Vacancy for Parish Clerk and Responsible Financial Officer at South Perrott Parish Council
- Council Name: South Perrott Parish Council
- Role/Job Title: Clerk and Responsible Financial Officer
- Salary/Pay Range: SCP 13-17 (£14.60 – £15.58 per hour)
- Hours per week/month: 16 hours per month
- Closing date for applications: 30 th November 2024
- Contact email: clerk@southperrottparishcouncil.org
- Contact telephone: 01935 891115
- Council Website: https://www.southperrottparishcouncil.org
Applications are invited for this varied and interesting part-time position.
The Parish of South Perrott in Dorset has approximately 220 residents and lies 2 miles (3.2 km)
southeast of Crewkerne along the A356.
The Parish Clerk works as the sole employee for the Parish Council, largely under their own
initiative.
Responsibilities include:
- Preparing agendas, posting notices, taking minutes and following up actions
- Attending six evening meetings per year held in South Perrott Village Hall and other occasional meetings as required
- Maintaining financial records including budget preparation, banking and annual audit
- Dealing with correspondence
- Communicating with council members, village residents and outside bodies as appropriate
- Arranging insurance cover
The role will be approximately 16 hours per month within NALC scale range SCP13 – 17 (£14.60 –
£15.58 per hour). The post is home based and a laptop and printer will be provided.
The role requires good interpersonal and communication skills along with good organisational and
numeracy ability. Applicants should be confident using a computer for word processing,
spreadsheets, research and email.
A qualification in finance would be beneficial, as would previous Parish Clerk experience although
full training for new clerks can be arranged. CiLCA qualified applicants and those hoping to obtain a
CiLCA qualification are welcome to apply.
Interviews will take place in early December and the successful candidate should ideally be able to
take up the position in January 2025.
A copy of the job description is available on request.
For an informal chat about the role or to apply, please email: clerk@southperrottparishcouncil.org
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
the Responsible Financial Officer and responsible for all financial records of the Council and the
careful administration of its finances.
Specific Responsibilities
- To ensure that statutory and other provisions governing or affecting the running of the
Council are observed. - To monitor and balance the Council’s accounts and prepare records for audit purposes and
VAT. - To ensure that the Council’s obligations for Risk Assessment are properly met.
- To prepare, in consultation with appropriate members, agendas for meetings of the Council
and Committees. To attend such meetings and prepare minutes for approval. - To attend all meetings of the Council and all meetings of its committees and subcommittees.
- 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. - 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. - 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. - 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. - 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. - To monitor the implemented policies of the Council to ensure they are achieving the desired
result and where appropriate suggest modifications. - To act as the representative of the Council as required.
- 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. - To prepare, in consultation with the Chair, press releases about the activities of, or decisions
of, the Council. - To attend training courses or seminars on the work and role of the Clerk as required by the
Council. - If not already achieved, to work towards the achievement of the status of Qualified Clerk.
- 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. - To attend the Conference of the National Association of Local Councils, Society of Local
Council Clerks, and other relevant bodies, as a representative of the Council as required.
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