Parish Clerk

The Clerk to the Council is 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 is responsible for ensuring that the instructions of the Council in connection with its function as a Local Authority are carried out.

The Clerk is the Responsible Financial Officer and responsible for all financial records of the Council and the careful administration of its finances.

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 Clerk must recognise that the Council is responsible for all decisions and that she takes instructions from the Council as a body. The Clerk is not answerable to any individual Councillor – not even the Chairman.

The Council must be confident that the Clerk is, at all times, independent, objective and professional.

Proper Officer is a title used in statute. It refers to the appropriate officer for the relevant function. In town and parish councils, the Proper Officer is normally the Clerk. In financial matters, the Proper Officer is known as the Responsible Financial Officer.

Contact Details

Claire Pizzey – Clerk and Responsible Financial Officer to the Parish Council

Write To: 2 Broomspath Road, Stowupland, Stowmarket, Suffolk, IP14 4DB

Telephone: 01449 677005

Email: clerk@haughleypc.co.uk