Hi Everyone.
Although we’ve called this ‘Newsletter 5’, it's really just a brief addendum to Newsletter 4, in which we invited Scotland’s 1,060 active community councils to carry out a survey of local opinion. The basic question is, do the people in your area support the idea of giving community councils at least the same powers and budgets as England’s parish councils(?).
To begin with, I’d like to thank the first four community councils for agreeing to take part. In each case, we have provided a separate questionnaire for their area:
- Elie and Earlsferry
- Overtown and Waterloo
- Banchory
- Currie
Actually, the main reason for this addendum is to reassure you about the idea of empowering community councils.
Firstly, no-one is suggesting that community councils should be forced to take on extra duties. Rather, this is about giving you the freedom and money to do things that your communities want, without having to cajole reluctant local authorities.
Secondly, the funding that parish councils receive allows them to hire clerks who take on much of the administrative and clerical burden. Here are a couple of web pages about the role of clerks:
My Working Life: Parish Clerk | CIPD
What is a parish clerk and how much do they get paid?
Just let us know if your Community Council would like to take part in this national survey, and we will send you a dedicated questionnaire link for you to publicise in your local area, for example in social media and local press.
Best wishes,
Michael.
Michael Gallagher
New Powers for Scotland's Community Councils? (Facebook group)
Scotland's Community Councillors Chewin' The Fat (website)
Although we’ve called this ‘Newsletter 5’, it's really just a brief addendum to Newsletter 4, in which we invited Scotland’s 1,060 active community councils to carry out a survey of local opinion. The basic question is, do the people in your area support the idea of giving community councils at least the same powers and budgets as England’s parish councils(?).
To begin with, I’d like to thank the first four community councils for agreeing to take part. In each case, we have provided a separate questionnaire for their area:
- Elie and Earlsferry
- Overtown and Waterloo
- Banchory
- Currie
Actually, the main reason for this addendum is to reassure you about the idea of empowering community councils.
Firstly, no-one is suggesting that community councils should be forced to take on extra duties. Rather, this is about giving you the freedom and money to do things that your communities want, without having to cajole reluctant local authorities.
Secondly, the funding that parish councils receive allows them to hire clerks who take on much of the administrative and clerical burden. Here are a couple of web pages about the role of clerks:
My Working Life: Parish Clerk | CIPD
What is a parish clerk and how much do they get paid?
Just let us know if your Community Council would like to take part in this national survey, and we will send you a dedicated questionnaire link for you to publicise in your local area, for example in social media and local press.
Best wishes,
Michael.
Michael Gallagher
New Powers for Scotland's Community Councils? (Facebook group)
Scotland's Community Councillors Chewin' The Fat (website)
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