Vacancy for Parish Clerk

With the impending retirement of our current Parish Clerk we are seeking a new, enthusiastic and forward looking replacement.  Salary pro rata £23k – £25k for a 15-20 hour week.

Clerk to the Parish Council – Vacancy

Owing to retirement, West Bergholt Parish Council is seeking a new Clerk for this busy and forward-thinking council.

West Bergholt Parish Council seeks a suitable experienced person with sound administrative and managerial skills and knowledge of local government who can assist in the formation and review of Council policies.

If you are a highly motivated and enthusiastic individual who is capable of running the Parish Council office whilst managing your own workload then we would like to hear from you. The Clerk’s roles and responsibilities are summarised in the Job Description below.

The role will require direct contact with not only parishioners but also a wide range of individuals towards building effective partnerships.   It requires a flexible approach with the determination to meet demanding deadlines.

Whilst the hours are negotiable and subject to review some evening meetings will be required.

Salary range: Initially £22,937 to £25,440 pro-rata for a 15 – 20 hour week dependent on experience and qualifications, with progression through bar to the range from £26,293 to £29,558 after meeting specific standards set out in our career grade salary structure.

The Parish Council offers nationally-based contract of employment terms and conditions and encourages further training and development applicable to the role.

Applications

Applications should be submitted in writing to Mrs Val Walsom either by e-mail in pdf format to [email protected] or by post to 17 Armoury Road, West Bergholt, Colchester CO6 3JN.

Applicants are expected to supply relevant contact details; previous experience and employment details relevant to this position and why they qualify for the position.  We would be keen to understand what added value the council and the community can expect from the applicant in this role.  Whilst applicants may provide a CV if they wish they must specifically address each statement within this paragraph via an accompanying letter.

Applicants are expected to hold the CiLCA qualification or be willing to undertake this qualification within a reasonable time frame of the appointment.  Must be computer literate and accustomed to working with common Microsoft office applications (or equivalent) including Word, Excel and PowerPoint.  Office computer equipment will be provided.

Closing Date & Interviews

Closing date for receipt of applications is Friday 27th March 2015.

Interviews will be arranged following the closing date.

Job Description – Clerk to 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, and in particular to serve or issue all the notifications required by law of a local authority’s Proper Officer.  The Clerk will be totally 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 Authority’s activities and in particular to produce all the information required for making effective decisions and to implement constructively all decisions.  The person appointed will be accountable to the Council for the effective management of all its resources and will report to them as and when required.

The Clerk will be responsible for all financial records of the Council together with the careful administration of its finances.

The Council has sole management responsibility for a number of Trusts within the village with all Councillors being Trustees for these Trusts.  The Clerk’s role and responsibilities summarised below, extend to administering these Trusts as appropriate.

Specific Responsibilities

1. To ensure that statutory and other provisions governing or affecting the running of the Council are observed.
2. To monitor and balance the Council’s accounts and prepare records for audit purposes and VAT.
3. To ensure that the Council’s obligations for Risk Assessment are properly met.
4. To prepare, in consultation with appropriate members, agendas for meetings of the Council and Committees. To attend such meetings and prepare minutes for approval, other than where such duties have been delegated to another Officer.
5. To attend all meetings of the Council and all Finance, Policy and Personnel (FPP) sub-committee meetings.
6. 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. To issue correspondence as a result of instructions of, or the known policy of the Council.
7. To receive and report on invoices for goods and services to be paid for by the Council and to ensure such accounts are met. To issue invoices on behalf of the Council for goods and services and to ensure payment is received.
8. To study reports and other data on activities of the Council and on matters bearing on those activities. Where appropriate, to discuss such matters with administrators and specialists in particular fields and to produce reports for circulation and discussion by the Council.
9. To draw up both on his/her own initiative and as a result of suggestions by Councillors, proposals for consideration by the Council and to advise on practicability and likely effects of specific courses of action.
10. To supervise any other members of staff as their line manager in keeping with the policies of the Council and to undertake all necessary activities in connection with the management of salaries, conditions of employment and work of other staff.
11. To monitor the implemented policies and procedures whether these are statutory or otherwise of the Council to ensure they are achieving the desired result and where appropriate suggest modifications to the Council for change as appropriate.
12. To act as the representative of the Council as required.
13. To issue notices and prepare agendas and minutes for the Parish Meeting: to attend the assemblies of the Parish Meeting and to implement the decisions made at the assemblies that are agreed by the Council.
14. To prepare, in consultation with the Chairman, press releases about the activities of, or decisions of, the Council.
15. Establish and maintain clear communications for publicising Council business within an increasingly electronic age.
16. To attend training courses or seminars on the work and role of the Clerk as required by the Council.
17. To work towards the achievement and then maintain the status of Qualified Clerk as a minimum requirement for effectiveness in the position of Clerk to the Council.
18. To continue to acquire the necessary professional knowledge required for the efficient management of the affairs of the Council: Suggested is membership of your professional body The Society of Local Council Clerks.
19. The Parish Council achieved Quality Status (Foundation level) in December 2014.  It is the Parish Councils intention to achieve Gold level in 2015 and the Clerk must make all reasonable efforts to ensure this award is achieved by December 2015.   In meeting this requirement the Clerk must, as a minimum, complete all training required of a Clerk if the Council is to achieve “Gold” level status.
20. The Clerk is expected to manage all change requirements introduced by the NALC or the SLCC that may be introduced which are necessary for the Council to retain the highest level of “Quality” status.
21. To attend sector related conferences and seminars or other relevant bodies, as the Councils representative when authorised by the Parish Council Chairman or designate.