O/T - Parish Councils

[moorfield]

Very off topic this - does anyone have any experience of dealing with local / village parish councils? In particular I'm trying to extract some previous parish council meeting minutes from ours (which is useless) - should these be normally made publically available does anyone know?

[bogeyman]

In my personal experience, PCs are little fiefdoms packed with big heads, bullies and busybodies - esp. at the village level.

If you manage to extract any minutes from them at all, I would very much doubt their veracity.

I think they edit them on a case by case basis.

I used to sit on a PC. Nearly drove me mad.

[where did my id go?]

Yes they should be available - they are public documents.

Minutes should be kept forever and be available for inspection - talk to the clerk. What reason are they giving for refusal? How old are the ones you are after? Round here several councils have a deal where old minutes are stored by the county.


I'm chair of ours but I dont regard myself as self serving, a bully or a big head

Edit - just checked the rules. Minutes MUST be open to inspection by any local government elector for the parish (which would be their get out if you are not a resident) at all reasonable times. You can copy them if you want, but they are not obliged to copy them for you. they cannot charge you for inspecting them.
Any person having custody of these docs and obstructing a lawful inspection is liable to conviction and fine.
Local Gov Act 1972 s228 and s229.

[moorfield]

Yes they should be available - they are public documents.
Minutes should be kept forever and be available for inspection - talk to the clerk.

Thanks - the clerk told me otherwise which is why I posted. Suspect the PC are trying to obfuscate on some matters - won't go into detail here.

As chair do you have anything that tells you how to run a PC? ie. is there a "rulebook" that states that? Some obscure page off the gov website?

[bogeyman]

I'm chair of ours but I dont regard myself as self serving, a bully or a big head

I wasn't saying everyone was, but come on, it tends to attract a certain type.

[where did my id go?]

moorfield

They should have a set of standing orders that tells them how to run meetings etc.

Most of the rules are set out under the LGA 1972, which would be available from the HMSO - not sure if its on the web, Ive not looked.

If the clerk is obstructive try to get the refusal in writing. You might try speaking to the local gov Ombudsman. Im not sure how the police would react to a complaint - could be worth a try though.

The standard readable guide is 'The Parish Councillor's Guide' by Paul Clayden/published by Shaw & Sons.

And indeed Bogeyman, they do tend to attract that sort - but there are some exceptions

edit: If you want to start more gently - speak to your district councillor - they vary but ours is very useful and offers guidance.

[DimPrawn]

In my personal experience, PCs are little fiefdoms packed with big heads, bullies and busybodies - esp. at the village level.

If you manage to extract any minutes from them at all, I would very much doubt their veracity.

I think they edit them on a case by case basis.

I used to sit on a PC. Nearly drove me mad.

Not another bloody Mac user!

[bogeyman]

Not another bloody Mac user!

Sitting on a Mac is so much more of a designer experience.

It just works!