Being a Parish Councillor or Clerk

Why become a Parish Clerk?

By becoming a Parish Clerk you become somebody that both your council and your community will look to for help, guidance and support. You will be the person who ensures your council operates effectively and within the law, enabling them to make decisions for the benefit of the people they serve. Seeing your community change for the better, and being able to help residents with enquiries, is something that can give you a sense of achievement and pride.

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What does a Parish Clerk do?

The most common tasks that Parish Clerks get involved in include producing agendas and minutes for council meetings and then various administrative tasks such as writing letters, seeking quotes and responding to planning consultations on behalf of the council. The clerk is often the Responsible Financial Officer (RFO) keeping records of income and expenditure and providing reports on the council’s financial status. Depending on the size of the council, the clerk may manage facilities such as open spaces, village halls, cemeteries and/or allotments and with larger councils may manage other staff who are responsible for such facilities and their maintenance.

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How much time will it take up?

This will vary from council to council with smaller councils averaging 3 hours a week up to larger councils requiring a full time clerk. Parish Councils typically meet in an evening once a month (often excluding August) with meetings lasting 2-3 hours depending on the number of items to be discussed; the clerk would be expected to attend and take minutes. Some councils also have committees to deal with specific matters such as planning or finance which the clerk would attend. Many councils are flexible about what days and hours a clerk works outside of meetings so it can be an ideal job to fit around other work, caring duties or parenting commitments. Larger councils tend to have an office but many smaller councils ask their clerk to work from home outside of meetings.

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Do I need qualifications or experience?

There aren’t any specific requirements to become a clerk, although the nature of the work necessitates a moderate standard of numeracy and literacy and experience in a secretarial or financial role would help, whilst being computer literate is necessary for most councils. The clerk is responsible for ensuring that the council acts within the law so they would be expected to undertake initial training in order to understand the many and varied laws relating to Parish Councils. They would then be required to keep their knowledge up to date with subsequent training whenever legislation changes. There are qualifications such as the Certificate in Local Council Administration (CiLCA) which some councils insist upon because it enables the council to undertake more activities, but most councils will offer to support a clerk in achieving this if it is required.

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Interested?

Why not talk to your local council clerk and find out what they think about the job or attend a few meetings to see what it is all about. If you decide you want to become a parish clerk look out for vacancies on our website, in your local newsletter or on the noticeboards in the parishes near you.