Question

Can the Clerk refuse to accept an agenda item

Answer 1

Not in an arbitrary way, no. A councillor has a right to have matters added to the agenda. But the clerk can refuse to accept an item for certain specific reasons. An agenda item must not be unlawful (the council can only discuss matters where it has a competence). An agenda item must be clear in its meaning. The clerk can refuse to accept an unclear item and ask the councillor to clarify it, although often a clerk will help to clarify. There is frequently a deadline (in standing orders) of so many days before a meeting for submission of agenda items, for obvious practical reasons. But in this case, an item that misses the deadline should be included in the next meeting.

Comments

Based on my experience the Clerk refused to put an item on the Agenda and the Chair publicly claimed there was nothing they could do about it !
There’s a huge gulf between best practice and what actually happens in the real world
You can always get another Councillor to support you and call for an EGM

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Who governs this, or do they make their own rules?

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Mike the more you look into Parish Councils the more you realise that if they chose they are a law unto themselves as there’s no one left to regulate them
This doesn’t mean that there aren’t good Parish Councils it’s just that some are very bad ones and basically no one in authority cares