Issue - meetings

(An update in respect of the proposed Parish Charter was also requested for inclusion on the Agenda by the Area Committee of CALC.)

The Chairman informed the Forum that, to date, the Parish Council Charter had been adopted by fifteen Parish Councils, with two parishes yet to respond.  He added that three Parish Councils had declined the invitation to adopt the Charter.

Councillor Hollingworth then outlined what would happen with the Charter next; that is, the Council would itself adopt the Charter and work in accordance with it in conjunction with those parishes that had signed up to it.  He stated that the those Parish Councils who had not, at this stage, adopted the Charter could still sign up to the document at any stage if they so wished.

In response to a question from Mr. Cypher, the Chairman confirmed that Councillor M. J. A. Webb would be the Cabinet Member to support the Charter and that Mrs. C. L. Felton, Head of Legal, Equalities and Democratic Services would be the Lead Officer to the Forum.  Furthermore, Mr. Dicks added that he would also be happy to respond to questions from Members of the Forum.

The Chairman clarified the position in respect of the County Council's Parish Councils' Charter which had been proposed several years ago.  However, he stated that the development of the District Council's Parish Charter had been developed with the Parish Councils themselves and that it would be a 'living' document, unlike the County Charter which had probably not been reviewed in any way since being initially proposed.

Members of the Forum discussed the reasons why some Parish Councils had declined the District Council's invitation to adopt the Charter.  In conclusion, Mr. Cypher suggested that Feckenham Parish Council - the only Parish Council within the Redditch District - may wish to be invited to attend meetings of the Forum and, ultimately, sign up to and adopt the Parish Councils' Charter.

RESOLVED:

(a)       that the details of those Parish Councils which have adopted the Parish Councils' Charter be noted;

(b)       that an invitation be extended to Feckenham Parish Council to attend and participate in meetings of the Forum; and

(c)        that the membership of the Parish Councils' Charter Sub-Group be determined at the next meeting of the Forum, by which time the Charter itself would have been considered by the District Council, prior to formal adoption.