Question

I believed councillors are equal & the Mayor is a figurehead, can he do things other members can't?

Answer 1

If the mayor is the chair of a Town and Parish Council, he or she  differs form other cllrs in the following  respects:

Has the right to unilaterally call and extraordinary or extraordinary general meeting of the Council

Chairs full meetings of the Council and signs copies of the approved minutes of those meetings.

Acts as a counter signatory of certain documents, e.g the Annual Governance and return

By convention, represents the Council at external meetings and events, but other Cllrs can also do that.

That;s it:  The Mayor/Chair cannot for example :

Instruct other cllrs
Act in a unilateral judicial or disciplinary capacity against other cllrs
Personally authorise expenditure    etc etc etc

Comments

Thanks I was seeking clarification on what I basically already knew, obviously the documents you list go with the role.
More specifically if members of council are told they are required to ask permission to meet with outside bodies (this requirement is not in the standing orders) is it right for the Clerk to then say the Mayor doesn't have to because they are the Mayor? I always believed like you state members can attended meetings and events but any view/opinion they may have is to be their own. But a member of our council has been publicly questioned by the Clerk for meeting with our district councillors and it was insinuated it was not acceptable so asked through the next agenda, but the members obviously recalled the Clerk questioning him last month and voted against his request.