Clerks Report Week Ending 04.10.2024

Introduction
Every week Councillors will receive a Clerks Report which will also be on the Noticeboard and the website. This will contain details of what the Officers have been working on and a review of anything Committees have decided at their meetings.
If Councillors have any questions they need to contact me directly in order have them answered.
Committees
The Finance Committee met on Monday evening, the initial budget discussions took place, and the Committee has put together a draft budget. This will be circulated to Councillors in the coming month, please do not be alarmed this is only the early stages. The Finance Committee have decided the Council will no longer accept cheques as a payment method as of 1 January 2025. The Officers are going to look into obtaining a card machine as this is cheaper than paying a member of staff to visit a local bank.
The Finance Committee are an oversight Committee, and it is their job to ensure processes and procedures are being followed effectively. With is in mind the Committee voted to allocate different areas of oversight to individual members, this is called the ‘Councillors Champions Scheme’. The champions for each area are listed below;
• Cllr Martin Taylor-Smith Environment Champion
• Cllr John Austen Communication Champion
• Cllr Clare Escombe Internal Operations Champion
• Cllr David Lloyd-Owen Assets and Procurement Champion
• Cllr Patrick Norman Facilities and Leisure Champion
If you have any queries relating to the items above then contact the relevant Champion, they will then work with the Officers to build a solution.
The External Audit report was received and noted by the Committee, Cllr Taylor-Smith Chairman of the Finance Committee was very pleased with the progress and improvement that has been made.
The Facilities and Services Committee will be meeting 7.15pm on Monday 7 October 2024 and the Events Committee will meet at 7.15pm Wednesday 9 October 2024, an update on these decisions will be included in next weeks report.
Cemetery
On Monday the Clerk and Deputy Clerk, along with Cllrs Cory and Lloyd-Owen carried out a visit to the cemetery. The Officers and Councillors made a note of the graves which will need work done due to the large oak tree which came down in the winter. This means items 1 and 2 of the workstream identification tracker are well underway.

Streetlights
We are receiving all correspondence in relation to streetlights however the maintenance company we use are not the quickest in finding a resolution. We appreciate there are a few that need attention and as soon as we know more we will pop the update in this report.
General Administration
The Officers have been working on the meeting preparations for both the Facilities and Services Committee and Events Committee. The Clerk has been working on the grant application for the repair and work needed on the war memorial and working on the tender document for the village wide grounds maintenance tender. The Clerk has also completed the application for the Multipay Card, this will give protections to staff when making purchases on behalf of the Council. The limit on the card matches the Clerks delegated authority detailed in the Financial Regulations. The Deputy Clerk has managed to find a company to test the area at the KGV which suffered contamination. We anticipate the testing will take place within the next couple of weeks however this is not confirmed yet.
Next week the officers are going to start the process of going through the outstanding invoices, the officers will then be able to brief the Council on the bad debt we are owed. This debt is historic, but we are hoping in going through this carefully we will be able to chase the monies owed.
The Officers are also going to start attaching invoices to the entry on scribe, which will mean when Councillors look at scribe and view a payment the invoice will be attached, this will enhance transparency. This will be a slow process and will not happen over night however in the future this will be done every week as a routine.
Training and Professional Development
The Clerk is continuing to work towards Community Governance Level 4 with the final assignments for the first year due in on 24 October 2024. The Law and Council Procedures Unit once passed qualifies the Clerk as a legal adviser. The other two due for submission are Managing People – covering up to date employment law and Building Community which is all about the principals of Community Development. On 9 October the Clerk is attending a training session relating to the new procurement laws .
The Clerk has four hours study time per week in order to prepare assignments for university, if you do not hear from the Clerk on a Friday it is due to this. The Personnel Committee agreed the study time at meeting held on 11.07.2024 minute reference 86/24.
The Deputy Clerk is working towards the ILCA qualification and has managed to achieve the first two modules and is halfway through the third one. The aim of the course is to provide an introduction to the work of a local council, the clerk and its councillors. The Deputy Clerk has two hours per week built into her contracted hours to complete this course.
Both the Clerk and Deputy Clerk will be attending the standards conference at Lenham Community Centre on 10 October 2024.
The Standards Conference next week is open to all Councillors and staff please let me know if you wish to attend and there is a spare ticket as the Councillor originally attending is unable to do so. If you wish to attend please let the Clerk know asap.
A full list of training provided by KALC is available at Training (new) | Kent Association of Local Councils (junari.com) if you see anything you wish to attend then please let me know.
I would encourage ALL Councillors to do the Nuts and Bolts of being a Parish Councillor.
Councillors attending training are as follows:
Cllr David Lloyd-Owen Procurement Training
Cllr Myra Harris Councillor HR Training (30.10.2024)
Full Council Meeting
The Full Council Meeting is nearly upon us, we have an almost full agenda however if Councillors wish an item to be added to this meeting or any other it needs to be sent to the Clerk. For the October meeting I need all agenda items by Wednesday 9 October 2024. The Clerk may come back to you requesting more information, this is to assist the Clerk in ensuring the Council has the relevant power in order to undertake the motion.
Staff Contact Details

Lisa Rackett clerk@hawkhurst-pc.gov.uk
Clerk

Cheryl Metcalfe deputyclerk@hawkhurst-pc.gov.uk
Deputy Clerk

Sandra Rackett rfo@hawkhurst-pc.gov.uk
Locum Responsible Financial Officer

Bryony Dhillon office@hawkhurst-pc.gov.uk
Parish Support Officer

Please be mindful that each member of staff has different areas they manage, sometimes when you do not get an immediate reply it is because it needs to be given to the relevant officer. Please remember if we do not respond we are likely working on a solution.
Have a lovely weekend everyone 😊