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Parish Council Financial Information - Kat (10th Mar 2013 - 11:00:27) Up to July 2011 the local council used to post info on expendture and income on their website. In their rules Financial Regulations.w2 at 4.8 it says that "Once ratified, all the payments, receipts, and the balance sheet for the preceding month are to be published on the Parish Council website." Please could the info for August 2011 to February 2013 be posted as I would like to know what our local council are spending our money on. Could somebody from the council put this up please.

Re: Parish Council Financial Information - Kat (11th Mar 2013 - 16:31:47) Please could a parish councillor let me know that the info will be posted on the council website. Going back through some of the threads on this site, councillors do look at and reply to posts that people put on. It would be nice to hear from one of them. Thank you.

Re: Parish Council Financial Information - Councillor Jane Ives (11th Mar 2013 - 19:06:37) Kat I am a fairly new parish councillor and do not want to give you any false information. Can I suggest that the best way to find out an answer to your question is to contact the parish office directly? They are open every day. Kind regards Jane Ives

Re: Parish Council Financial Information - Kat (11th Mar 2013 - 21:25:11) Thank you very much Councillor Ives for a reply from the council. Im only asking that the council put the financial info on their website as it says in their rules. Somebody from the council must be responsible so please could you ask that this is done. Thank you for your help.

Re: Parish Council Financial Information - Jane Ives (12th Mar 2013 - 11:10:47) Kat The parish office are aware of the requirement to post this information and will be doing so as soon as they reasonably can. In the meantime I would suggest that it is always better to contact the parish office directly with any queries if you want a quick answer. Many thanks Jane Ives

Re: Parish Council Financial Information - Kat (13th Mar 2013 - 10:54:07) Thank you Councillor Ives. Looking through the parish council website, I see that you are not even a member of the Finance & Policy (F&P) committee who it says in the rules are responsible for the proper administration of the Parish Council\'s financial affairs. It is worrying that you say the parish office are aware of the requirement to post the information. If they were aware then there is a big question mark over why nothing has gone up for 18 months, and if not why. I have also read rule 4.8 again and it says there should be a monthly internal audit with a report made by the chairman of the committee. There is nothing shown about this in any of the council minutes. The council, committee, parish office has not done any of this. Perhaps one of your council colleagues could explain. Thanks.

Re: Parish Council Financial Information - Jane Ives (13th Mar 2013 - 11:20:19) Kat You are quite right, I am not a member of the F&P committee, but as a councillor I am fully aware of council business through minutes of all committee meetings that are circulated, and from attending full PC meetings. As I am sure you have already found, the information you requested has now been posted, and I have been assured by the parish office that this information will be posted monthly from now on. Here is the link should you wish to use it. www.bramshottandliphook-pc.gov.uk/publication-scheme/... There is certainly a monthly report included in the monthly full Parish Council meetings (which the public are always welcome to attend) from the chair of the F&P Committee. Perhaps if you want to ask further questions you could attend the Parish Council AGM to be held on Monday 25th March at the Millennium Centre? Kind Regards Jane Ives

Re: Parish Council Financial Information - Jane Ives (13th Mar 2013 - 13:08:54) Apologies, the parish council annual meeting is to be held at the Peak Centre, Midhurst Road starting at 7.30pm.

Re: Parish Council Financial Information - Kat (13th Mar 2013 - 16:18:17) Thank you very much Councillor Ives, and for telling me about the parish council annual meeting. I have just read about this in your rules. You would be able to join the (F&P) committee at the annual meeting. I cannot find anything about the internal monthly audit report in council minutes. I will continue my reserach, and thank you for your help.

Re: Parish Council Financial Information - Roy Reid (14th Mar 2013 - 19:08:23) Kat - if you want the Parish Council to progress then why come on Talkback to question every technical aspect of the process? I'm sure Councillor Ives is aware of how she can be elected to the finance committee without you chipping in. Better still, turn up to the AGM instead of pontificating from your computer - you clearly have the time to attend.

Re: Parish Council Financial Information - Kevin Jackson (23rd Mar 2013 - 18:53:12) Kat Just to let you know in case you are not aware - the Annual Parish Meeting of Bramshott & Liphook Parish Council is being held at the Peak Centre, Midhurst Road at 7.30 pm on Monday, 25 March. I found this information of their web site under APM Agenda. However there was no Agenda printed so I do not know what is in it, just the date, place and time. However I do know that questions are taken from the public at some time during an APM. This might be the time to ask questions if you have not already found the answers on their web site. It would be interesting to know who their Responsible Finance Officer, the FCO, is as this should be someone who is NOT a councillor.

Re: Parish Council Financial Information - Jane Ives (24th Mar 2013 - 18:31:31) bramshottandliphook-pc.gov.uk/... This is the link to the agenda for tomorrow evening's meeting. This has been available on the Parish Council website for some time. If the link above doesn't work, go to the PC website using the link on the left of this page, then to Parish Council, Meetings, Annual Parish Meeting and at the top of the page is the agenda.

Re: Parish Council Financial Information - Dawn Hoskins (24th Mar 2013 - 19:23:19) Dear Kevin, The Financial Officer is the clerk - Mr Peter Stanley. A public announcement was made in the press when he was appointed so this is not something you would have to wait for the AGM to find out. I notice that in another of your threads you say that we are going to reveal new information over and above that which we have already stated. I am not sure where you have received this information from but it is not the case. The disciplinary procedure which was followed, to the letter, came to the point where it was exhausted. At that point an announcement was made that the previous clerk no longer worked for the Parish Council. It is quite within his employment rights to not have the confidential details of those investigations and hearings dragged into the public arena. The Parish Council have no intention of doing so. Bad behaviour may have happened in the past, with juicy bits of inside information always being either reported or mis-reported in the local press. We have now reached a very healthy state within the parish council where the councillors serving are all very professional. None of the members or staff are the sort to go blabbing confidential details to the press. It would not be appropriate for any employee at any company to have the personal details of their meetings with HR put out to public view. This may well be frustrating for you Kevin, but you must accept that it is the correct way to behave - and move on.

Re: Parish Council Financial Information - Kat (24th Mar 2013 - 21:05:28) Councillor Hoskins, you say that "councillors serving are all very professional". I do not think it is very professional to be making statements as you have when your rules which I have been researching say "in accordance with the Council’s policy in respect to dealing with the press and/or other media, and pursuant to Standing Order 24c above, councillors may publish such information providing they give their own full name and declaim that they make such comment as an individual and not as a Councillor" The "declaim" does not make much sense anyway and you haven't said you are making the statement as an individual. In fact when you read it most people reading it would think you were speaking for the Council. Also in your rules, I hope the Chairperson or Vice Chairperson gave you permission. That's my opinion and please don't have a go at me because that would be unprofessional as well.

Re: Parish Council Financial Information - Jane Ives (25th Mar 2013 - 08:16:33) Kat I am a councillor, as you know from earlier on in this thread. I, like Dawn, am also an individual living in the village. I am now speaking as an individual. I can only support Dawn in her attempt to stop any falsehoods being circulated. You appear to be very interested in what is happening with the parish council, so I hope you will come along to tonight's meeting and introduce yourself. Hopefully then we can allay your fears and reassure you that the parish councillors are a decent bunch of professionals who have your best interests at heart.

Re: Parish Council Financial Information - A. R. (25th Mar 2013 - 14:25:25) Councillor Hoskins, As to being professional , I do recall a statement made about a year ago, by yourself which I felt at the time was completely out of order. Having just made an opinion based on a one sided conversation and not having the courtesy to check up on it was not professional at all. Perhaps you can remember . Re: Gypsy Site in Devils Lane - Dawn Hoskins (15th Aug 2011 22:32:00) On Sunday, Councillor Eve Hope and myself went to visit the newcomers. The family are welcoming and friendly. Only to pleased to come out for some company and a chat. We even got invited back for cup cakes! the family have been living in Godalming (from memory) but were not too happy and are much more settled to be living on their land. The land has been in their family for a very long time apparently. The boys go to school in Bordon I think. It is holidays at the moment of course. They are happy chappies and very talkative. Secondly, for those people who were concerned about the pony's. The field has been cleared of ragwort completely and they look very healthy. They have been shouted at and abused, with people threatening to punch them - because they don't want the 'like of them' around here. Who is giving the worst impression here? These people are Liphook born and bred, they are locals - not from outer space. So please, Liphook, let us think about our behaviour. The planning application will go through all the channels it has to. It may end up as a positive or a negative - who knows- but in the mean time, why don't you pop in to see these people to find out who they are. They are very friendly I can assure you - you might even get a cake! As there has recently been a discussion on this subject it is quite relevant, and I am not sure this would constitute being fair minded. Also when making some of the statements, the words " apparently " and " I think " are inappropriate, as surely you are surmising instead of writing the facts.

Re: Parish Council Financial Information - Dawn Hoskins (25th Mar 2013 - 17:50:15) Hi A.R. - sorry I don't know your name. I have read through my post and cannot find anything remotely unprofessional in it. At that time, these parishioners were suffering from abuse both verbal and threats of physical. It was quite right for members of the Parish Council to visit them. In regards to names. If we are posting as councillors (which is not usual) - we must post as Councillor Hoskins, or Councillor Easton etc. It has always been that way and that is what separates us from having a personal opinion and forwarding information relating to the Parish or events happening at the Millennium Hall etc. Only the Parish Office are allowed to make statements on behalf of the Parish Council - so if a press statement is made that is who does it. Only people in touch with local issues know who the councillors are, in fact I meet people all the time who have no idea that I am a councillor - so I disagree that people correlate the two. When I speak of professionalism I was making reference to the constant dribble of salacious gossip that used to be written in the local rag when the previous contingent were elected. That drip..drip..drip of silly stories did not do the Parish any good at all - especially when most of it did not relate to reality.

Re: Parish Council Financial Information - Kevin Jackson (25th Mar 2013 - 18:25:11) If what was quoted in A.R.' s post is true then I totally agree with it. Dawn Hoskins' remarks were unprofessional and beside the point. As a councillor, even though she states that she is not on the planning committee because "it annoys her too much" she should understand the basics or she should not be a councillor representing the people of Liphook. Whether she took tea and cakes with the applicants is immaterial and quite beside the point. Whether they are nice or not, or have lived in Liphook for 1000 years is beside the point. It is their gypsy status that won them their temporary permission, and that is the law of the land, not the fact that their children go to local schools etc. etc. Stick to planning law and don't muddy the waters. If you can't do that then say nothing. Dawn, as she often does, has muddled two posts together so rather than put another post on the Dismissal of the Parish Clerk I will refer to her remark in this post which is obviously referring to the Dismissal post and that is "Bad behaviour may have happened in the past, with juicy bits of inside information always being either reported or mis-reported in the local press". I feel that this is also a very unprofessional statement and uncalled for. No one is asking for juicy bits of inside information. All we want to know and are entitled to know are the facts as to why the Clerk was dismissed - no details, no embellishments - just facts. A Parish Clerk's wages are paid for by the taxpayer. A Parish Clerk is a public servant and we the public are entitled to know the facts in the case of Tony Groves, the dismissed Bramshott & Liphook parish clerk, concerning his dismissal. We have been fobbed off in the past with the words "sub judice" and because there are " other criminal charges being pursued." Well I have not seen or heard of any criminal charges either brought to bear or in the process of - and I would say this to Dawn re: her statement "It is quite within his employment rights to not have the confidential details of those investigations and hearings dragged into the public arena. The Parish Council have no intention of doing so." A convenient smokescreen and a hyypocritical one - It is a bit late to start worrying about the Tony Groves' finer feelings after the way he has been treated with his livelihood destoyed and his name dragged through the mud.

Re: Parish Council Financial Information - A. R. (25th Mar 2013 - 19:10:53) Dawn Hoskins or Councillor Hoskins. To which do we address, and to which opinion is personal and to which is not? If you can not see anything wrong with the remarks you had made in the post to which I referred, then perhaps you should not be a Councillor. You cannot remark on subjects with "two hats on" You were also grossly wrong about certain details in your post to which I find very worrying. You were greatly mislead and I feel strongly that you did not find out the correct information at the time, but made a judgement solely on what you were told by certain people Perhaps you should have spoken to local residents and two of the District Councillors, who at the time were well informed of the situation. I did not notice any remarks along the same lines from either. That is professionalism.

Re: Parish Council Financial Information - S (25th Mar 2013 - 20:26:13) Yet another thread about the Parish Council descending into chaos! For those criticising Dawn Hoskins... Whether right or wrong in her comments, Dawn has ALWAYS been very free with her opinions on this website, long long before she became a councillor so it's a bit ridiculous to expect her to stop now as everyone knew this long before voting her in! And maybe Kat should stop stirring up nonsense on here and start attending meetings if she is so worried about it. Maybe we should just ban comments about the council from Talkback altogether as it never ever seems to get anywhere!!

Re: Parish Council Financial Information - Dawn Hoskins (26th Mar 2013 - 11:24:06) To Mr Jackson, Mr Groves was treated in exactly the way laid by statute and employment guidelines. It is not unusual in employment terms to suspend an employee whilst investigating facts – especially when whilstleblowing disclosures has been made. It is not unusual to conduct a disciplinary hearing after those facts have been noted. What is unusual is for people, like yourself, to assert that the Parish Council had no right as the employer to conduct such standard procedures. The Parish Council had a duty and a right to other employees to act in the way that it did. If we had not done so we would have been highly negligent. The Parish Council have at no time whatsoever tried to drag anyone’s name through the mud. You may not like the outcome of the decisions found by the independent professionals who conducted first the interviews and then the hearing – but that does not change the facts. Mr Jerrard did infact speak freely at the General Meeting last night. If you were there you will have heard it and received all the answers you wished to hear. However, as there were only the usual 6 faces with a couple of new ones I think that you did not come? Never fear though – our favourite reporter was on hand so I assume it is going to be splashed al over the headlines on Friday. To a.r – whoever you are – a name would be nice…… You address me with my name, as unlike yourself I post with mine. I do not post as a councillor otherwise you would see it. I speak with only the information that any other person would have if they attended our meetings. As you do not, you assume – wrongly – that I am giving away information that those who do attend are not in possession of. If you think it grossly wrong to visit victims of an assault then I question your judgement. This visit would have had no impact on any planning decision and was a common courtesy. Do you perhaps know of what assault I am speaking about? In general, It would be very nice to know who you are speaking to in this ‘on-line’ capacity. I always give my name as I am not afraid to speak up for what I believe in. I speak here as I would to a real flesh and blood person standing in front of me. Generally the most critical poster here refuse to identify themselves, as if they are hiding behind the anonymity and can spit out rude reposts at will. I doubt they would do so in real life?! And finally, I fail to understand how so very many people are so very interested in Parish Council policies etcetera ---but how so very very few people ever turn up to meetings to hear things from directly ‘from the horses mouth’ so to speak. This mismatch is a constant mystery to me. The PC publicise the meetings, they invite you to come – yet you do not come. However - you proceed to recite incorrect or garbled snippets of what someone [who also wasn’t there] has heard. Please – I beg you. Come to see us – come to our meetings – get correct information.

Re: Parish Council Financial Information - liz (26th Mar 2013 - 11:48:42) Dawn This is different because significant sums of public money were paid to the former clerk, the PC is not a privately owned business. I would like to know the outcome of the enquiry but was inable to attend the meeting due to work commitments. Hopefully some minutes can be puiblished before we get the local paper's 'version' of events.

Re: Parish Council Financial Information - A. Ryan (26th Mar 2013 - 12:17:42) Councillor Hoskins. Why my name should matter has no baring on the topic. Although I know yours I do not know you, have never met you, and do not know what you look like. It is totally irrelevant. In fact if I did know you it could be construed as " being personal" where I am merely discussing your professionalism into certain aspects . As you never had the courtesy to visit residents of Devils Lane except the family that had "been abused, (unlike some District Councillors) you have never met me. I would have thought that the alleged incident to have been a matter for the police to investigate, and that would have been very welcome, but I fear would not have gone down too well., and was not a matter for a Councillor. Again, I have to inform you, you were wrong, and had the wool pulled over your eyes. Again, I have to say, you did not check with anyone as to authenticity of the claim. That is why I am worried that you stand as a Councillor, without being thorough, and making comments of the nature that you did. As for the remark made by -s again, worrying, For those criticising Dawn Hoskins... Whether right or wrong in her comments, Dawn has ALWAYS been very free with her opinions on this website, long long before she became a councillor so it's a bit ridiculous to expect her to stop now as everyone knew this long before voting her in! Maybe some of your opinions can remain that, "yours" and not for public consumption. It is a fine line when being a Councillor, to remain sitting on the fence, and not give such blatant conversations on a website. If you knew my name would it actually make any difference? you do not know me, I am just one of the faceless people in the Parish that you are standing as Councillor for.

Re: Parish Council Financial Information - Dawn Hoskins (26th Mar 2013 - 12:59:31) Dear Mr Ryan. How very strange, I explain how to address me – as Dawn - and yet you chose to do the exact opposite? As you are aware, I am not on the planning committee, so would have no reason to become involved in planning issues. There is, by default, no reason why I would have started knocking on doors in your road. None whatsoever. If you would like to have a meeting with me I would welcome it. You can discover first hand what I am like and whether I act with professionalism if you attend any of the council meetings at which I attend, and I would be delighted to make your acquaintance. For the moment however, I remain as far as you are concerned in a ‘lose – lose’ position. You direct questions directly at me and when I respond you say I should keep my opinions to myself!!! If you do not want me to respond to accusations made on this site that I am unprofessional, then don't make such accusations here - do it face to face. No one that has met me would ever expect me to sit idly by while being accused of being unprofessional. I am free to make my comments as I choose, and will defend myself in the forum and in the manner at which the allegation is made. If it is made here - I will respond here.

Re: Parish Council Financial Information - Jane Ives (26th Mar 2013 - 13:04:44) Liz To answer your question, the minutes are published on the Parish Council website as soon as they are available (link to the left of this page). Not sure they will be there before The Herald goes to press though! I would very much encourage everyone to read the minutes of the PC meetings and also come along to the meetings to keep themselves informed. As Dawn has said we don't get very many people along to these and it would be really good to see a few new faces! It's also a really good opportunity to raise issues with the parish council as there are always public participation sessions where questions can be asked. Again, information on dates/times of meetings are published on the Parish Council website. Jane Ives

Re: Parish Council Financial Information - Dawn Hoskins (26th Mar 2013 - 13:18:48) Dar Kat Standing order 24 relates solely to confidential information. For those unacquainted with BLPC standing orders 24c states. Public interest is a common concern among citizens in the management and affairs of local, state, and national government. Consideration must be given as to the extent to which material is already in the public domain, or will become so. Public interest The subsequent part of the Standing Orders to which you refer relates entirety to making press releases to the local papers or speaking to reporters from the papers. It is section 28 and is entitled ‘Relations with The Press’. For those unacquainted – it reads as follows: all requests from the press or other media for an oral or written statement or comment from the Council shall be processed in accordance with the Council’s policy in respect of dealing with the press and/or other media. Councillors shall not sell or provide any story to the media without prior consent. The Standing Orders are found on the Council Website. I would encourage everyone to look at it. The Standing Orders are the rules by which the Council operate and if they are not complied with then a complaint can be made to the Standards Committee at East Hampshire. The Standards Committee investigate when a breach is alleged to have happened and their hearings are in public to all interested parties can attend. I know the Standing Orders document is quite long and a bit of a heavy read, but I would be happy to sit-down with anyone who is seeking an explanation into any of the sections that may be confusing. We can do this in the Parish Office and I would be very happy to meet with you Kat as would the clerk or any other councillor.

Re: Parish Council Financial Information - A. Ryan (26th Mar 2013 - 18:43:56) Dawn, A meeting would be a great idea, as I feel that you have only ever had a one sided opinion on this particular subject. My original gripe, was to the comments made on a forum to which you had not checked up on. I still stand by my statement that this is not professional. As you said, a visit was made by Councillor Eve Hope and yourself, so I assume you went there as Eve Hope did, with your Councillor hat on. I will not go into anymore details on this subject as that can be discussed further \" face to face\" as you put it, although it does sound rather like \" High Noon\"! It is a shame that of a fifty fifty guess you assume me to be male. Never mind, I must be penning this in the style of a man. I am sure the editor could kindly pass you on my email address, if that is okay. I look forward to hearing from you.

Re: Parish Council Financial Information - Kevin Jackson (26th Mar 2013 - 19:52:24) In answer to Dawn Hoskins' plea for more people to attend PC meetings in general and the APM in particular perhaps it is just as well a large number of people did not turn out to attend the APM last night as it was held in a very small room in the Peak Centre. As David said in his posting "Surely the Annual Meeting should be held somewhere other than the Peak Centre so that those wishing to attend can sit in some degree of comfort. Or perhaps the Council prefer to limit the size of the "audience"! " Dawn Hoskins' reply was pathetic to say the least. The APM is not a "spur of the moment booking" it should be booked well in advance and any parish council who conducts itself professionally would make sure a suitable venue was chosen to taken into account the fact that there might be more than a few parishoners turning up. On the subject of "conducting oneself in a professional manner" how were the flapjacks Dawn? To see a councillor munching on flapjacks during a so-called professional meeting is laughable. In additon there appeared to be no printed reports or accounts circulated before the meeting so that parishoners can read and digest them and if so minded then attend the meeting to ask questions. The reports were delivered verbally at the meeting to a small audience not the wider electorate and before I am "jumped upon" for suggesting that people should attend meetings, may I remind councillors that the electorate do have other work and family committments and it is not always possible to attend meetings. With regard to the planning committe Cllr Jerrard had no report to offer. How professional is that? On the subject of the Dismissal of the Clerk, no questions were answered just vague references to bullying by the Clerk of councillors and members of the public and an inference that "this was still going on". So what is all that about? Clear as mud I say.

Re: Parish Council Financial Information - Jane Ives (27th Mar 2013 - 06:53:06) Kevin Were you actually at the meeting? I thought that it was made quite clear what happened with the former clerk...the facts were presented although certain information did have to be kept confidential. The former clerk was an employee of the parish council and therefore what happens during HR meetings must be kept confidential. The outcomes of that process were clarified in full by Don Jerrard. I would also like to say that there was space in the Peak Centre if more people had turned up. They didn't and that is a fact. As a fellow councillor of Dawn, I am appalled at your comments with regard to why Dawn was 'munching flapjacks' at a PC meeting. All councillors attended the monthly parish council before the APM. This started at 6pm and for those of us who work, like Dawn, there was precious little if no time to have a meal before coming out. So by the time the APM meeting was in progress many councillors were starving hungry and in Dawn's case there is a medical reason why she needed to eat. So please do not make such personal criticism of a fellow human being without knowing the facts. Jane Ives

Re: Parish Council Financial Information - Jane Ives (27th Mar 2013 - 07:21:27) One point I forgot to mention above is to clear up a point in Mr Jackson's posting above. Mr Jackson you state that no questions were answered regarding the former clerk. A member of the public raised 4 questions which were answered in full. There was also another point raised by another member of the public which was also answered. Jane Ives

Re: Parish Council Financial Information - Kevin Jackson (27th Mar 2013 - 11:41:23) Reply to Cllr Jane Ives. I stand by my comments regarding openly eating at a public meeting. I work in the public domain and have to chair meetings. Even if I had to miss a meal which I frequently do, in order to be on time for a meeting nothing would induce me to eat in the meeting. I know that some District Council Meetings start at 6.30 pm and many of the council members have to attend these straight from work and eat afterwards. If, as you say Dawn Hoskins has a medical reason which means she has to eat at certain times etc etc surely she should plan her life round that. For instance I have a friend who has diabetes and is on insulin so has to eat at very specific times. Thus he plans his life round this and BEFORE YOU JUMP ON ME I am not saying for one minute that Dawn Hoskins has diabetes. You brought her medical history into this debate not me. I merely said and I am entitled to say what I feel in a free country, and that is, I personally think eating openly during a public meeting is very unprofessional. Re: the Clerk all that was said in answer to the questions was that he was accused of bullying etc etc and that it was still going on. Is that the only reason he was dismissed? It really was not made clear. You pick on certain items in my posting but do not address the reason why no printed accounts or reports were circulated before or even at the meeting for electors to read and digest and why there was no planning report presented at the APM. The Planning Committe is one of the most important committes and of great interest to the electors. I Instead, as often happens with this Council, as soon as they are criticised in a post, it is dragged down to a personal level. I would have commented on anyone eating on the top table at a public meeting. It just happened to be Dawn Hoskins. It is unprofessional and obviously this Council does not like being called unprofessional, but that is just what it is. Lastly you say there was plenty of room at the Peak Centre Au contraire - what if 50 people had turned up? Could the room have accommodated them.? I think not.

Re: Parish Council Financial Information - Jane Ives (27th Mar 2013 - 13:12:36) Mr Jackson I do not want to enter into a long debate over this and I apologise if I did not answer all of your points, so I will now attempt to do so. You will have to bear with me as I am a fairly new councillor and this was my first APM. I would like to make it clear here that I am not speaking on behalf of the PC but as an individual so my views are my own personal views. I am assuming with my comments below that you were actually at the meeting although I don\'t recall any Mr Jackson making any comment or raising any question. 1. Regarding eating at a public meeting Whether you think this is professional or not, Mrs Hoskins was just about to stand up and give her report and she felt she needed to eat. She could have left the meeting to eat (which she did need to do) but she chose instead to stay so that she could participate in the meeting. I think given the circumstances you could cut her some slack here. (Incidentally, you mention diabetes and my husband is a type 1 diabetic and can often be caught unawares when in the middle of a meeting or anywhere else, so as with any medical condition there are variances between individuals). 2. The reports were presented at the meeting. Whether or not hard copies are usually provided I do not know but certainly after each report there was an opportunity for public question and comment. Some very good questions were asked by members of the public and answers were freely given. 3. A planning report was given by Mr Jerrard. He gave half of it early on in the meeting after the short talk on the Joint Core Strategy, and the second half later on where he explained the successes of the planning committee. Mr Jerrard did not read from a document but he certainly did stand up and talk about planning matters. The reports presented at the APM are a summary of what has happened over the year and therefore none of this is new information, it is simply a précis of what is in the minutes that are available on the parish council website. Incidentally, these reports will all be part of the minutes of the meeting and will be available on the Parish Council website. 4. With regards to the former clerk, there was a full and accurate report given of the sequence of events leading to the end of his employ with the parish council. If you had been at the meeting you were well within your rights to ask any questions you wished if you felt something had not been said that should have been. If you chose not to do this then I\'m afraid there is little redress at this stage. This forum is not the place to try and do this. 5. There was plenty of room at the Peak Centre. When any meeting is organised the only thing the organisers have to go on is to ask themselves how many people should they expect. Last year I believe 12 members of the public attended, this year I think I counted about 14. So I guess we got it spot on with the venue. Of course, we could have used the Millennium Hall and 500 people could have turned up and then that still wouldn\'t have been big enough. So, I think basing the expectation on what happened last year was absolutely right. For those that didn\'t attend, and if you have managed to get to the end of this thread, then some really interesting reports were given by members of the parish council from all committees about the positive steps that are being taken currently in the village - from the Millennium Centre, to Radford Park, to the play park and a potential new skate park. The meeting was actually a very positive one, and the evening ended with refreshments in the parish office with members of the public. I do hope this answers your questions Mr Jackson and we can now draw a close to this matter. Jane Ives

Re: Parish Council Financial Information - liz (27th Mar 2013 - 14:25:38) I trust all these interesting reports will soon be published on the PC website.

Re: Parish Council Financial Information - Peter R (27th Mar 2013 - 14:53:48) I too agree with Liz. I look forward to reading these reports. Not everyone can attend meetings, but the electorate should have access to the reports and accounts. Perhaps Cllr Ives as the main participant in this particular Thread can let us know when the reports and accounts will be available.

Re: Parish Council Financial Information - Jane Ives (27th Mar 2013 - 14:57:57) They will do Liz as part of the minutes...not sure when! I will try and remember to drop a link here when they are available. Jane

Re: Parish Council Financial Information - Kat (27th Mar 2013 - 16:42:38) Cut her some slack? I say cut her some more flapjack, but do make sure it is the correct shape. We wouldn't want there to be injuries if flapjack gets thrown around at the meetings would we. Oops sorry I should be speaking as an individual and not on behalf of the Save the Flapjack Shape Association. PS Councillor Hoskins. I quoted from rule 28 which is entitled "Relations with the Press/Media" and that is FACT and not as you have stated.

Re: Parish Council Financial Information - Rob Tyner (28th Mar 2013 - 19:18:10) Kat - you are obviously either a former Parish Clerk, a troll - or perhaps both. Put up or shut up please.

Re: Parish Council Financial Information - simon (29th Mar 2013 - 18:56:12) I think u hit the nail on the head rob well said.

Re: Parish Council Financial Information - Peter R (30th Mar 2013 - 10:40:29) Cllr Ives I cannot let what you have said in your posting go without replying because it was an inaccurate account of what actually transpired at the APM. When I read your posting I thought you or I had been at a meeting in a parellel universe, so here goes. With regard to item 3 in your posting, Cllr Jerrard did not give a report on planning. He spoke after Ms Potter had given her address on the Joint Core Strategy which incidentally was excellent, but when called upon to give a report on planning he actually apologised for not delivering a report as this had to be run by the clerk and he had not had time to do this. He stated that he found planning challenging but was enjoying it. There was no report as such, not one that I recognised as a report. He seemed to be making random, "off the cuff" statements. As I initiated the post "Dismissal of the Parish Clerk" I feel I must refer to item 4 in your posting. Yes there were questions from the floor as to why the clerk was dismissed. These were not answered and the only reason given for his dismissal was that there had been bullying, absolutely nothing else and I cannot believe this was the only reason. It was then stated that the Clerk himself had intimated to the council that he wanted the reasons kept confidential. Whether under the Freedom of Information Act this is permissable or whether or not the Clerk did actually make this request I do not know. I have my doubts on both counts. The point being the public still do not know why he was dismissed and I am not interested in details, just simple, unembellished facts. The Peak Centre is a small room and would have had a problem accommodating more that 20 people comfortably so one wonders why it was chosen. It just does not seem a suitable venue for an Annual Parish Meeting for a parish the size and importance of Bramshott & Liphook. It was like having a meeting in someone's sitting room. Cllr Ives, you justified the choice of this small venue by indicating that some sort of precedence had been set by the fact that 12 members of the public attended the APM in 2012. However the minutes of this meeting clearly state that 24 members of the public attended the 2012 APM. Who is right? In conclusion although your recollection of events differs from mine, perhaps all will be revealed when the minutes are published on the Web. Many of us are waiting with baited breath

Re: Parish Council Financial Information - Jane Ives (31st Mar 2013 - 00:14:17) Oops got that one wrong didn't I! Yes Peter you were right, looking back at the minutes it appears to be 24 people at the last APM...as I said I wasn't there so apologies! However, I still stand by the fact that the number of people who did attend were easily accomodated. I am not out to mislead anyone. Peter, why did you not raise further questions if you felt that the discussions around the former clerk were not fully explained? Mr Jerrard did give an explanation of events as he saw things, which were the facts, and you were fully within your rights to ask questions as a couple of members of the public did. The chair asked if there were any further questions and there were not. In all honesty, I am not quite sure what could be said at that point. No more questions implies the matter has been dealt with. Again, this website is not the correct forum for such a discussion.

Re: Parish Council Financial Information - Val (31st Mar 2013 - 17:23:49) At the APM an amount of £31,000 was mentioned as being expenses incurred in the dismissal and circumstances surrounding the dismissal of the clerk, but as no accounts were presented at the meeting it was not clear as to what this amount had been spent on. Cllr Croucher said that he was confident that the amount of £31,000 could be claimed on insurance and that he and other councillors were endeavouring to do this. He implied that the reason councillors were doing the work was to save money that would be spent if the clerk did the work. However while this is very commendable, the electors whose money it was, are entitled to know on what the £31,000 was spent - a detailed breakdown. If accounts had been presented to the meeting I assume this would have been shown. The accounts would then have been proposed and seconded as being accurate and signed off. I do therefore hope that when the minutes are published on the web along with the reports, accounts will also be shown in detail particularly with regarding to the £31,000 which was paid for by the taxpayer.

Re: Parish Council Financial Information - Kat (5th Apr 2013 - 18:49:13) Val, bumping this up I see that none of the information you were looking for has been supplied. Good luck!

Re: Parish Council Financial Information - Jane Ives (5th Apr 2013 - 21:04:53) Kat Please refer to my link further up this thread where the link to all financial information held on the Parish Council website is given. If Val, or you, have further questions relating to the detail or clarification of these reports please refer to the parish office. Jane Ives

Re: Parish Council Financial Information - Peter R (6th Apr 2013 - 12:57:26) Just a quick question - why does a link have to be posted on Liphook Talkback to enable members of the public to access, in this case, the accounts? Could they not be published by clicking on Bramshott & Liphook Parish Council and find them under say "Accounts" . That is how other information is obtained such as Meetings, Councillors etc. It would make access so much quicker and easier. At the moment every question seems to be answered by "contact the Parish Office" or "attend the meetings" when all people want to see is the written report/accounts. I have clicked on the link that Cllr Ives put in her posting "Reports from Annual Parish Meeting 25th March 2013" but still cannot see the 2012 Accounts. Incidentally in this posting Cllr Williams who attended stated that "I asked Mr Stanley for a copy that evening but was told that they were not available." Seems a little odd that there were no accounts at the APM.

Re: Parish Council Financial Information - Jane Ives (6th Apr 2013 - 14:53:50) Peter That is a question I have asked myself! There is absolutely no need to post anything on Talkback as all the information you need is on the PC website including the accounts. The link I posted on the other thread was to the APM minutes, there is no requirement to have accounts presented at this meeting which is why they were not available on the night. If you want to find out what happens at an APM please google it and you will see that the parish council ran it exactly as it should be run. The link to the accounts is further up this thread, but if you want to open the Parish Council website, then go to the menu bar at the top and select Parish Council. Then choose Publication Scheme - class 2 is the financial information. Peter, you need to realise that no-one is trying to hide anything, but in all honesty matters are discussed in full at meetings and information published on the PC website....to go through it all in detail again on this website would be a little bit of a waste of everyone's time.

Re: Parish Council Financial Information - Peter R (6th Apr 2013 - 18:22:27) Cllr Ives I have clicked on the link your provided but cannot find the 2012 accounts only 2011. Could you please point me in the right direction so that I can see the 2012 accounts. Many thanks.

Re: Parish Council Financial Information - Kat (8th Apr 2013 - 15:16:16) Peter R, I have tried as well and can't find the accounts for 2012. All the information needed is not on the Parish Council website.

Re: Parish Council Financial Information - Jane Ives (8th Apr 2013 - 16:08:59) Kat Please see the other link on Talkback 'Reports from Annual Parish Meeting 25th March 2013' as this covers your question. Jane

Re: Parish Council Financial Information - Peter R (10th Apr 2013 - 12:26:02) There are no 2012 accounts anywhere on the web - only 2011. There are balance sheets, quite different and a list of expenditure, but no accounts which give details of what is spent to whom and when. When are they going to be published? This is getting boring.

Re: Parish Council Financial Information - Jane Ives (10th Apr 2013 - 13:22:31) Peter I have posted on the other parish council thread on this site about this. To quote…. “Liphook PC does publish its accounts and the link I gave shows all balance sheets and monthly receipts/payments right up until last month. However, I can see a full set of accounts for 2010/11 as a single document, but after that there are monthly documents up to, and including, 2013. I will find out why this is the case but the clerk is currently on leave so I may not get an answer this week. I will, of course, let you know when I have an answer.” I hope this is now clear, and that you can be patient until I can get a full answer for you. Looking at Headley Parish Council's website I notice they also only have their accounts published up until 2011 - nothing for 2012. Perhaps this is normal practice? I will find out. Jane Ives

Re: Parish Council Financial Information - Kat (19th Apr 2013 - 18:14:44) Val. Have a look at the front page of the Liphook Herald. £31,000 could be more like £42,000 or even as much as £80,000.

Re: Parish Council Financial Information - Jane Ives (22nd Apr 2013 - 08:07:22) Apologies to anyone still waiting to see the 2012 accounts. This matter is in hand and the accounts will be published on the parish council website as soon as possible. There have been some sickness issues at the parish office so everyone is playing catch up. Jane Ives

Re: Parish Council Financial Information - peter richardson (23rd Apr 2013 - 10:21:01) Always some excuse from this council.

Re: Parish Council Financial Information - Jane Ives (23rd Apr 2013 - 14:40:37) Peter, The accounts are now on the PC website. I've put the link here for those who can't find them. bramshottandliphook-pc.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/... Or navigate to Parish Council using the link to the left of this page...Parish Council, Publication Scheme, Publication Scheme Class 2, and then Financial Statements 2011-12.

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