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Somerset Association of Local Councils

JOB DESCRIPTION CLERK TO LONG SUTTON PARISH COUNCIL

 

Background

Due to the retirement of the present Clerk, who has served the parish admirably for 40 years, a vacancy has been created for a new Clerk to support the Long Sutton Parish Council in delivering its statutory and mandatory obligations.

 

The Council is made up of up to 9 elected parishioners (Councillors) and it meets on the first Tuesday evening of every month. Actions are created from those meetings that the Clerk is expected to deliver or facilitate to be delivered by others.

 

The Parish Council owns assets in the village such as The Green, the War Memorial, Pump House and circa 20 acres of land. Councillors are Trustees of the Village Hall & Recreation Ground which is served by a volunteer management committee including 3 representatives of the Council.

 

Overall Responsibilities

The Clerk to the Council will be the “Proper Officer” of the Council and as such is under a statutory duty to carry out all the functions of the Council, and in particular to serve or issue all the notifications required by law of a local authority's Proper Officer.

 

The Clerk will be responsible for ensuring that the instructions of the Council in connection with its function as a local authority are carried out.

 

The Clerk is expected to advise the Council on, and assist in the formation of, overall policies to be followed in respect of the Council’s activities and in particular to produce all the information required for making effective decisions and to implement constructively all decisions.

 

The Clerk will be accountable to the Council for the effective management of all its resources, contractors and, if applicable, other employees and will report to them as and when required. At the present time the Council only employs a Parish Clerk and a contracted Parish Community Warden.

 

The Clerk will also be the Responsible Financial Officer (RFO) and therefore responsible for all financial records of the Council and the careful administration of its finances. At the present time, the Council has an income of circa £25,000 primarily made up of the Council Tax, allotment rents and solar feed-in-tariffs.

 

To support the smooth running of the Village Hall & Recreation Field Committee, the Council may ask the Clerk to consider managing the booking clerk duties for the Hall with an uplift in remuneration to cover this additional work.

 

General

  1. Hours – average 8 hours a week recorded by the Clerk to be reviewed after the probationary period
  2. Salary Scale LC21 – being £4,500 pa to be review after the probationary period
  3. Contract – Permanent (after 3 months probationary period)
  4. The Clerk will work from home and will be required to attend approximately 15 evening meetings per year plus the occasional site visit.
  5. The Clerk’s home address will act as the Parish address for Council mail.
  6. The Clerk will be the contact (email, post and telephone) for all Parish Council matters.
  7. The Clerk will be computer literate and unfazed by technology.
  8. The Parish Council will provide appropriate equipment to carry out the role. Some space is needed to store Parish records, but it is envisaged that more documents will be scanned to limit hard-copy storage.

 

 

Specific Responsibilities

  1. To ensure that statutory and other provisions governing or affecting the running of the Council are observed.
  2. To ensure the confidentiality of those Council matters which are not in the public domain.
  3. To ensure compliance with the Data Protection and Freedom of Information Acts.
  4. To prepare, in consultation with appropriate Councillors, agendas for meetings of the Council. To attend such meetings and prepare minutes for approval other than where such duties have been delegated to others.
  5. To issue notices and prepare agendas and minutes for the Annual Parish Meeting called by the Chairman of the Council and to attend such meetings.
  6. To act as the official channel of liaison with and sourcing information from South Somerset District Council and Somerset County Council’s departments, organisations and individuals.
  7. As RFO to manage the finances of the Council including: the preparation of annual budgets; the monitoring and balancing of the Council's accounts; the maintenance of all records including, those for audit, VAT and income tax purposes; the processing and issuing of invoices; receipt of payments due to the Council; and payment of wages and statutory deduction schemes (which is carried out by an external pay-roll company)
  8. To receive and report in respect of goods and services to be paid for by the Council and to ensure such accounts are met in accordance with the policies of the Council.
  9. To manage, if required, the Council's tendering procedure strictly in accordance with the Standing Orders of the Council and its Financial Regulations.
  10. To ensure that the Council's obligations for risk management including risk assessment are properly met and where necessary risks are properly insured.
  11. To receive correspondence and documents on behalf of the Council and to deal with the correspondence or documents or bring such items to the attention of the Council.
  12. To issue correspondence as a result of instructions of the Council.
  13. To monitor the implemented policies of the Council to ensure they are achieving the desired result and where appropriate suggest modifications.
  14. To maintain all deeds, leases contracts and other legal or confidential documentation in a safe and secure manner.
  15. To maintain such records and systems as are necessary for the effective administration of the affairs of the Council.
  16. To attend training courses or seminars on the work and role of the Clerk as required by the Council and to continue to acquire the necessary professional knowledge required for the efficient management of the affairs of the Council.
  17. To carry out any other duties that the Council requires in the execution of its responsibilities.

 

Process

  1. Applications close at 5pm on Friday 18th January 2019.
  2. Your CV and covering letter setting out your suitability for the job should be sent by email only to the Chairman, Rupert Cox at rupertandangie@btinternet.com
  3. Interviews will take place during midweek evenings or Saturday mornings of the last 2 weeks of January to support candidates in existing work.
  4. The successful candidate can take up post as soon as available after interview, but by 1st March 2019 at the latest.
  5. Support from the retiring Clerk will be available to ease the transition of the new postholder.

 

 

 

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