Please excuse this question but I have little hands on experience of our accounting  system.  What is correct procedure when an  EMR is deemed to be no longer needed?

Hi We are reviewing our website and email and would be interested to know who you use. Currently we are with Hugo Fox but would be interested if anyone uses anyone else. Thanks in advance CC

Hello all, It seems our local planning department is working at full speed and I have received 3 applications this week. The Council does not meet in December and the applications have been sent to the Councillors to consider if they want to meet to discuss any of them, the replies being that the applications are not remarkable. My question is regarding the public however, my agenda would be the normal course to advise the public of such applications, what should I do instead please? I can post the applications onto the social media page that I would normally post the agenda, do I have to mention that the Council won't be discussing them before the 21 day deadline though? I doubt the Council would ask for an extension given these applications are alterations to submitted and supported applications. Any advice most welcome or examples of what your Council does. Thank you in advance.

In my experience the widely adopted flexibility of general reserves (GR) can be an enabler to various forms of budgetary abuse.  Some observers , however, indicate that as indicated in the new Sapp guidelines paras 5.33-5.37 that a reserves policy should indicate a fixed percentage level of NRE  for GR.   Whilst I appreciate that all reserves must be justified is it fair to say that GRs level should be similar year on year ?  Would appreciate views on interpretation.

What would anyone consider appropriate staffing costs for a Town Council as a percentage of the total budget?  I have concerns that the staffing costs for our Town Council are increasing as a total percentage of the budget to now over 52% of the total budget, up from 48% this current year.

Two councillors have not attended council for 6 months so have ceased to be councillors.  The notices of vacancy have not been published but the clerk has acknowledged the vacancies and will post them soon.  Since we are within 6 months of the next scheduled election there cannot be a by-election, but can the council co-opt to fill the vacancies? If so, since the parish is warded, does a co-option applicant have to apply for a specific vacancy, e.g. North ward or South ward?  Or can they just apply for a vacancy?  If co-option is allowed, there are likely to be at least 3 applicants for the 2 vacancies.

Do any other pcs do this

I am sorry to ask this question but after many years of argument I feel no nearer to a solution.  As someone who has always worked with budgets I find it unbelievable what some RFOs and PCs seek to defend when setting budgets /precepts.  This stems from the lack of clarity of the relevant legislation which gives PCs the scope for interpretation.  When setting its precept my PC does this.  It has a revenue budget of roughly £250k and its sets the precept to pay for that so effectively it gets fresh money to operate each year.  In the meantime, line 6 on the AGAR shows reserves of roughly £550k  consisting of roughly £400k EMRs and £150k GR.   These are not included in the precept calculation and left to run as they are.  Examination of these reserves shows that much is not justified but held under spurious contingency names. In year reviews of reserves are held and if one EMR is critiqued it is simply vired to general reserves which are now up 7 months of NRE.  This is explained away by the 3 -12 months rule.  Line 6 on the AGAR for recent years indicates these reserves are never spent and remain largely unaltered,  The defence seems to be that the operating budget and reserves are two separate entities and left to the PCs  discretion.  The ultimate question is what the proper way of is setting the precept and can it be enforced.    The guidelines seems so vague that  I suggest many PCs are getting away with highway robbery.   My way is that the precept should sum of all budgets set and justified (including reserves) less forecasted end of year cash in bank.  I have various IAs agreeing with me whereas ours gives my PC a clean bill of health .  There has to be  a right way.

Hi we have just been told we will be charged £70 for a debit card. Can anyone advise on how to purchase items without a card, can we use personal cards and claim back. Thank in advance CC

Hello, my coumcil meeting is scheduled to by held tomorrow night 08/12/2025, I am led to belive that I should have recieved three clear days notice of the meeting in the form of a (summons to attend) to date I have received no notice of a meeting, or a summonds to attend, either by post or by email, I am also led to believe the council meeting sould  have be advertised on local notice boards around our village, I have received noticed this as not happened, can you please advise what action I can take on this matter, we have a proper officer in place, which I am not happy about, thanks in advance for any inforation.

Welcome to Town & Parish Councillor Q&A, where you can ask questions and receive answers from other members of the community. All genuine questions and answers are welcome. Follow us on Twitter to see the latest questions as they are asked - click on the image button above or follow @TownCouncilQA. Posts from new members may be delayed as we are unfortunately obliged to check each one for spam. Spammers will be blacklisted.

I'm fairly sure I'm in the right about this, but just wanted to check in case there is a "special rule" or difference in law that I'm not aware of. A candidate who stood to be co-opted to fill one of 5 vacant seats on the council was rejected last month. They have re-applied this month. Under our standing orders (NALCS model), we have the following rule: A resolution shall not be reversed within six months except either by a special motion, which requires written notice by at least 3 councillors to be given to the Proper Officer in accordance with standing order 9, or by a motion moved in pursuance of the recommendation of a committee or a sub-committee. Voting the candidate on would, in my mind, be unlawful as it's a reversal of the previous decision without the special motion being passed. Can anyone confirm if my understanding is correct? Our clerk, who I trust and have faith in, sought advice from democratic services at the principal authority. I'm yet to confirm with the clerk, but I'm assuming the PA have suggested the candidate could still stand, as they remain on the list of people up for co-option, and the clerk has recently distributed an updated co-option policy for approval that specifically stops repeated requests.

A clerk has refused to show invoices to councillors. Can that happen? Can councillors insist on seeing invoices before they agree a payment?

Hello, We have a shared Speed Indicator Device agreement with another Parish Council. Problems have arisen regarding finding a contractor to move the SID each set period. They have requested that the Chair of our Council attend a meeting to negotiate and possibly accept an agreement without consulting us first . I can find nothing in official Gov.Co guidelines that allow the Chair to attend meetings (except as an Ambassador or To Represent The Council at Official Functions) on the Parish Councils behalf and negotiate without their own Council being consulted to agree to any proposal. Is it within the Chairs remit to attend such a meeting to negotiate and make decisions on the their own Councils behalf in their absence and without their involvement in said decision making?

Recently my council advertised a personal committee meeting would be held regard's applying for a new clerk, when it came to the section where the Public/ and press were to be excluded, myself and my fellow Councillor were also ordered to to leave the meeting, was the chair allowed to ask us to leave.

Welcome to Town & Parish Councillor Q&A, where you can ask questions and receive answers from other members of the community. All genuine questions and answers are welcome. Follow us on Twitter to see the latest questions as they are asked - click on the image button above or follow @TownCouncilQA. Posts from new members may be delayed as we are unfortunately obliged to check each one for spam. Spammers will be blacklisted.

At a recent council meeting, the meeting room was full and many residents could not gain access to the room. The council have the option to book a larger venue. The Clerk stated the council are allowed to refuse access to the meeting on H&S grounds without a resolution from the council and without deferring the contentious agenda item to a time when all interested residents could attend. Is this correct?

We have been let down by our normal hall for PC meetings, we have a village church that is available, can we hold the meeting in there, there would be no issues with it being labelled an emergency meeting. Regards CC

In a recent party newsletter they referred to a PC initiative and invited readers to contact them, not the Clerk. When challenged on this, reminding them that the PC is a collective entity, their response was that since the only Cllrs on the relevant sub-cttee are all from that political party it IS a party initiative.

I recently requested a copy of the councils asset register from the clerk and found that 7 Ipads purchased in October 2020 (before I became a councillor) costing £2,300 are not listed and nor is the recent purchase (January) of a new computer for the clerk costing £400. I queried this and received a reply from the clerk today stating that "the Ipads were purchased for the councillors at the time to allow them to hold online meetings during lockdown, therefore they would not have been put on the asset register". I pointed out that since 2020 councillors have been replaced due to resignations etc and I asked for information on which councillors received the Ipads and where they are now, neither question has been answered. The question on the clerks new computer has been ignored completely. It also appears that we do not have an asset numbering system for tracking purposes. There are items with a lot less value on the register so my question is surely the Ipads and the new computer should be on there as well?

This post might come across a bit 'woe is me' but I really would love to hear your own experience in this please. I have been a Clerk since Feb 23 and in that time have come to realise that the training that I received was very little. In fact the previous Clerk didn't do things correctly, and probably learnt that from the previous one etc. A few things lately have rattled me and made me question what the heck am I doing and am I good enough (a terrible personality trait) I have always said that I will try my best and if I don't know the answer straight away that I will research and seek guidance. An ex Town Clerk suggested I look to be qualified as it will cover all of the training that I haven't received. What are your thoughts? It would be a big commitment for me, I have young children and do my Clerk job part time alongside my main employment. Would the benefits outweigh the hard work studying? Many thanks in advance.

Last year, due to a poor turnout because of Illness, Holiday or other reasons, I was voted out of the chair at our Parish AGM. My supporters couldn't understand why votes could not be accepted by email or other electronic means. The Derbyshire Association Of Local Councils said it was totally out of order and not allowed. In 2024 The Government published a Consultation regarding Remote Attendance voting. Does anyone know the outcome and whether Remote Voting can now be operated. I don't fancy another episode like last year. Hope you can help.

How does the parish council do an agenda for a complaint which the complainant has been asked to attend the meeting to put their concerns. This will need to go into closed session.

A quick question, we have an issue with a villager who is non compliant with planning regs, we have written to them and our letter has been ignored. They attend PC meetings can we ask them directly at the meeting. I don’t know if it’s against PC rules and regulations. TIA CC

Hello all, The question being that there is a meeting tonight and I have just received a planning application, therefore not on the agenda for discussion. We do not hold a meeting in December so any decision that the Council would make would be out of the 21 day expiry. May I ask what to do in this instance? My agenda is the way that I communicate planning applications to the public, although I was thinking of adding them onto the social media site that I use for communication also, any advice welcome in that respect also. Any advice greatly received, and thank you in advance.