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?

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Lawcruncher properly highlights the limitations of the authority (very little more than any other Cllr) of a chairperson of a council.

But there is another fundamentally important consideration.

It could be assumed from the question (although not explicit) that the OP is 'uncomfortable' or unsure of the propriety of being asked to sign documents and the potential for personal liability that may ensue.

Here's the punchline - it's called "your signature" because it is exactly that - YOURS and yours alone to append or withhold.

A sensible approach to adopt, in all matters, is to never - ever - append your signature to a document unless you are 100% content, 100% confident of the implications and 100% willing to accept the potential responsibility and that you do so entirely of your own free will and consent.

It appears from the content of the OP that it is being done "because the clerk says so."  There's your first problem....

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Thankyou RoundAgainCoxon. My situation is thus. The vice chair is on occasion volunteering her opinion that the Chair should sign certain outgoing correspondence to outside bodies. These to my knowledge have always had the line "For and on behalf of (Then the council name)" followed by my signature. Recent documents that were signed were a Grant Acceptance agreement form completed and returned to the County Police and Crime Commissioner (This contained a request for reports to be made back to them on a timely basis regarding performance of the sign. Of course if these fail to happen, will I be made accountable) Also a letter of verification of support to a parishioner appealing a decision by the local District Council to to allow a housing development on a disputed beauty spot (there is a legal aspect to this). Plus Various other Documents. At one time, all I did was sign off the minutes. It just seems to me that responsibility is being off loaded onto me because others don't want it. The thought of something coming back to bite me in the backside is giving me great concern. I signed these documents based on trust because I thought the vice chair (who is a long term experienced Parish and District Councillor) is giving me sound advice. However, have I been misled? I think at this moment all I want to is get a link to where it sets out that it is NOT the responsibility of the Chair to sign any documents apart from signing off the minutes etc. . I have already been advised via this question by another reply that I am just there to hold the meeting together etc. Not be involved in the Administration that is the domain of the Clerk. Where do I go for a clear universal account of what a chairs duties are? My standing orders are completely devoid of guidelines in this area. Apologies for this long winded answer. Your help is truly appreciated..

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Look at the NALC Good Councillor Guide 2024 page 64-71 which provides a comprehensive guide to the role of a PC chair.  Whilst it does not provide a list of things a Chair should NOT do (the list would be enormous) it does provide an overview of what a Chair MAY do.

It probably won't surprise you to hear that 'signing documents on behalf of the council' does not feature in the list of what a Chair may do (certain exceptions like AGAR require a combined Chair / Responsible Financial officer signature.