Agenda item

Consultation on the Parish Council Charter / Concordat

Minutes:

At the invitation of the Chairman, the Executive Director - Services addressed the Forum and outlined the responses to the consultation on the draft Parish Council Charter document. He drew attention to the recommendation on page 8 of the report and stated that he considered the most efficient and measured approach to the adoption of the parish charter document would be to establish a working group comprised of parish council representatives, together with the Leader of the Council and two officers. By taking this approach, it was anticipated that the issues raised as a result of the consultation could be considered in detail and reported back to the next meeting of the Forum.

During the discussion on the proposals contained in the report, members of the Forum believed that by limiting the parish council representation on the working group to three would not be sufficiently representative of the 20 parishes within the District. However, views were expressed that too many members on the working group would hinder its progress in reaching agreement on a final document for approval by the Forum.

The Forum also considered that the working group should include (where possible) those clerks who work for more than one parish council, so as to maximise representation of the parishes, together with a representative from the Worcestershire County Association of Local Councils.

RESOLVED:

(a) that a working group be established to consider in detail the responses received in respect of the draft Parish Council Charter document that had previously been distributed to parish councils;

(b) that the composition of the working group be as follows:-

§ Councillor R. Hollingworth, Leader of the Council

§ Mr. T. Beirne, Executive Director - Services

§ Mrs. D. Warren, Senior Solicitor

§ Mrs. R. Levett (Acting Executive Officer, Worcestershire CALC)

§ Miss P. Harrison (Clerk to Beoley Parish Council and Wythall Parish Council)

§ Mrs. R. Mullett (Clerk to Clent Parish Council, Hunnington Parish Council and Romsley Parish Council)

§ Mr. S. R. Colella (Chairman of Hagley Parish Council) [or, in his absence, an appointed representative]

§ Mrs. C. Limm (Clerk to Belbroughton Parish Council and Dodford with Grafton Parish Council [or, in her absence, James Bradley (Chairman of Belbroughton Parish Council)]

§ A representative from Barnt Green Parish Council [either Mrs. J. Jagger (Chairman), Mrs. S. Whitehand or Mr. R. Westbury (Executive Officer)]

§ Mr. J. Cypher (Chairman of Alvechurch Parish Council)

(Note: Mr. J. Cypher questioned whether the working group could also give consideration to possible development initiatives in relation to the provision of ICT equipment and facilities to parish councils in order to enhance communication, and to maximise the electronic services provided by the Council. However, Mr. Beirne stated that he considered the working group should strictly focus on the proposed Parish Council Charter, bearing in mind the limited timescale available, but he stated that he would endeavour to investigate the matter separately and to explore issues concerning the provision of ICT equipment.)

Supporting documents: