0.00 28.00 28.00 Guess the pond depth competition Ward Fund for planter (£391.67) recorded under Gardening Club receipts. Ward Fund for Chronicle used to purchase and donate a computer & software to Chronicle, taps, insulation and a projector for the Ward Fund 1,061.29 0.00 1,580.03 1,580.03 Village Hall. Transparency Code Grant 1,395.05 0.00 0.00 0.00 Grant available 2017/18 not in 2018/19 Other 0.00 20.99 20.99 Refund for software purchased in 2017/18

£1250 towards HGV signs. £1000 towards AS Donations / sponsorship 250.00 2,270.01 2,270.01 Cameras. £20.01 towards Village Hall projector Donations for village gates 1,250.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 Neigh'd Plan 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 No grants received since 2015/16. Fayre Proceeds 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 No fayre held in 2016 - 2018. Total Other Receipts excl VAT 6,264.36 1,220.00 4,368.70 3,148.70 Total Receipts excl VAT 19,691.36 14,890.00 18,038.70 3,148.70 Where receipts are below the budgeted amount the figure is shown in red. Where receipts are as per budget they will be zero and where they are higher than budget they are positive figures in black.

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Actual Year to Budget Year to Forecast Year to Forecast less 31st Mch 18 £ 31st Mch 19 £ 31st Mch 19 £ budget Comment REGULAR PAYMENTS In 2017/18 3 hours per month were met from Transparency Code grant (in other payments). In 2018/19 7 hours per week will all be met from precept), 2% increase in pay. Forecast exceeds budget by £318.48 because March 2018 salary was Clerk's Salary & Pension 3,838.46 4,719.78 5,038.26 318.48 paid in April 2018. £18 HWA* Budgeted for £7 travel per month in 2018/19 but it exceeded this (extra meetings). Clerk's employment expenses (staff cost) 272.70 300.00 342.00 42.00 Budget £10 in future? Budgeted for £2 postage and £2 other sundries = £4 per month. Printing & most stationary Clerk's other expenses 12.89 48.00 25.63 -22.37 now under admin (buy direct to reclaim VAT) PAYE 80.60 0.00 0.00 0.00 No PAYE expected 2018/19 Total of Clerk's regular employm't costs & expenses 4,204.65 5,067.78 5,405.89 338.11 Sum of figures above Travel to meetings, printing etc. None Councillors expenses 0.00 50.00 0.00 -50.00 claimed. Loan repaym't 1,355.90 1,355.90 1,355.90 0.00 We budgeted for 5 courses x £30 (2 x LC, 3 x Cllrs) + £275 towards Clerk's Core Skills course (shown under transfers to reserve at end of Training 78.40 150.00 60.00 -90.00 regular payments).

Budgeted £560 + £58 for extra public liability insurance for cutting, £236 for moss & weed control, £100 for hedge cutting (plus £100 from reserve see other payments) plus 2% increase from 2017/18. Extra £100 hedge cutting due to increase in cost since 2016 but we have not Grass & Hedge Cutting (playing field) 796.00 972.32 959.00 -13.32 needed all 10 grass cuts due to dry weather. Fixed price for three years but small increase Insur'ce 576.36 577.00 590.51 13.51 due to additional assets purchased. No external audit costs in 2018/19 budgeted Audit costs 160.00 100.00 50.00 -50.00 £50 each of two internal audits. Only did one. Budget: Street lights £288 and triangle lights Power (Street lights & Triangle lights) 286.63 303.00 286.99 -16.01 £15 but Triangle lights will not be charged. Where payments are higher than the budgeted amount (ie. there is an overspend) the figure is a positive figure in red. Where payments are at or below budget they will be zero or a negative figure in black. 10

March 2019

Actual Year to Budget Year to Forecast Year to Forecast less 31st Mch 18 £ 31st Mch 19 £ 31st Mch 19 £ budget Comment REGULAR PAYMENTS CONT. Unbudgeted cost. Found out we were responsible for some backdated invoices. £126 Maintenance costs / Defibrillator maintenance 0.00 0.00 252.00 252.00 yr in future budgets.

We budgeted: street light maintenance £100, £200 other eg noticeboards, dog bins, repairs to street lights, gates, vehicle activated signs. Only needed to General Maint'ce, Inspection & Repairs 83.30 300.00 70.74 -229.26 pay for post, concrete & paint for Triangle dog bin Annual Play Area Insp'ion (ROSPA) 77.00 77.00 77.00 0.00 Budgeted for repairs and maintenance to play area £200, annual bark top up £200. In fact £148 bark, £110 parts & sundries, £73 edging boards, £209 Playing field / play area m'nance & consumables 393.45 400.00 541.00 141.00 cradle seat. Budgeted £150 for sundries, £200 for fuel to cut paths, £120 for set of mower blades, £300 for cutting meadows plus £165 other costs eg extra cut. In fact £99 sundries,£320 to cut paths, and Mark Ibbett was Country Park 975.35 935.00 418.97 -516.03 able to cut meadows for free.

HGV signs (£2500 total). £1000 from this yr regular payments budget. £250 from reserves & £1250 from Traffic calming / street light replacement 1,000.00 1,000.00 donations are listed under "Other Payments".

Used last year. Transferred to reserve this year (see Regular tree works 150.00 "transfers to reserve" below). Budget: BATPC £93, CPRE £38, SLCC £56 (shared Subs 181.00 187.00 185.50 -1.50 between 2 Councils) Budget: £80 payroll, £38 info commissioner, £175 print cartridges, £20 other stationary, £50 other. In fact ink £222, stationary 31, payroll £72, info comm Admin 375.23 363.00 359.44 -3.56 £35 N'hd Plan costs excluding grant funded costs 48.50 217.00 0.00 -217.00 No meetings Colmworthpc.org.uk e-mail domains started April Website & e-mail costs 7.14 0.00 11.88 11.88 2018 (99p per month) Budget assumed 50 hours at £8 per hour plus a 2% Handyman for play area insp'tion and increase in Sep 2018. In fact a pay rise to £10 ph general m'tnance 282.00 405.00 447.00 42.00 was awarded in May 2018 so slightly over budget. Now being invoiced in advance so 2nd quarter Vllg Hall Hire 161.50 155.00 186.75 31.75 invoice paid in March 2019 (£37 extra). Churchyard maintenance 200.00 300.00 300.00 0.00 eg manuals and reference materials for Clerk. Not Literature & info 36.75 30.00 0.00 -30.00 needed. Where payments are higher than the budgeted amount (ie. there is an overspend) the figure is a positive figure in red. Where payments are at or below budget they will be zero or a negative figure in black. 11

March 2019

Actual Year to Budget Year to Forecast Year to Forecast less 31st Mch 18 £ 31st Mch 19 £ 31st Mch 19 £ budget Comment Extra for Chronicle printer (£1.21). Remainder Contingency 0.00 300.00 1.21 -298.79 purchased with Ward Fund We are forecast to underspend on our regular budget by £685. Underspends: £516 Country Park (meadows cut for free, no additional costs), £299 contingency not required, £229 general maintenance, £217 for Neighbourhood Plan costs not required, £90 training, other underspends (expenses, training, audit, power etc.) £123. Overspends: £318 March salary paid late in this years accounts, defib. contract £252, play area £141 (replacement swing seat), £141 other overspends (travel, e-mail domains, Handyman rate Total Regular payments 10,429.16 13,245.00 12,559.78 -685.22 increase, hall hire). Transfers to reserves Training 0.00 275.00 250.00 For Clerk's core skills course Tree works 150.00 150.00 Traffic calming / street light replacement 1,000.00 Total transfers to reserves 1,000.00 425.00 400.00 Total Regular Payments & Transfers to Reserve 11,429.16 13,670.00 12,959.78 -710.22 ** Under and overspend figures are a comparison of the forecast against the budget. The figures given in the comments column are approximate. For exact figures see the breakdowns above. Where payments are higher than the budgeted amount (ie. there is an overspend) the figure is a positive figure in red. Where payments are at or below budget they will be zero or a negative figure in black. OTHER PAYMENTS Budgeted to print 4 issues at £275 each, £80 software, £40 print cartridges and postage. Actually Chronicle 1,118.15 1,220.00 808.00 -412.00 handed over in April Met from Transparency Code grant and reserves in 2017/18. In 2018/19 all of the clerk's 7 hours /wk Additional hours for the Clerk 474.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 will be paid out of precept. Software 0.00 41.66 41.66 Paid by Transparency Code Grant Laptop & software for Chronicle, projector & taps etc Ward fund donations 900.21 0.00 1,580.03 1,580.03 for Village Hall. Contribution to projector from donation 20.01 Other Assets Purchased (excl GC & CP & Traffic reserves) 3,536.27 0.00 0.00 0.00 2017/18 bench, plaque, & owl box. Covered by Country Park (spending from reserves) 349.19 0.00 120.37 120.37 donation. 2018 bird posters for hide & bluebells. Gardening Club (Triangle m'nance, bulb planting etc) 176.71 0.00 207.52 207.52 Bulbs & sack trolley covered by G. Club funds Gardening Club (assets purchased) 133.32 0.00 160.95 160.95 Planter purchased using Ward Fund HGV signs. £2500 total. £250 from reserve, £1000 from regular Traffic calming budget (listed in regular H'ways & street light reserve 50.00 0.00 1,500.00 1,500.00 payments above), £1250 from donations. From reserve. We put £100 aside to use to cut hedge Hedge cutting 0.00 100.00 100.00 in alternate years. 12

March 2019

Actual Year to Budget Year to Forecast Year to Forecast less 31st Mch 18 £ 31st Mch 19 £ 31st Mch 19 £ budget Comment OTHER PAYMENTS CONT. Neighbourhood Plan (grant funded expenses) 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 No grants in 2017 or 2018 to date Picking up grass (playing field) 2017 only 360.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 No need in 2018 Exceptional tree work 530.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 None expected Extra churchyard m'nance (extra payment due to no payment in 2015/16) 100.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 Other payments are met by other receipts or reserves eg GC or CP funds, donations, Chronicle advertising, Total Other Payments 7,727.85 1,220.00 4,538.54 3,318.54 grants. VAT is reclaimed and therefore excluded from budget. Total payments £2633 higher than budget due to other unbudgeted payments met from other income or reserves (£3319) less the underspend in TOTAL PAYMENTS EXCL VAT 18,157.01 14,465.00 17,098.32 2,633.32 our regular budget of £685 TOTAL PAYMENTS & TRANSFERS TO RESERVE 19,157.01 14,890.00 17,498.32 2,608.32

We received £710 more in precept income than our REGULAR SURPLUS / DEFICIT (includes regular payments and transfers to reserve out of transfers from precept to reserve) 1,997.84 0.00 710.22 710.22 precept (eg for training and tree works). Equal to changes in reserves (we spent £190.83 more than we received as new income in reserves) plus £20.99 other income from software refund. This figure excludes any transfers of precept income to earmarked reserve as these are covered in the OTHER SURPLUS / DEFICIT -1,463.49 0.00 -169.84 -169.84 regular surplus figure above.

TOTAL RECEIPTS LESS TOTAL We received £540 more income than our PAYMENTS & TRANSFERS TO RESERVE 534.35 0.00 540.38 540.38 payments or regular transfers to reserve. Where payments are higher than the budgeted amount (ie. there is an overspend) the figure is a positive figure in red. Where payments are at or below budget they will be zero or a negative figure in black. *HWA = Home Working Allowance We are forecast to underspend on our regular budget by £685 (£710 once you include transfers to reserve). Underspends: £516 Country Park (meadows cut for free, no additional costs), £299 contingency not required, £229 general maintenance, £217 for Neighbourhood Plan costs not required, £90 training, other underspends (expenses, training, audit, power etc.) £123. We also transferred £25 less to the training reserve than planned. Overspends: £318 March salary paid late in this years accounts, defib. contract £252, play area £141 (replacement swing seat), £141 other overspends (travel, e-mail domains, Handyman rate increase, hall hire). Other spending of £4539 was met from other income or spending from earmarked reserves.

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2019/027. Country Park, Playing Field, Gardening Club and Triangle • The Clerk presented the weekly inspection reports for the Playing Field / Play Area for examination by Councillors. These are sent to the Clerk by Martin Phillips on a weekly basis. • Mr and Mrs Timms have offered to pay for electricity for the Triangle lights in December 2018 up to the meter reading on 10th January. The Clerk will write a letter of thanks. The offer applies up to 10th January 2019 and the Clerk will continue to send meter readings and offer to make payment in future years. • Review the Playing Field lease agreement. The agreement was circulated before the meeting for review by Councillors. The Clerk has requested a copy of the signed lease and she has asked for confirmation from Adlams that the lease has been registered with the Land Registry as per the lease agreement.

2019/028. Asset inspection and document check • The asset register was revised by the Clerk and replacement values for assets were updated and the new HGV signs added. Cllr. E. Pegler requested that the Clerk find out how much could be saved by insuring fewer assets eg. by increasing the excess and not insuring any items under the excess. • Cllr. B. Brightman will inspect the assets and Cllr. T. Frew offered to support her in this task. • Having been previously circulated the street light inventory was approved as an accurate record (the inventory has not changed in the past year). • Inspection of documents in R. Squire’s garage. The Clerk has inspected these archived documents which may be of use to the Parish Council but would not be accepted by Bedford archive. They are still in place, secure and dry. • Archiving documents. The Clerk has an appointment with Bedford archive on 17th April to deposit documents of historic interest. • Defibrillator update. The batteries were replaced on 12th February 2019 and need to be replaced again in 2023. The pads need to be replaced in September 2019. Andrew Dewey is still kindly inspecting and maintaining it for us.

2019/029. Handyman • The contract with Martin Phillips was reviewed and the trading name was changed from “Beds and Cambs Whole Home Maintenance” to “Martin Phillips” and the hourly rate was updated.

2019/030. Nomination papers for the election • Councillors completed nomination packs / papers for the Parish Council election. The Clerk will submit these to Bedford Borough Council in person on 27th March 2019. None of the members of the public present wished to stand for election.

2019/031. Broadband and Mobile Coverage • Broadband meeting with Alistair Burt (MP) 1st March. (Report submitted by D. Michell)

Notes on a meeting to discuss Superfast Broadband implementation in N.E. Bedfordshire. 1st March 2019 Introduction The meeting was convened by Alistair Burt (M.P. for NE Bedfordshire) following concerns from various parish Councils about poor broadband service. The meeting was attended by: Alistair Burt, Trish Etheridge (Digital Programme Manager, Council), Justine Ives (Bedford Borough Council, Business Growth Manager), Carl Sproston (Senior Partnership Manager. Openreach), Cllr Tom Wootton, Sam MacKewn (senior Parliamentary Assistant to Alistair Burt) and 70-80 Parish Councillors covering N.E. Beds.

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Trish Etheridge gave a summary of progress to date and more details can be found on the BBC website https://www.bedford.gov.uk/business/projects-infrastructure/broadband/ - alternatively, see attached download from the website. She indicated that BDUK2 Project to install fibre to the cabinet (FTTC) was complete and there was a short extension to the BDUK3 Project fibre to the premises (FTTP), which will be complete by June 2019. These projects would enable 96.8% superfast broadband coverage but as the area includes major conurbations of Bedford, & Milton Keynes, which comprise many premises with 100% coverage, many rural areas may not benefit from a superfast fibre upgrade because it is not cost effective to install the infrastructure.

Carl Sproston (Openreach) summarised the situation as follows: 1. Commercial Build i.e. BDUK2 & 3 projects, will be completed by June 2019 and no further superfast upgrades are planned. 2. New build properties in developments of 30 or more houses will receive FTTP broadband at no cost to the property owner. So new builds will be future proofed. 3. Invitation to Tender (ITT) intervention areas have been identified by the Borough Councils where it is strategically important to install superfast where the normal Commercial Build criteria (essentially, cost per premise) were not met. 4. Community Fibre Partnerships - This scheme is for low population areas that do not meet the criteria above, e.g. see https://communityfibre.openreach.co.uk/ In essence local communities can get Superfast by paying the difference between the estimated cost and the maximum cost per premise, allowed under commercial build rules. N.B. companies and residential properties can team up to take advantage of Government Voucher Schemes and other grants (see website). It does not have to be in partnership with BT OpenReach, there are other providers.

Questions arising The meeting was opened to questions from the councillors.

A number of Councillors complained that although they have got Superfast, the download speeds have fallen short of 24Mb/s.

Many councillors complained about difficulties in communications with BT Open Reach to ascertain what upgrades are planned for areas without Superfast. BT tell people to speak to their ISP but they are unable to answer the enquiries satisfactorily. Sam Mackewn said that she had good contacts within BT OpenReach and offered to help councillors to obtain information/address problems.

Many councillors complained that the rules, by which decisions to install Superfast were made, were far from transparent and often appeared illogical e.g. a fibre cabinet was installed in a village, which had capacity to serve only 2/3 of the premises!

A councillor challenged the Borough Councils regarding the lack of quality control in the delivery of Superfast i.e. they appear to have no independent measure of whether BT is delivering the promised speeds and quality of service.

Councillors, who are farmers, complained that they were expected by the Government to run their business using online services but desperately slow speeds made it impractical. They were considering digging trenches to install fibre themselves.

Councillors from , & Parish were very angry about their broadband speeds (typically <2Mb/s).

I enquired what plans there were to upgrade black spots in Colmworth Parish including Channels End, Dacca Farm and Colesden Road. It would seem that the answer is none! The only option is a Community Fibre Partnership.

I enquired about new technology to provide a lower cost solution for Superfast in smaller communities e.g. Fibre to the remote node (FTTrN). For more details see https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2014/09/diagram-bts-new-fttrn-broadband-technology-

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works.html Carl Sproston (Openreach) said that FTTrN was available subject to the cost per premise rules. This may be a solution to upgrading Channels End.

Conclusions 1. BDUK 2 & 3 projects are nearly complete and if Superfast is not available to order in your area now, you will not get the high speed service unless you take advantage of the Community Fibre Partnership scheme. 2. It would appear that because it would be prohibited under state aid regulations, Parish or Unitary Councils would not be able to support, financially, any Superfast infrastructure. 3. Colmworth Parish Council should consider collaborating with Wyboston, Chawston & Colesden Parish Council to achieve the critical mass to make it economic to install Superfast in Channels End. Perhaps we should carry out some market research to establish whether residents and companies (Dacca Farm) would be prepared to make a contribution to the cost of upgrade?

David Michell tel 01234 376861 [email protected]

It was resolved that the Clerk should invite parishioners at Channels End to nominate a “Broadband Champion” to take the Community Fibre Partnership proposal forward. The Clerk will put an invitation in the next Chronicle and on Facebook / the Chronicle etc. Proposed by Cllr. E. Pegler and seconded by Cllr. L. Knight.

• Mobile coverage. The Clerk received an e-mail from a parishioner asking what is being done to improve the poor mobile phone coverage in the village. He asked what the government is doing to force mobile phone providers to share infrastructure, or offer a roaming service, in order to offer a decent voice service to villages, without wasteful duplication of transmitter/receiver masts. The Clerk forwarded this to Alistair Burt MP in advance of the broadband meeting and received the following reply:

“Firstly, we recommend signposting people to the Ofcom website, which has a ‘mobile availability checker’ and shows which network you can get the best signal on: https://checker.ofcom.org.uk/mobile-coverage.

In terms of what the Government is doing, it set licence obligations in 2014 to ensure all four mobile network operators (MNOs) delivered outdoor voice coverage to 90% of the UK, and I understand this was met by March 2018. The Government has also reformed the Electronic Communications Code to encourage investment in the rollout of digital infrastructure by making development cheaper. The reforms will help expand current and future digital networks. Mobile planning laws have also been reformed in England to provide new rights, for example, to build taller masts.

These reforms will drive connectivity and Ofcom are also progressing new licence obligations to target rural coverage. An Accord was also signed last year to help the Church encourage wider use of its buildings and land to support improved connectivity in rural areas.

Ultimately, it is a decision for individual MNOs on where they deliver coverage based on business needs and how it fits in with their network plans. To understand what plans MNOs have for the Colmworth area specifically, you could approach individual MNOs to see if they are planning to deploy or enhance mobile infrastructure in or near to the area, and you could invite them to meet with the parish council and discuss further; particularly if there are potential sites that may be useful for MNOs to site their infrastructure.”

Councillors were conscious that any approach to mobile operators to improve coverage might lead to proposals to site a mast nearby. They agreed to consider this in more detail before deciding whether to discuss it at the next meeting.

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2019/032. Software and e-mail domain renewal It was resolved to approve the following payments: • 1&1 domain for colmworthpc.org.uk domain for up to £12 per year (from the software / e-mail budget in 2019/20). • renewal of the following software for the Clerk’s laptop out of the software reserve remaining from the Transparency Code fund 2017/18: o Virus check up to £20 o MS Office 365 Personal up to £50

2019/033. Clerk’s hours • The Clerk is working considerably more than the 7 hours per week for which she is paid. Following a request from Councillors she has submitted a record of the hours worked over the past year. It was resolved that she should supply a breakdown of the hours worked in the next month to help inform Councillors how best to address the issue.

2019/034. Overview and Scrutiny Committee • It was resolved that the Council would like the committee to look at rural policing.

Date of Next Meetings: • Annual Parish Meeting Thursday 9th May 2019 7.30pm • Annual Parish Council Meeting Thursday 16th May 7.30pm

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