HOW THE PARISH COUNCIL IS RUN

HOW IS THE PARISH COUNCIL RUN?

Poulshot Parish Council has a number of policies and procedures that provide guidance for members and officers. They set out how things should be done. They are all based on sensible behaviour, mostly backed up by legislation.

Our Standing Orders for Council procedure

The Council regulates its proceedings through Standing Orders. These set out the rules of debate, public and press access, how questions are handled, procedures for electing the Chairman, and for establishing Committees. They are based on a national Model, and can be seen below:

Standing Orders

Our Financial Regulations

Also based on a national model, these regulations set out how we manage our public funds, arrange banking, and enter into contracts. They can be seen below:

Financial Regulations

Investment Strategy (Community Fund)

Our Code of Conduct for Councillors

Our Code of Conduct for Councillors is also taken from a national Model, and is supported by Wiltshire Council, which also provides the local Standards Board to consider complaints. You can see our Code, which deals with both pecuniary and non-pecuniary interests and their declaration, below:

Members' Code of Conduct
CodeofConduct2013.pdf
Adobe Acrobat document [100.5 KB]

Councillors will have in mind the national guidance prepared for them and contained in the booklet here:

Good Councillors Guide - click to download

If you would like to make a complaint regarding a councillor and the Code of Conduct then you should follow this link to Wiltshire Council. They manage the procedure for investigation and reporting, on behalf of all Town and Parish Councils in Wiltshire. Their recommendations will be made back to the Parish Council which will consider what steps, if any, are to be taken. This procedure is for individual Councillors, and not used for the Council as a corporate body.

Register of Interests

Register of Interests - click to download

Councillors are required to make a declaration of disclosable pecuniary interests, and have volunteered to disclose their non-pecuniary interests, by placing them on a Public Register that is hosted on Wiltshire Council's website. Click on the names below to view.

Freedom of Information and Publications

The Information Commissioner provides guidance on how Parish Councils may make information available, in order that they can comply with freedom of information law. This Council has prepared a statutory Publication Scheme, which can be seen below. Notices will be deemed to be "published" if placed on this website or on the Public Notice Boards opposite The Raven pub or outside The Village Hall.

Freedom of Information Publication Scheme
FOI publicationscheme2020.pdf
Adobe Acrobat document [173.5 KB]

Data Protection

The Parish Council is registered with The Information Commissioner because we process personal information. Our registration number is ZA095424. You can see why, how and with whom we share data in an extract from our registration also set out below. We process data in accordance with the principles set out in the Data Protection Act. The authorised Data Controller is the Clerk to the Council.

The Conservation Area Statement

The Statement below contains an historic assessment of the Poulshot Conservation Area and was prepared for all those with an interest in the village, or undertaking work on its buildings, landscape, streets or public spaces. By drawing attention to the distinctive features of Poulshot it is intended that its character would be protected and enhanced for the benefit of this and future generations.

Poulshot Conservation Area Statement
PoulshotConservationAreaStatement2004.pd[...]
Adobe Acrobat document [1.8 MB]