Signing Of Documents On Behalf Of Council

Question

Over the last few months as Chair, I have been passed a large amount of documents by the Clerk to sign on behalf of my Parish Council. These have ranged from documents of a legal nature, forms referencing agreements and instructions for actions with other outside bodies (which in effect makes me responsible in the event of non compliance) and many other communications that I feel I shouldn't be signing. It seems at the moment that the Clerk is asking me to sign correspondence on an ongoing basis simply because I am Chair. Even the Vice Chair advises the Clerk that I should sign off documents. Shouldn't the Clerk be responsible for administration in its entirety including the signing of documents? Its almost as if the Clerk is avoiding responsibility and placing it with me. What exactly as Chair am I responsible for signing? Appreciate any help. I can find nothing on Gov.Co.UK

Answer 1

You should check your standing orders as these will usually specify who should sign what but in the absence of anything relevant, I would usually expect the council (as a whole) to authorise what should be signed and by whom.  As a general rule (but some councils do this differently), I'd expect the Clerk to sign on behalf of the council for routine matters (but as authorised by the council, often with a scheme of delegation for routine correspondence for example) and in some cases the Chair would sign, particularly if the document specifically asks for a Chair to sign.  In each and every case, however, the council should be authorising the signature the document on behalf of the council so it shouldn't be that you are liable for any actions arising therefrom.

Comments

Many thanks for your advice on this Delboy's Wife.

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Agree with Delboy'swife.  No one councillor or even the clerk can act on behalf of the council without authorisation from the council to do so.  This is usually provided for in a scheme of delegation, which delegates the council's powers and duties to the clerk or other officers (eg RFO), and committees.  Outside of that scheme of delegation, a resolution by council would be required to authorise the chair (or any other councillor or officer) to act.  Typically, the power to sign documents to give effect to resolutions of the council is delegated to the clerk.

It should be remembered that the chair has no special powers beyond those of any other councillor, except the right and obligation to chair a meeting of the council when they are present, the right to call an extraordinary meeting of the council, and the right to call a parish meeting.

You should check your scheme of delegation - what does it say about any powers delegated to the chair?

Can you give more details about the documents you are being asked by the clerk to sign?