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The Clerk

The Clerk is employed by the Council to provide administrative support and professional advice for the Council's activities.

The Clerk cannot be self-employed. It is important that Councillors, partner organisations and the local community appreciate that a Clerk is a professional officer.

The Clerk is not answerable to any individual Councillor - not even the Chairman. The Clerk is an independent and objective servant of the Council, recognising that the Council is responsible for all decisions and taking instructions from the Council as a body.

The Clerk is the 'Proper Officer'. This title used in law refers to the appropriate officer for the relevant function. The Council must appoint officers it needs to discharge its functions. In finance, the Proper Officer is known as the Responsible Financial Officer. The RFO is often the Clerk, but not always.

As an independent and objective professional, the Clerk advises the Council on whether decisions are lawful, researches topics of concern and provides unbiased information that helps the Council to make appropriate choices.

Legally councils can agree to delegate decisions to clerks because they are professional officers whose independence allows them to act on behalf of the council.

The Clerk to the Council is:

Mrs Denise Emmott

9 North Avenue

Sutton-in-Craven

North Yorkshire

BD20 7NN

Fax / Tel: 01535 633972

Email: clerk@suttonincravenpc.co.uk

An answer phone is in operation when the Clerk is not in the office.

Visits by appointment only.

The clerk cannot make decisions, or impose a personal opinion the job requires providing information where council members will make a decision. The clerk is duty bound to carry out that decision unless the decision is obviously unlawful or beyond the council's powers. Requests, suggestions and complaints must be put in writing to the Council Office where they can be itemised on the agenda for future meetings.