Clerk’s Report April 2024

Clerk’s Report to Sticklepath Parish Council April 2024

If any Member of the Public wishes to see details of the correspondence or matters mentioned please contact the clerk, details below.

General Tasks

  • I have forwarded lots of emails to the councillors, and read others which proved to not be of interest to Sticklepath.
  • I have submitted an article to the Beacon for March.
  • I have invited members of Belstone, South Tawton and Spreyton Councils to attend our next meeting to hear what Middlemarch have to say.
  • Alison Ward from Middlemarch has confirmed that she will be at the next meeting and will be showing some slides.
  • I have had a very enjoyable holiday, and would like to thank Cllr Wooldridge for monitoring the email while I was away.
  • The abandoned car which the Council reported to various authorities has now been removed.

Website

I have published the following pages/posts:

  • Parish Council Minutes and associated reports.
  • Rainfall Figures
  • West Devon Borough Council March Report
  • Notice of Election of Police and Crime Commissioner

Agenda Items

  1. Risk Assessment

I have combined the previous Financial Risk Assessment Document and Asset Risk Assessment Documents, and added sections on Staff and Meetings. There were a few tweaks, such as the change to three signatories on the bank account, the invoices being in the shared folder and the removal of petty cash. I think the mitigations listed are enough to cover all the risks, but Councillors please speak to me before the meeting if you feel that other actions should be added.

  1. Social Media

Devon Association of Local Councils (DALC) facilitate a course through Breakthrough Communications about Social Media, it is a 2 hour online session:

“Social Media Part 1: Getting started with social media for local councils.
Social media is a great tool for councils to use to improve their communication. In this session you will learn the basics and how to get started right. We will focus on creating a social media strategy and the basics of Facebook. Our goal is to share with you time-saving tools and techniques. Hopefully, this will help you and your council to be more confident using social media.”
Cost is £30 + VAT per person, which will be invoiced to the council. Dates are a bit random – (Tue 7th May 1pm, Tue 18th June 9.30pm, Fri 12th July 9.30am