Clerk’s Report February 2026
Clerk’s Report to Sticklepath Parish Council February 2026
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 applied for the precept from West Devon Borough Council.
- I have set up the new councillors on the email system, and sent them more information.
- I have responded to a grant request from Crimestoppers that all our budget is already allocated and quoted our grants policy that “The Council will only consider grant applications from organisations and groups which are based within the Parish, or who can demonstrate that the donation will substantially benefit residents of the Parish.”
- I have started the process to notify the vacancy caused by the resignation of Claire Hardy.
Website
I have published the following pages/posts:
- Tree Works Information
- Sticklepath Street Project Committee (SSP) Agenda
- Sticklepath Moor Nature Reserve Committee (SMNR) Agenda
- Cancellation of January meeting and new agenda
- December Rainfall
- Parish Council Minutes for January
- New Page for Sticklepath Moor Nature Reserve
- SSP Minutes for January
- SMNR Minutes for January
- Amendments to main council page for new councillors and committees
- Post re combined Minutes
- Parish Council Agenda and associated reports
Community Risk Management Plan (CRMP)
Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service have sent us details of their online survey (also available in paper form) with which they are trying to find out if there are specific needs in our community. “These views, alongside our incident data and risk analysis, will give us an understanding of what you and residents feel are local risks that we need to consider as well as perceptions of the fire and rescue service and its role within our counties.”
If any councillor feels that this is something they want to get involved with I can forward the details. It does tie in with the whole Council’s responsibility for the Community Response Plan where we have already identified risks. They did not give a specific deadline that I can see.
Replacing Clerk
I have produced two advertisements for the Clerk job; one aimed at local candidates and one for the Devon Association of Local Councils (DALC) job vacancies page. Once they have been agreed I will put them in the relevant places including social media in Sticklepath and the surrounding areas. I have included a closing date, but it may need to be extended.
There may be two sorts of applicants for the job, local people who would like to give it a try and ‘professional’ clerks who may already clerk for other councils. Local people would require a lot of handover and training, and may not last long. Existing clerks may put their own stipulations in for filing cabinets/laptops etc. and would only work the contracted hours.
The Council needs to:
- Decide whether to agree to the suggested arrangements around the finishing date of the Clerk.
- Approve the advertisements, including the closing date and interview dates.
- Appoint a team of two or three councillors to work with the clerk to review any applications after the closing date and perform the interviews.
- Consider what requests may come from prospective candidates, e.g. providing a laptop and/or training, and how they would be funded.
Parish Council