How we Work
Stocksfield Parish Council has twelve councillors who are either elected or co-opted onto the council, and who work closely with the Parish Council’s Clerk. The next elections are to be held in 2029.
The full Parish Council meets monthly except August when no meeting takes place. The minutes of each meeting are published on the website, at first in draft until they are approved at the subsequent meeting. In May of every year the Council must hold its ‘Annual Meeting’, when the Chair is elected. The Chair holds the position until the Annual Meeting in the following year.
Decisions of the Council must be made during a full meeting of the Council unless a delegated authority has been granted to a committee of the Council or to an officer of the Council. The Council’s Standing Orders, Financial Regulations and Policy documents describe the circumstances in which the Clerk has delegated powers to act and where the Clerk makes a decision based on a specific express authority of Council that is not included in those documents, the decision is recorded and published in the delegated decision schedule. The Council has also delegated authority to the Planning Committee and to the Clerk in respect of commenting on certain planning matters (see separate policy).
Not to be confused with the Parish Council’s ‘Annual Meeting’, the Council has traditionally held an ‘Annual Parish Meeting’ where local residents can find out more about what the Parish Council has been doing and how it has spent its budget to benefit the community. The Annual Parish Meeting is not a meeting of the Parish Council and there is no legal requirement for the Council to hold it. In 2021 the Council decided to hold the Annual Parish Meeting in future years only when considered necessary.
There are also four Advisory Groups whose role is to support the Parish Council by considering in detail a range of matters relating to their remit and making recommendations as to the course of action which the Parish Council should take. The groups have no delegated powers. Membership of the General Governance, the Planning and the Communications Advisory Groups is entirely drawn from members of the Parish Council. Membership of the Rights of Way and Environment Advisory Group is drawn from the local community and representatives of countywide organisations, along with two Parish Councillors, one of whom acts as Chair of the Group. The chair of each group is responsible for bringing relevant issues discussed by the Group to the attention of the Parish Council, including any recommendations for consideration by the Council.
Parish Council representatives on outside bodies are responsible for ensuring that the Parish Council is fully informed of relevant issues discussed at meetings of these bodies.
A document describing the Advisory Groups is available on the Policy Documents page.
The Parish Council Clerk
The council employs a clerk who performs the roles of ‘Proper Officer’ and ‘Responsible Financial Officer’. The clerk is based at the Parish Council Office, situated within Stocksfield Community Centre, and is responsible for ensuring appropriate action is taken in respect of all decisions of the council. Residents can raise issues of concern with the clerk who will take appropriate action, where the issue is a responsibility of the council, or refer the matter to an alternative appropriate body. The Clerk is also responsible for supervising the council’s contract with its grounds maintenance provider. The Clerk’s current job description can be found by clicking here.