Annual Parish Council Meeting

19 May 2026

Hixon Parish Council
To: All Councillors

Notice, Summons and Agenda for the Annual Meeting of the Full Council on
19th May 2026 at approximately 7:45pm (following on from the Annual Parish Meeting) in Hixon Memorial Hall

Agenda

AGENDA

Item Ref	Agenda Item	Report By
	Open Meeting	Chair
001/26	To elect a Chair for 2026/2027	Chair
002/26	To receive the Chair’s declaration of office	Clerk
003/26	To elect a Vice Chair for 2026/2027	Chair
004/26	To receive the Vice Chairs declaration of office	Clerk
005/26	To receive apologies.	Chair
006/26	To receive declaration of interest in any matter on the Agenda.	Chair
007/26	To receive written applications for dispensations under the Localism Act 2011	Chair
008/26	Consider minutes of meeting 17th March 2026	Chair
009/26	To determine any items on the agenda considered to be of a private nature that should be discussed at the exclusion of the Public and Press, under the Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960 1 (2).	Chair
083/22	Consider agreement to continue with the scheme of delegation as agreed at meeting in January 2023.	Chair
010/26	To receive Borough Councillors’ reports. Written or verbal	Chair
011/26	To receive County Councillor’s report. Written or verbal	Chair
012/26	Close meeting for Public Participation.	Chair
014/26	Reopen meeting & agree date of next meeting – July 21^st 2026 (subject to 023/25)	Chair
015/26	Chair’s announcements and Parish Councillor questions/ comments, preferably sent in advance.	All
016/26	Planning Applications (previously considered by delegation to Clerk/Planning Committee). Report on response to Planning Application 25/41489/Ful; proposed housing development for 86 units off Church Lane.	Chair
	Agenda Items
074/25	Allotments: signing of addendum to agreement with the Allotment Committee.	Chair
017/26	Arrange members of committees/working groups/external groups and Best Garden etc. judges. Review Terms of Reference for committees.	Chair
018/26	Re-adopt Financial Regulations and Standing Orders.	Chair
019/26	Approve Asset Register March 2026 and review land owned/leased and confirm leases re allotments and open spaces on Vicarage Way/Hall Farm Close	Chair
020/26	Confirm insurance arrangements for all insured risks.	Chair
021/26	Confirm membership/subscriptions for council/employees (NALC, SPCA, SLCC/ULCS (was ALCC), CPRE).	Chair
022/26	Readopt the Complaints Policy/Procedure, Disciplinary Procedure, Grievance Procedure, Data Protection and Freedom of Information Policies, Performance Management policy.	Clerk
023/26	Set the dates, times and place of scheduled ordinary meetings of the full Council for the year ahead (additional ordinary meetings may be added to the schedule if considered necessary, dates may be amended).	Chair
024/26	Approve Financial Risk Assessment. (Risk Assessment general policy to be written/agreed by Admin Group for future council approval).	Clerk
025/26	Review of Section 137 spend for 25/26.	Clerk
026/26	Annual Return 2025-2026: To consider and approve the report from the internal auditor.	Chair
027/26	Annual Return 2025-2026: To consider and approve the Governance Statement	Chair
028/26	Annual Return 2025-2026: To approve the Accounting Statements for the Year ending 31 March 2026	Chair
075/25	Highway Safety Issues and traffic in Hixon Parish area, including Lea Heath and the A51: Chair to present report.	Chair
029/26	Confirm circulation of/acceptance by councillors of the Q4 and Year end Receipts and Expenditure vs Budget 2025-2026 spreadsheet	Clerk
030/26	Consider the most appropriate approaches to making decisions whilst staying within the legislative framework – Cllr Raby to lead.	Cllr Raby
031/26	Consider invoice from Fresh Air Fitness and the Wicksteed Equipment Inspection report.	Clerk/Cllr Hopcroft
032/26	Consider resident replacing the memorial bench on Ridgeway OS (memorial plaque for his mother) with a powder-coated aluminium or recycled plastic bench.	Clerk
033/26	Stowe Consolidated Charities Accounts	Clerk
034/26	Consider report on Central filing and Email Update	Cllr S McKeown
035/26	To consider purchase of Pickleball Net, bats and balls. £ 200. See report.	Chair
	Finance / Administration / Legal
040/26	Bank Reconciliation	Cllr Raby
041/26	Schedule of Prospective Agreed Payments (Amounts to be confirmed (amended if necessary) when known. Late invoices not included on the agenda may be paid, subject to resolution by majority of Councillors).	Chair/Cllr Raby
	Employment payments	£696.60
	Reimburse C Gill May-June, monthly purchase of Microsoft 365 Business	£12.10
	Reimburse C Gill mileage (16 miles @ £0.45 per mile)	£7.20
	Reimburse C Gill for ALCC/ULCS subscription (replaces cheque 3483 that wasn’t received/cashed)	£60.00
	WaterPlus 8^th April to 8^thMay 2026 car park drainage	£47.07
	Acer mowing and SID move	£918.84
	CPRE membership	£36.00
	Drs for newsletters	£204.00
	HMRC – May 2026 PAYE	£443.78
	Reimburse Brendan McKeown for mileage to collect newsletters from Newcastle UL. (36 miles @45p/mile)	£16.20
	EE for PC mobile phone – Direct Debit	£13.97
	Clear Council Insurance	£1075.14
042/26	Receipts April 2026
	From SBC: Precept, Government Grant, concurrent fund.	£23701.11
	Bank interest	£43.77
040/26	From April 2026
041/26	Bank Reconciliation	Cllr Hopcroft
	Schedule of Prospective Agreed Payments	Cllr Hopcroft /Chair
	Employment payments	£696.60
	Reimburse C Gill April-May – monthly purchase of Microsoft 365 Business	£12.10
	Reimburse C Gill mileage (8 miles @ £0.45 per mile)	£3.60
	Hixon Memorial Hall – room hire	£190.20
	Wicksteed – play/sports equipment inspection	£306.00
	Acer mowing plus SID x2	£930.84
	TGM – asset works	£924.00
	HMRC – April 2026 PAYE	£443.78
	WaterPlus 8^th March to 8^th April 2026 car park drainage	£44.17
	To Ringfenced account – election money	£750.00
	EE for PC mobile phone – Direct Debit	£13.97
042/26	Receipts March 2026
	Bank interest	£62.71

14 May 2026 Catherine Gill,
Clerk to Hixon Parish Council

Minutes

Hixon Parish Council
DRAFT Minutes of the Meeting of the Full Council held on Tuesday

19 May 2026 starting at 8:25 pm in Hixon Memorial Hall

In attendance for all of the meeting:
Cllr B McKeown (Chair), Cllr A Garner, Cllr D Hever-Smith, Cllr C Hilton, Cllr P Hopcroft, Cllr J Hughes, Cllr S McKeown, Cllr J Raby Minutes taken by: C Gill, Clerk and RFO

Apologies: Andy Cooper (Borough Councillor)

Members of the public: 4

Item Ref	Item	Action By
001/26	Election of Chair for 2026/2027: Cllr Brendan McKeown was proposed/seconded (Cllrs D Hever-Smith/J Raby), elected by unanimous vote.	Chair
002/26	The Chair’s declaration of office was received.	Clerk
003/26	Election of Vice Chair for 2026/2027: Cllr Paul Hopcroft was proposed/seconded (Cllrs J Raby/D Hever-Smith), elected by unanimous vote.	Chair
004/26	The Vice Chairs declaration of office was received.	Clerk
005/26	To receive apologies.	See above
006/26	To receive declaration of interest in any matter on the Agenda.	None
007/26	To receive written applications for dispensations under the Localism Act 2011	None
008/26	It was resolved to accept the minutes of meeting 17th March 2026	Clerk
009/26	To determine any items on the agenda considered to be of a private nature that should be discussed at the exclusion of the Public and Press, under the Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960 1 (2). Item 030/26 agreed.	Chair
083/22	It was agreed to continue with the scheme of delegation as agreed at meeting in January 2023.	Clerk
010/26	To receive Borough Councillors’ reports. Chair had given a presentation at Parsi Meeting.	–
011/26	To receive County Councillor’s report. Written or verbal	None
012/26	Close meeting for Public Participation.	Chair
	A resident indicated that the field adjacent to the allotments had been cut and the fencing work could now be undertaken. Drug dealing appears to be going on, on Egg Lane – wildlife camera CCTV is available: Requested that the evidence be passed on to the PCSO.	–
014/26	Reopen meeting & agree date of next meeting – July 21^st 2026	Chair
015/26	Chair’s announcements and Parish Councillor questions/ comments.	None
016/26	Planning Applications (previously considered by delegation to Clerk/Planning Committee). Planning Application 25/41489/Ful; proposed housing development for 86 units off Church Lane: HPC has objected to this application and the Chair has called-in the application for consideration by the SBC Planning Committee, in his role as a Borough Councillor for Hixon.	–
	Agenda Items
074/25	Allotments: Addendum 2 to the agreement with the Allotment Committee was signed by both parties, and witnessed.	Clerk
017/26	Planning Committee members agreed as Cllrs. S McKeown (Chair), Hopcroft, Hever-Smith, Hughes with Cllr Hilton as main substitute, all other councillors can be substitutes if necessary. Employment Committee confirmed as Cllrs Raby (Chair), Hopcroft, Hilton and Hughes. No substitutes.TORs for committees agreed as unchanged. Chair will circulate a list of current Working Groups and members. BKG Judges – suggested that someone from Stowe by Chartley PC could do the judging – Chair to enquire.	Clerk Chair Chair
018/26	The Financial Regulations and Standing Orders were re-adopted.	Clerk
019/26	The Asset Register of end of March 2026 was approved and land owned/leased and leases of allotments and open spaces on Vicarage Way/Hall Farm Close were confirmed.	Clerk
020/26	The insurance arrangements for all insured risks were confirmed. Clerk requested a meeting to review insurance amounts against insured categories and to review replacement values.	Clerk/Chair
021/26	Membership/subscriptions for council/employees (NALC, SPCA, SLCC/ULCS (was ALCC), CPRE and Staffs. Playing Fields) were all agreed.	Clerk
022/26	The following policies were re-adopted: Complaints Policy/Procedure, Disciplinary Procedure, Grievance Procedure, Data Protection policies (x2), Publication Scheme/Freedom of Information Policies, Performance Management policy, Dignity at Work, Equality and Diversity, IT.	Clerk
023/26	The scheduled ordinary meetings of full council were set as the third Tuesday in July, September, November, January, March and May for the next 12 months. Additional ordinary meetings may be added to the schedule and dates may be amended if considered necessary by council.	Clerk
024/26	The Financial Risk Assessment was approved. (Risk Assessment general policy to be written/agreed by Admin Group for future council approval).	Clerk/ Admin Gp.
025/26	The Section 137 spend for 25/26 was zero..	Clerk
026/26	Annual Return 2025-2026: The internal auditor’s report was considered and it was resolved to approve it.	Clerk
027/26	Annual Return 2025-2026: The Governance Statement was considered and it was resolved to approve it.	Clerk
028/26	Annual Return 2025-2026: It was resolved to approve the Accounting Statements for the Year ending 31 March 2026.	Clerk
075/25	Highway Safety Issues and traffic in Hixon Parish area, including Lea Heath and the A51: It was agreed to revisit a 40mph speed limit through Pasturefields and to undertake the traffic survey at the Church Road cross roads.	Chair
029/26	The circulation of/acceptance by councillors of the Q4 and Year end Receipts and Expenditure vs Budget 2025-2026 spreadsheet was confirmed.	Clerk
031/26	The invoice from Fresh Air Fitness and the Wicksteed Equipment Inspection report: there were no high priority issues found at the Wicksteed inspection. The main issue was the lack of dampening on 2 pieces of Fresh Air Fitness (FAF) equipment that had recently (last September) been repaired with new limiters. FAF is coming again to check these pieces of equipment on 16th June. It was agreed that the invoice should not be paid until this issue plus missing grips and end caps is sorted. It agreed to spend up to £300 to get signs made regarding the site as per recommendation by Wicksteed.	Clerk/Cllr Hopcroft Cllr Hopcroft /Clerk
032/26	Resident’s request to replace the memorial bench on Ridgeway OS (memorial plaque for his mother) with a powder-coated aluminium or recycled plastic bench: Either material is satisfactory, send details of bench to Clerk for review before approval being given.	Clerk
033/26	The starting and finishing bank balance for the financial year 25/26 for Stowe Consolidated Charities Accounts was read out by the Clerk.	–
034/26	A report providing an update on the Parish Online Central filing and email was provided. There are a few issues with the emails and the cloud-based filing needs to be progressed by the working group.	Parish Online working group
035/26	The purchase of Pickleball net, bats and balls for a maximum of £200 was approved.	Chair
	In Camera item, in different order to agenda
030/26	Appropriate approaches to making decisions between meetings whilst staying within the legislative framework: this matter was discussed and it was agreed that the delegation scheme to the Clerk must be used correctly as and when needed, as councillors can only make decisions as a collective at a Parish Council meeting or at a Committee meeting with appropriate delegated powers. The Clerk will contact the Chair/Vice-Chair first for an opinion in writing, followed by other councillors if necessary, prior to making the decision.	Clerk
	Finance / Administration / Legal
040/26	Bank Reconciliation	Cllr Raby
041/26	Schedule of Prospective Agreed Payments (Amounts to be confirmed (amended if necessary) when known. Late invoices not included on the agenda may be paid, subject to resolution by majority of Councillors).	Chair/Cllr Raby
	Employment payments	£696.60
	Reimburse C Gill May-June, monthly purchase of Microsoft 365 Business	£12.10
	Reimburse C Gill mileage (16 miles @ £0.45 per mile)	£7.20
	Reimburse C Gill for ALCC/ULCS subscription (replaces cheque 3483 that wasn’t received/cashed)	£60.00
	WaterPlus 8^th April to 8^thMay 2026 car park drainage	£47.07
	Acer mowing and SID move	£918.84
	CPRE membership	£36.00
	Drs for newsletters	£204.00
	HMRC – May 2026 PAYE	£443.78
	Reimburse Brendan McKeown for mileage to collect newsletters from Newcastle UL. (36 miles @45p/mile)	£16.20
	EE for PC mobile phone – Direct Debit	£13.00
	Clear Council Insurance	£1075.14
042/26	Receipts April 2026
	From SBC: Precept, Government Grant, concurrent fund.	£23701.11
	Bank interest	£43.77
040/26	From April 2026
041/26	Bank Reconciliation	Cllr Hopcroft
	Schedule of Prospective Agreed Payments	Cllr Hopcroft /Chair
	Employment payments	£696.60
	Reimburse C Gill April-May – monthly purchase of Microsoft 365 Business	£12.10
	Reimburse C Gill mileage (8 miles @ £0.45 per mile)	£3.60
	Hixon Memorial Hall – room hire	£190.20
	Wicksteed – play/sports equipment inspection	£306.00
	Acer mowing plus SID x2	£930.84
	TGM – asset works	£924.00
	HMRC – April 2026 PAYE	£443.78
	WaterPlus 8^th March to 8^th April 2026 car park drainage	£44.17
	To Ringfenced account – election money	£750.00
	EE for PC mobile phone – Direct Debit	£13.97
042/26	Receipts March 2026
	Bank interest	£62.71
	EE for PC mobile phone – Direct Debit	£13.97
	From Ring-fenced account
	Transfer to Main Account, TGM allotment work ex VAT	£85.00

Meeting ended at 22:10

Reports

Hixon Parish Council 19^th May 2026

New Email System & Central Filing

Item 034/26

1 Purpose of Report

1.1 To recommend this report be received and considered at Hixon Parish Council (HPC) meeting 19^th May 2026

2 Background Information and Key Issues

New Email System

2.1 Following on from the implementation of HPC’s new email system in January 2026 (provided by Parish Online via Zoho) Councillors and the Clerk have asked some questions regarding its functionality.

2.2 Eight questions have been asked to date. Please see Appendix A of this report which lists the questions and answers to and from Parish Online.

Central Filing on the Cloud

2.3 Hixon Parish Council Online Task Group has committed to using a cloud-based filing system provided by Parish Online via Zoho.

https://www.zoho.com

2.4 The Parish Online Task Group has been considering a new proposed filing structure for use by the Parish Council (Clerk & Councillors).

The proposal is to have a maximum top level of twenty folder headings: Please see item 8 below (Proposed New Filing Structure).

Current files to be added to the new structure over the next couple of months.

Once completed, the new filing system will be sent to Parish Online for up loading into Zoho central filing system.

Access to Zoho cloud filing system is accepted to be the same login as your current email account.

There are several advantages in cloud-based filing system. Councillors will have the ability to read / access Parish Council Documents and Templates, agendas & minutes etc.

Councillors will be able to file their documents onto the system.

Also, there will be no need to send HPC documents internally, just include a link to the document. This will save on email storage for all.

3 Financial

3.1 Yearly Subscription to Parish Online for the email and central cloud filing services.

4 Resources

4.1 Parish Online Task group to go through current filing and attach files to new structure.

5 Legal Implications

5.1 None

6 Recommendation

6.1 Clerk and Councillors to review questions/ answers in Appendix A.

6.2 Parish Online task group to continue with building new filing structure.

7 Report produced by

7.1 Cllr Susan McKeown

8 Appendices

See Appendix A

Proposed New Filing Structure

00 Templates / Stationery

01 Parish Council Meetings (agendas and minutes)

02 Task Groups (agendas and minutes)

03 Financial

04 Legal

05 Contracts and Agreements

06 Allotments

07 Correspondence

08 Projects

09 Assets

10 Assets Inspection reports

11 Hixon Parish Information

12 Training

13 Hixon Neighbourhood Plans

14 Planning (Large / Major) information

15 Policies & Procedures and Governance

16 Clerk

Appendix A (HPC meeting19th May 2026) item 034/26
Parish Online Support 1st May 2026
Hixon Parish Council (HPC) Email Functionality
Hi, comments below:
1.
• When creating new emails, the mouse key is inactive in the main body of an email, only arrow keys appear to work.
(What do you mean by mouse key? Do you mean you can’t click anywhere within the page body? Does this happen to all of you? Are you using webmail, our Zoho apps, or another mail client?)
What do you mean by mouse key?
I mean, when using the mouse, the cursor doesn’t appear in the main body of the email. (Only the keyboard directional keys work in the main body of the email).
Do you mean you can’t click anywhere within the page body?
The mouse key / cursor is inactive in the main body of the email only
Does this happen to all of you?
This is the case for at least three people who I have spoken to (Brendan the Clerk and myself). I can ask the other members if you wish.
Are you using webmail, our Zoho apps, or another mail client?)
Brendan and I are using the Zoho application on our PC. I presume the Clerk is accessing Zoho app from the Council’s PC.
The work around at present is to write emails text in word, then copy to the main body of the email to be sent out.
I’m not sure why the mouse cursor wouldn’t be showing, I’ve not seen that before. Is it happening to all of you?
2.
• When a group is selected when creating a new email, Councillors cannot at present see who are listed in the group that has been selected; only the group name is visible.
It’s not currently possible to see the emails within a group. This has been added as a feature request.
I believe the question is that people cannot see, when selecting a group, who is in the group.
As mentioned, this is not possible but may be available in a future release of the software.
5.
• Monitoring of emails. How does this function work? Is this permission given to the administrator or is there a separate role for just monitoring emails? HPC is considering having two administrators but would like to keep the role of monitoring emails separate.
There are two things; “email monitoring” we take to mean looking at someone else’s mailbox. This can be done with delegated access. There’s also Data Subject Requests which can be initiated by any Administrator.
Could you please provide details regarding the above-mentioned functions / methods please? And, is this function via a separate role to an administrators role?
Details of Data Subject Requests: https://www.zoho.com/mail/help/adminconsole/data-subject-requests.html

Details of Mailbox Delegation: https://www.zoho.com/mail/help/mailbox-delegation.html
Best Regards,
Chris Mewse
————————————————————————————————————-
—- on Thu, 30 Apr 2026 16:32:01 +0100 “Susan Mckeown”<susan.mckeown@hixon.gov.uk> wrote —-
Hello Chris,
Please find below, information you may find useful. Any problems please let me know.
My original questions are in ‘black / bold’
Your answers are in ‘black’
My subsequent questions are in red.
Hope that helps.
1.
• When creating new emails, the mouse key is inactive in the main body of an email, only arrow keys appear to work.
(What do you mean by mouse key? Do you mean you can’t click anywhere within the page body? Does this happen to all of you? Are you using webmail, our Zoho apps, or another mail client?)
What do you mean by mouse key?
I mean, when using the mouse, the cursor doesn’t appear in the main body of the email. (Only the keyboard directional keys work in the main body of the email).
Do you mean you can’t click anywhere within the page body?
The mouse key / cursor is inactive in the main body of the email only
Does this happen to all of you?
This is the case for at least three people who I have spoken to (Brendan the Clerk and myself). I can ask the other members if you wish.
Are you using webmail, our Zoho apps, or another mail client?)
Brendan and I are using the Zoho application on our PC. I presume the Clerk is accessing Zoho app from the Council’s PC.
The work around at present is to write emails text in word, then copy to the main body of the email to be sent out.
2.
• When a group is selected when creating a new email, Councillors cannot at present see who are listed in the group that has been selected; only the group name is visible.
It’s not currently possible to see the emails within a group. This has been added as a feature request.
I believe the question is that people cannot see, when selecting a group, who is in the group.
3.
• Also, can Councillors set up their own groups that can only be seen by themselves?
They can set up their own personal contact groups, but not organisation-wide ones.
OK, I need to get back to you on this question. (One Councillor set up, what they believed to be a group, but can now be seen by all Councillors. I’ll check out the exact details at a later date).
4.
• It is noted that there can be more than one administrator, is this controlled via access to the control panel?
Yes, I can help set that up as required.
Thank you, will let you know.
5.
• Monitoring of emails. How does this function work? Is this permission given to the administrator or is there a separate role for just monitoring emails? HPC is considering having two administrators but would like to keep the role of monitoring emails separate.
There are two things; “email monitoring” we take to mean looking at someone else’s mailbox. This can be done with delegated access. There’s also Data Subject Requests which can be initiated by any Administrator.
Could you please provide details regarding the above-mentioned functions / methods please? And, is this function via a separate role to an administrators role?
6.
• HPC would like to know the back-up process for its emails and central filing system. Is the back-up process the responsibility of Parish Online or Zoho workplace?
The backup procedure is ultimately carried out by Zoho as they’re our technology partner for email and cloud office. The system uses a RAID system so that in the event of any one disk failure, there is no data loss and no downtime. It’s not a traditional “backup every night” system.
Thank you for that.
7.
• The current email layout is cumulative by subject title. It appears that if the subject title is deleted all emails attached are deleted too.
You can change this in the personal settings of each mailbox. Click the cog icon on the right hand panel and there are Mail View options.
Thank you, will ask Councillors/ Clerk to check this functionality.
8.
HPC is considering seeking all individual emails to be listed by date rather than cumulative by subject title. Would this be an easy task? It is just an option for consideration at present; I would have to confer with the Council prior to any changes being made.
As above. It can be a personal preference. The grouping by subject keeps the inbox structured, but any view doesn’t affect the underlying way the emails are saved.
Thank you, will ask Councillors/ Clerk to check this functionality.
Regards
Susan Mckeown
Councillor
Hixon Parish Council
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