Councillors
All the Parish Councillors live in the parish. They are volunteers and receive no pay for the work they do on behalf of the parish.
Register of Members' Interests: Click here
The Clerk
The Clerk is employed by the Council to provide administrative support and professional advice for the Council's activities.
The Clerk cannot be self-employed. It is important that Councillors, partner organisations and the local community appreciate the clerk as a professional officer.
The Clerk is not answerable to any indvidual Councillor - not even the Chairman. The Clerk is an independent and objective servant of the Council, recognising that the Council is responsible for all decisions and taking instructions from the Council as a body.
The Clerk is the 'Proper Officer'. This title used in law refers to the appropriate officer for the relevant function. The Council must appoint officers it needs to discharge its functions. In finance, the Proper Officer is known as the Responsible Financial Officer. The 'RFO' is often the Clerk, but not always.
As an independent and objective professional, the Clerk advises the Council on whether decisions are lawful, researches topics of concern and provides unbiased information that helps the Council make appropriate choices.
Legally councils can agree to delegate decisions to the clerks because they are professional officers whos independence allows them to act on behalf of the council.
Clerk
Chairman
Vice Chair
Anna Bretan
01535 631510
Councillor
Susie Cottrell
0771 167 1747
Councillor
Brian Parsons
01535 637322
Councillor
Maureen Green
01535 635269
Councillor
Betty Hawkins
01535 635134
Councillor
James Jennings
Councillor
Jacqueline Dickinson
01535 633008
North Yorkshire County Councillor
Philip Barrett
The clerk cannot make decisions, or impose a personal opinion the job requires providing information where council members will make a decision.
The clerk is duty bound to carry out that decision unless the decision is obviously unlawful or beyond the council’s powers.
Requests, suggestions and complaints must be put in writing to the Council Office where they can be itemised on the agenda for future meetings.
Council Meetings are on the first Monday of every month (except when there is a BankHoliday and then it is the second Monday) at 6,45pm at the Community Centre, North Street.