Can a person hold both chair and Parish Clerk positions in the same year.

Question

I am looking for help and guidance by this evening. Many thanks.

Answer 1

Depends which happened first.

Clerk, elected as councillor (resigns as clerk as they cannot be an employee whilst also being their employer), becomes chair, all ok.

Councillor, resigns, is employed as clerk (following an advertised recruitment process), perfectly ok. What must not happen, is to offered a job on the basis of their resignation. E.g. "we'll give you this job if you step down" would be illegal.

However, importantly, I. This circumstance they cannot be paid for the first 12 months, so they will be doing it for free. (That's the law).

Comments

This is on a Parish Committee, not sure if that changes things. Its unpaid and i am currently the Parish Clerk. Our chair has let it be known that he will not be seeking a further year, so we need to replace him. Its a poison chalice at present, so don't envisage any volunteers. I'm happy to do both, but need to know if this is within the realms of lawful and acceptable.

Many thanks for your reply.

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I would do one, but not both.
There all sorts of little rules, e.g. a clerk cannot chair a meeting that get in the way.
And it is better to have two people at the table, rather than one when the public decide to turn on you. It is better to be a democratic chair and 'impartial' clerk than a (perceived) despot.

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Thank you for your reply and taking the time to help me out. Really appreciated. I'm in for a long evening!!!

Answer 2

Yes, a councillor, whether or not chair, can act as the clerk while remaining a councillor. But they cannot be paid for this work while they remain a councillor or for twelve months afterwards. I have more than once, while a councillor, acted as clerk in the interim between one paid clerk leaving and another being appointed. This is common for small town and parish councils. If the parish can afford a clerk, it is not best practice for a councillor to fill the role, but if needs must it is not unlawful.