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EAST BERGHOLT PARISH COUNCIL

MINUTES OF THE STRATEGY, POLICY AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING

19 March 2026

Present – Parish Councillors
Councillor R Elmer (Chair)
Councillor M Hockley
Councillor J Miller
Councillor N Roberts

In Attendance
G White, Parish Clerk

OPEN PUBLIC SESSION

No members of the public were present.

1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies for absence received from Councillor Burns were noted.

2. DECLARATION OF INTERESTS

None

3. MINUTES

The minutes of the meeting of 29 January 2026 were approved as a correct record.

4. MATTERS ARISING/UPDATES

Minute 5 Conservation Area Assessment – Councillor Miller reported that Babergh DC’s formal
resolution to proceed will be made at the Council meeting on 11 May. The officers are currently
preparing the materials. The Parish Council will host a consultation event on 23 May.

Minute 6 Risk Assessments – The Clerk confirmed that the risk assessments considered at the last
meeting and for which authority had been delegated to the Chair and Councillor Roberts to finalise,
had now been signed off.

5. COUNCIL POLICY REVIEW – PARISH INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT PLAN (PIIP)

The Clerk presented the draft policy which had been developed from the current policy by a working
group comprising the Chair, Councillors Miller and Roberts and the Clerk.

Councillor Hockley expressed his disappointment that parish councillors had ranked the Padel Court
project at 14 in its list of 17 priorities when it would not cost ratepayers anything at all as it would be
paid for by District and Parish CIL. Councillor Roberts noted that cost was not a criterion for priority
ranking. Councillor Miller added that all the projects listed used residents’ CIL money which were
public funds for the benefit of all.

It was proposed by Councillor Roberts, seconded by Councillor Miller and RESOLVED (unanimously)
that subject to two typographical corrections, the PIIP be recommended to Council for approval.

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6. COUNCIL POLICY REVIEW – RESERVES POLICY

The Clerk reported that the current policy had been reviewed by Councillor Roberts and the Clerk and
the draft policy now presented had been updated and amended in the interests of clarity.

It was proposed by Councillor Roberts, seconded by Councillor Miller and RESOLVED (unanimously)
that subject to a typographical correction, the Reserves Policy be recommended to Council for
approval.

7. COUNCIL POLICY REVIEW – DATA PROTECTION AND ICT POLICIES AND PRIVACY NOTICE

Councillor Smith had reviewed template policies and re-written them to suit the legal requirements and
the Council’s practices and procedures. The Committee thanked Councillor Smith for his work.

The Committee considered Councillor Smith’s covering report and the attached draft policies.

Data Protection Policy – It was proposed by Councillor Miller, seconded by Councillor Hockley and
RESOLVED (unanimously) that the Data Protection Policy be recommended to Council for approval.

Information Technology, Communications and Acceptable Use Policy – Councillor Miller said that the
policy identified what is Council data and what is not but until the Council migrates to a.gov.uk email
system the requirements of section 6, The use of Personal Devices, cannot be met and clarification is
required. This could be overcome by an amendment to the policy stating ‘The Council is moving
towards a.gov.uk email system. When this is in place, users must ensure: …’

It was proposed by Councillor Miller, seconded by Councillor Hockley and RESOLVED (unanimously)
that subject to the above amendment the Information Technology, Communications and Acceptable
Use Policy be recommended to Council for approval.

Privacy Notice – It was proposed by Councillor Robets, seconded by Councillor Miller and RESOLVED
(unanimously) that the Privacy Notice be recommended to Council for approval.

8. APPLICATION FOR GRANT AID – SUFFOLK ACCIDENT RESCUE SERVICE (SARS)

The Committee considered an application from SARS for grant aid. It was proposed by Councillor
Hockley, seconded by Councillor Miller and RESOLVED (unanimously) that grant aid of £250 be
awarded to SARS.

9. CHANGES TO STATUTORY SICK PAY (SSP)

The Clerk presented advice from SALC upon changes to statutory sick pay from April 2026. At present
SSP is only payable from the fourth qualifying day of sickness, but now it will apply from the first day.

This advice was noted but not considered relevant as the Council continues to pay salaries during
sickness absence in accordance with the local government terms and conditions of employment.

10. URGENT COMMUNICATIONS

None

The meeting closed at 8:12 pm

Chair…………………………………………………………………………………….Date………………………………………..