Pucklechurch Parish Council - Introduction

The Council 
Pucklechurch Parish Council consists of nine Councillors who are elected every four years. - the current Council has been serving the community since May 2019. A Chair and Vice Chair are elected from among the serving Councillors on an annual basis. A full list of members and their contact details can be found here

​Councillors Register of Members Interests forms can be viewed here 

​​Councillor and Clerk Training Record can be viewed here

Clerk
The Council employs a part-time Clerk to support them in their work. The Clerk is the Proper Officer of the Council and therefore under a statutory duty to carry out all the Council's functions, and in particular, to serve or issue all the notifications required by law of a local authority's Proper Officer. The Clerk is responsible for ensuring that all the Council's instructions are carried out and also advises and assists the Council in the formation of its overall policies and procedures. The production of all the information required for the Council to be able to make effective decisions is also the responsibility of the Clerk, as well the implementation of those decisions. The Clerk is accountable to the Council for the effective management of all its resources and responsible for the careful administration of its finances and financial records as the Responsible Financial Officer.

Contact details for the Clerk can be found here

Details of information available from Pucklechurch Parish Council under the model publication scheme here

Find out more about the role of Town & Parish Councils here

Electors' Rights
Each year the council’s Annual Governance and Accountability Return (AGAR) needs to be reviewed by an external auditor appointed by Smaller Authorities’ Audit Appointments Ltd.  Any person who is interested has the opportunity to inspect and make copies of the Annual Return and all books, deeds, contracts, bills, vouchers and receipts etc. relating to them. The date appointed for the exercise of these rights for documents relating to the year ended 31st March will be posted here as soon as it is announced. Local Government Electors and their representatives also have the opportunity to question the auditor about the accounts and the right to make objections to the accounts or any item in them.  Written notice of an objection must first be given to the auditor and a copy sent to the Council.

​Meetings
Full council meetings take place on the first and third Wednesdays every month at Pucklechurch Community Centre, starting at 7.30pm.

Public Participation
Members of the public are encouraged to attend full council meetings to raise issues in person for a maximum of 5 minutes per subject. Councillors may ask questions for clarification but will not enter into a discussion or respond to the issues raised at the same meeting. Should it be felt necessary Councillors  will schedule an agenda item for a future meeting to address the topic.  Where possible members of the public are asked to let the Clerk know 24 hours in advance if they intend to speak.

Annual Parish Meeting
All Parish and Town Councils throughout England are required by law to hold an annual parish meeting between 1st March and the 1st June (inclusive). The Annual Parish Meeting is a meeting of all the local government electors for the Paris, it is NOT a Meeting of the Parish Council.  Anyone may attend but only registered electors of Pucklechurch Parish may speak and vote.
 
The purpose of the meeting is so that the Parish Council can explain what it has been doing over the last year, it also provides an opportunity for community groups and electors to share information on activities and it enables the electors to have their say on anything they consider is important to the people of the Parish.  Questions of the Council will usually be answered by the Chairperson, the parish clerk, or a designated councillor. An elector may also make suggestions and comment on anything pertinent to the people of the Parish of Pucklechurch. This will be welcomed and is the whole purpose of the meeting.

The Chairperson of the Parish Council will chair the meeting or if unable to attend, the meeting will elect a chairperson from amongst those electors’ present. Other parish councillors may also attend but the purpose of the meeting is to enable the electors of Pucklechurch Parish to have their say. Councillors will listen with interest and, as electors themselves, also have the opportunity to raise questions and make comments if they wish.

A written record of the meeting is taken and presented at a future meeting of the Parish Council for their consideration. The minutes will be published on the Pucklechurch Community Website at www.pucklechurch.org. 

​Generally, the meeting lasts no longer than two hours.