Is there any guidance for setting the amount of work time in the Clerk's contract?

Question

I'm looking some sort of objective guide that Council can use to help to work out the amount of time required each year to fulfil the Clerk's role. Had a good root around in the internet but haven't come up with anything.

Answer 1

As every Council is different, and indeed every Clerk too, you'll not find any guidance. We asked the Clerk to keep a timesheet of every single piece of work she did for us. From that we were able to ascertain what was involved in clerking a meeting, what happens in between and one-off items such as audit. Quoting a monthly figure, rather than a weekly figure helps to overcome the natural ebb and flow of the role.

For a small Council meeting every other month, we ended up at 18 hours per month, with additional hours as required for audit. I've just advertised a larger Parish Council, with a cemetery, at 50 hours per month.

Answer 2

Hi there,

There are so many factors that will determine how to set the hours of a clerk such as.

• Do you have a parish office that needs staffing? If so what hours is it going to be open and will it always be the Clerk manning the office (Some share the time between Clerk and Councillors). You don't pay travel to and from the office unless they are travelling between different locations for work purposes.
• How often do you meet as a full council? Most meetings if held monthly don't tend to go over 2hrs but you may wish to add 15mins set up and takedown
• How many committees do you have?  Do they all require the Clerk's attendance? If they are working groups specifically I wonder normally suggest the Clerk has to attend.
• How large is your parish or council remit? You may be a small parish in size but have lots of assets i.e village hall, play areas, common land etc etc or you could be a large parish with very few assets. So how much work do they take up on a daily basis?

Once you have a vague idea on hours it's worth considering an annualised hours contract. Alternatively, you could pay the Clerk a salary for a set amount of hours per month including set hours and agree overtime for extra hours for committees etc.