Our Parish Clerk will not give e-mail password to Chair of Council. How should we deal with this situation, please?

Question

Many Councillors do not know that this situation exists, so the first step would be to inform them, but what is the next step please?

Answer 1

Why does the Chair want the password?  The rule applies to the Chair as well as all other councillors that they are only entitled to information that is directly relevant to them.  If the Chair wants to access the Clerk's emails, what is their reasoning for this?

In my parish council, I have written a list of passwords that have been sealed in an envelope and given to 2 councillors in the event of an emergency, no councillor has access to my emails for any other reason.

With GDPR in mind, it is inappropriate for the Chair of the Council to have access to the Clerk's email if there are emails relating to legitimate personnel matters on there that can be seen for example....

Comments

But what happens when the clerk goes on holiday for two weeks?

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The Clerk should not routinely be preventing members from seeing what E Mails have been sent to the council. He or she is supposed to serve members, not decide what they should or should not get to see. Cllrs are the decision makers NOT Clerks. This goes against transparency and accountability. Members of staffing committees may need access to legitimate personnel matters as well as the Clerk.