Question

Our chair wants all outgoing messages checked by the clerk as a rule

Answer 1

Your chair has no authority to demand that - the whole council must agree to it by a resolution and if they do it should be included on your Standing Orders.

Comments

That is exactly what is being asked for without sufficient debate on the issue.

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By the "whole council" do you mean a majority vote or are you saying everyone on the council must agree?

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A majority vote - but it would normally just be minuted as resolved.

Answer 2

My understanding was that  the only person who was allowed to write directly to a member of the electorate  on behalf of the PC, was the Clerk. I don't know the source of that advice but that's what I was told. If that advice is correct then all official messages should indeed be checked by the clerk although I don't know whether the clerk has the power to amend or overrule drafts.   I assume any communication from Cllrs is merely personal correspondence . Happy to be corrected

Comments

It’s not clear to me what an outgoing message is could you give some examples ?

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I find this area of Parish Council work quite interesting.   I agree that only the clerk (at the behest of council) should reply, providing that reply 'for and on behalf of council'.   The clerk has delegated authority to reply on behalf of council on many matters, of course.    IMHO any councillor can write to anyone they like (just as they can talk to them) but you have to clearly show its from you as an individual and not as a representative of the council.

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I know a Parish Council where the website channels all enquiries via the Clerk and even though Councillors are supposed to be informed about any enquiries regarding their Wards they aren’t
It’s the same Council that has stated it has the right to open any correspondence addressed to Councillors  via the Council Offices unless it is marked “ private and confidential “
Currently they have lodged a complaint with the Monitoring Officer because a Councillor wrote a letter to the local paper explaining that they were being prevented from putting motions on the agenda
I often wonder if we should abolish the role of Parish Councillors and elect a Clerk every four years as at least we’d have some accountability

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The simple answer to that is anything! For example if a local resident emails a question about dealing with a speeding traffic issue and the councilor knows the answer because he/she is the liaison officer with the local Traffic Management Officer then this reply has to go through the clerk before being sent as a reply to the resident.

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Doesn't that rather negate the responsibility of being a councilor? The whole point is that if your research is accurate or you know the facts then why shouldn't you deal with it as a representative of the residents and the council. There should be complete disclosure and openness in all our dealings with the public who we represent.

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hear hear - absolutely correct IMHO