ROLE OF TOWN CLERK

(Reproduced from notes for Councillors published in the Local Council Review by John Clark.)

 

The Town Clerk is an employee of the Town Council and head of the Council's staff. The Town Council is a body corporate so that in the last resort, a majority of Councillors acting correctly at a duly convened meeting can require the Town Clerk to carry out any lawful instruction within the scope of his/her employment. Although it is often a usual and acceptable practice that the Town Mayor, or indeed the Chairman of a Committee, can give necessary directions to a Town Clerk, they have no right by law to give any binding instructions other than those agreed by the Town Council and, in particular, have no power to suspend or dismiss the Town Clerk.

The Town Clerk is the "proper officer" of the Town Council (Section 270 of the Local Government Act 1972) i.e. the person responsible for formal acts, as set out in the Standing Orders.

The Town Clerk, as an employee, is covered by all the legislation relating to employment and the "Town Council" is in no special position as compared with other employers. In legal terminology, the Town Clerk is "the servant of the Council", but this carries no implication of civility or any legal relationship other than employer/employee.

The post of Town Clerk can be seen as analogous to that of the Chief Executive in a county or Borough. A local authority operation consists of policy-making and decisions, and administration. The Town Clerk is head of the administration and therefore responsible for the whole of that side of the work. The role is not that of a secretarial employee but that of a hands-on administrator. Neither Councillors nor the Town Mayor should take any responsibility for administrative, managerial or supervisory tasks, as they should correctly be discharged by the Town Clerk.

In some authorities, it has been known for Members to try to take over the role of the Town Clerk as, for example, where the Chairman drafts the minutes or Councillors write Council letters on the justification that the Town Clerk or Parish Clerk cannot be left to do it. If the justification is correct, the Council concerned has not appointed a suitable person; if the justification is a cover for Councillors to "do it their way" it should be rejected as a wrong attitude.

Since the Town Clerk is responsible for administration, he has the practical function of advising the Council, advising the Chairman of the Council or Town Mayor and Chairmen of Committees on procedural issues, and ensuring that the Council business is conducted according to the rules of law and procedure. More especially, the Town Clerk is expected to be suitably qualified both through experience and through formal training and Councillors (even if it be inconvenient or contrary to their expectations) should accept the guidance as to the existence and applicability of relevant facts of law and content themselves with making policy decisions using such guidance.

It is always right to record the advice of the Town Clerk if it has not been followed.

As part of his role as an employee of the Town Council, it is possible for the Town Clerk to take actions which are necessary to continue the running of the Council, where no decisions between alternative courses of action are needed, without reference to a Council meeting. For example, if a Member resigns his seat, this happens as soon as the written notice reaches the Town Council; the Council is required by Section 87 of the Act of 1972 to give public notice as soon as practicable thereafter. The Town Clerk does not need to get approval of a meeting for posting a notice because this is an automatic administrative consequence. Of course, the Town Clerk will report to the Town Council that he has posted the notice.

The Town Clerk is in the dual position of "independent" administrator but also of employee. He has to carry through adequately decisions of the Town Council which the Town Council has probably arrived at even though they are decisions which the Town Clerk would not have made. Councils, like any deliberative body, benefit from suggestions and the Town Clerk is particularly well placed because of the information regularly available to suggest lines of action; yet the Town Clerk must be careful to see these as suggestions which the Town Council may reject, whilst Councillors must see them as helpful, not an interference in their own duties.

As in all public life, the conduct of local Council affairs cannot be reduced to a precise set of rules. The component parts of any activity have to accept that the other parts have a proper role and must be allowed to get on with it.

Issues of dispute must be argued without malice and with deference to the view of the person who has principal responsibility. Without the very best of reasons, a Member will not challenge a Chairman's interpretation of procedures nor a Chairman reject the Town Clerk's guidance on a legal point. It is equally valid that the Town Clerk should not try to argue the Members into changing their minds.

"The Council is only as good as its Clerk."

"A Council is only as good as its Councillors"

"A Council is only good if well led by its Chairman."

All these are true; the truly good Council is the one which accommodates all three sayings at once. A truly good Council is an active, effective, resourceful Council quietly administered by its Clerk whilst the Members press on with the local public issues.

Consultation on National Training Strategy

The National Improvement and Development Board has launched a consultation to inform the first ever national improvement strategy for town and parish councils. We would love to hear from all levels of local government. Please spread the word!

The first step in this consultation is a short survey. This will help us get a feel for what is important to councils, county associations and other partners. Most of 2016 will be spent on a more in depth consultation, which will include face-to-face discussions – not just on-line surveys!

You can find out more about the consultation at http://www.nalc.gov.uk/our-work/improvement-and-development/national-improvement-strategy-consultation

The Introduction to Local Council Administration is the successful online induction course for clerks best undertaken before attempting the Certificate in Local Council Administration (CiLCA). ILCA is one of the training offers delivered under the National Training Strategy. 

ILCA was designed for council officers, but all the information is relevant to councillors as well and might be a good alternative for those who would like an online learning tool.

Berkshire has now started a mentoring scheme for clerks undertaking CiLCA which is the recognized qualification for clerks and is one of the criteria which enables councils to gain the General Power of Competence.

Audio recording of council meetings

BALC has been approached by a company called AudioMinute who provide webcasting equipment. Below is their email:

"We've been talking to Essex County Council and Essex Association of Local Councils about Audio webcasting for local councils. The level of interest from smaller organisations has really surprised us. Perhaps your members will be similarly impressed; please circulate this email for us. 

The background is that communities now have an expectation that public information will be accessible, and local decision making will be transparent. Also, now the public has the right to record meetings, councils of all sizes are increasingly concerned about the opportunities for their recorded words to be misrepresented.

Audiominutes helps; it combines a simple to use app and cloud based webservices making audio webcasting a reality at all levels of local government. Meetings are streamed live and made available from an archive (see attached example).

I've attached a video presentation which shows how Audiominutes works for larger authorities. In the case of smaller organisations, our 'Lite' version lets you create meetings and agendas via email without the need for expensive third party systems.

If you are interested, please contact us - thanks in advance."

http://www.audiominutes.com/

Council complaints policy

Parish Council complaints policy

When did you last review your councils Complaints Policy? Is it up to date? One would hope that your council will never need to refer to its complaints policy but, like Standing Orders, it is there should the occasion arise. 

A good complaints system is: 
• well publicised, easily accessible and easy to use
• helpful and receptive 
• not adversarial 
• fair and objective
• based on clear procedures and defined responsibilities
• thorough, rigorous and consistent 
• decisive and capable of putting things right where necessary 
• sensitive to the special needs and circumstances of the complainant 
• adequately resourced 
• fully supported by councillors and officers 
• provides responses that are proportionate, one size does not fit all 
• timely and 
• regularly analysed to spot patterns of complaint and lessons for service improvement.

NALC has a Legal Topic Note  (9E) in the Members Area of its website on how to handle complaints. (If you are a member of BALC you will have a username and password to access the NALC Members Area). 

Remember the Office of the Local Government Ombudsman does not cover town and parish councils.

Transparency Code information and grants available

Length of time you need to keep Transparency Code information on your website


By now your council and your clerk will be familiar with the requirements of the Transparency Code and if you aren't already compliant will be working towards getting the required information onto your council website.

Smaller councils (turnover under £25,000) should publish on a freely available website information about:

•  all items of expenditure above £100 
•  end of year accounts 
•  annual governance statement, internal audit report 
•  list of councillor or member responsibilities  
•  the details of public land and building assets
• Minutes, agendas and meeting papers of formal meetings

If your council does not have a website it may be eligible to receive a grant towards getting a computer and setting up a website to enable the council to comply with the Code. Please contact BALC for more information and an application form. The first monies will be made available to parish councils in November 2015 and monthly from then until the end of the 2015/16 financial year when the process will be reviewed.

Some councils have been asking how long does the information have to remain on your website. Hungerford Town Council asked DCLG, their response was:

"There is no requirement to retain information indefinitely online, and your authority

should follow its own records management policy. As a guide, however, the

Information Commissioner’s Office provides a model publication scheme under the

Freedom of Information Act, which can be summarised as:

• Any information about decision-making and records of decisions should be made available for the current financial year, plus the previous three financial years;
• Any information about financial records (e.g. from parking income, to salary information) should be made available for the current financial year, plus the previous two financial years;
• Any other substantive information (e.g. constitution) should be up to date.

The full scheme can be found here:

It is for your councillors to decide whether to fund the expansion of a website, to

allow for material to be stored. We would of course encourage them to consider the

importance of transparency for all public services. Access to information about how

public money is spent is an integral aspect of local accountability and the democratic

process."

NALC Legal Topic Note 56: The provision of play and sports equipment on village greens updated

NALC Legal Topic Note (LTN) 56: The provision of play and sports equipment on village greens has been amended to include reference to the Open Spaces Act 1906 and simplified.

Defra Towards a one nation economy: A 10-point plan for boosting rural productivity

This document sets out a 10-point plan that the government will put into action to increase productivity growth in England’s rural areas. Note the last suggestion (10)
 
Your bedtime reading if you live in the rural parts of Berkshire!

1. Extensive, fast and reliable broadband services
•The government is committed to delivering superfast broadband of at least 24Mbps to 95% of UK households and businesses by 2017. Decisions on further broadband rollout will be taken in the Spending Review in November
•By the end of 2015, access to standard broadband will be available to anyone unable to get a service of at least 2Mbps, through the option of satellite broadband.
 

2.High quality, widely available mobile communications
•The government will work closely with industry to support further improvements to mobile coverage
•The government proposes to extend permitted development rights to taller mobile masts subject to conclusions from the Call for Evidence which closed on 21 August 2015

3.Modern transport connections
•The government will improve transport connections for rural areas, including through its £15 billion Road Investment Strategy and £38 billion rail investment programme.To support smaller airports serving regions across the UK, the government is publishing proposals for new publicly supported passenger air routes, with final decisions on funding for successful routes to be made in November.

4.Access to high quality education and training
•The government will ensure fairer funding for schools, including those in rural areas. It will turn inadequate schools into academies and focus efforts to support school improvement in under performing rural areas.
•The government will invite local areas to participate in the re-shaping and commissioning of local post-16 skills provision.

5.Expanded apprenticeships in rural areas
•The government will increase apprenticeships in rural areas, including by tripling apprenticeships in food and farming and by helping small tourism businesses to provide more, high quality apprenticeships

6. Enterprise Zones in rural areas
•In the current bidding round for Enterprise Zones closing on 18th September 2015, preference will be given to proposals involving smaller towns, districts and rural areas.
•The government’s ambition is that businesses in all Enterprise Zones in rural areas will be able to access high speed broadband.

7. Better regulation and improved planning for rural businesses
•Alongside wider measures to reduce the regulatory burden and improve planning, the government will review planning and regulatory constraints facing rural businesses and
measures that can be taken to address them by 2016
•The government will introduce a fast-track planning certificate process for establishing the principle of development for minor development proposals

8. More housing
•Through the right combination of measures, the government wants to ensure that any
village in England has the freedom to expand in an incremental way, subject to local agreement

•The government will make it easier for villages to establish neighbourhood plans and allocate land for new homes, including the use of rural exception sites to deliver Starter Homes.
 

9.Increased availability of affordable childcare
•The government will work with local authorities and providers to ensure there is sufficient high-quality childcare to meet the needs of parents in rural areas.
•The government will welcome high quality early expressions of interest from rural areas to deliver 30 hours of free childcare to working parents

10. Devolution of power
•The government will encourage further proposals from local areas for devolution of powers in return for strong and accountable local governance.