This week, 10-14 June, is Local Council Clerk Week, a celebratory week to raise the profile of the role of the clerk and recognise the work they do for their community.
What does a town clerk do?
A Town Clerk is an important role, and clerks are often at the heart of their councils and communities, carrying out a number of roles to support their councils. Whether councils have a large staff team, or only have one employee, the clerk is critical to a range of tasks and ensuring they get done.
The Town Clerk is the person who works with your councillors to make sure that your local council provides the services you need in your local neighbourhood. They run the council meetings which you are invited and are skilled in a range of disciplines to make sure the council runs properly and within the law. They’ll be the ones writing to your local MP, liaising with the county council, applying for funding grants for local projects, researching complex planning issues, running the council’s finances and managing community buildings and events. They’re good in a crisis too as seen when they helped to coordinate community efforts during the pandemic.
Shaftesbury Town Council has a Town Clerk and a Deputy Town Clerk
At Shaftesbury Town Council, Brie Logan, Town Clerk, and Sybille Maddock, Deputy Town Clerk, oversee a range of diverse services. Shaftesbury Town Council is responsible for a range of services – from parks and open spaces, the Town Hall and land hire, allotments and cemeteries, to the weekly market and Shaftesbury Lido.
If you’ve ever been to a council meeting then you will have seen Brie giving advice to Councillors on procedure or counting the votes on decisions taken.
The local elections in May resulted in eight new councillors to the town council. One of the biggest projects for Brie recently has been inducting new councillors to their role and bringing them up to speed on all the open projects for the council.
We are here to make a difference.
Talking about her role as a Town Clerk, Brie said: “In my role of Shaftesbury Town Clerk, every day is different! I work with a fabulous team to deliver the Town Council services and projects to make our town even better than it is already. Whether it be improving the Lido experience, managing the Grade 2 listed Town Hall renovation works, facilitating working groups involving the community, striving to improve the standards across the town centre, parks and open spaces and the introduction of the monthly Artisan market, to name but a few, the role is immensely diverse and this is what I love about my job. Working as a team of committed officers and councillors we are here to make a difference!”
Local Council Clerk Week
Clerks are celebrated in other countries and Local Council Clerk Week aims to help raise the profile of this important profession here and explain the work clerks do on behalf of town, parish and community councils.
Clerks are professionals and serve around 10,000 local councils in England and Wales. These councils emerged in 1894 to give a democratic voice to local people and they’ve changed enormously in that time, particularly during the last 20 – 30 years. They are real place shapers and, today, many manage and maintain parks, sports facilities, skateparks and recreation grounds, play areas, allotments, community and youth centres, car parks, public toilets, cemeteries, street cleaning, run events and much more. Most of all clerks and councillors are advocates, the voice for their communities.
