Parish Council
We have had a couple of applications to the Hardship Fund, one of which has been processed to make 2 grants as reported on by Cllr Ian Duffield. However, the sub-committee has noted that contact details have identified the authorised Councillor, but it has also given their personal telephone number.
We feel that it is important that there is some protection for the Councillor from receiving calls, potentially at any time. Moreover, there may need to be a number of ways that a local resident could alert the Council of a hardship for which they want to make an application for a short-term grant.
To use one of the Sticklepath.org email accounts as the only access to the Hardship Fund. This is monitored but could be redirected to the authorised Councillor’s email ( on Sticklepath.org). There is then some discretion as to whether it is appropriate for that individual Councillor to lead on this application e.g. if there was a close association between the Councillor and the applicant.
Because we know that some applicants may not be able to use email, we feel that there should be a facility whereby a written application could be logged. One suggestion is that we secure a letterbox, possibly in the Village Hall into which an envelope marked Hardship Fund could be placed.
We advertise the Councillor’s mobile number without mentioning the name. This only secures some confidentiality and it doesn’t protect the Councillor from calls which might require sensitive responses. If there was another way to advertise a phone number onto which a voice message could be left, this would provide an ideal filter.
Cllr Derek Moore
3.4.23