Hours currently 8 hours per month plus usual expenses of travel, home, telephone and office (in line with National Agreement on Pay for Local Government Services) – a computer will also be provided.

Pay pro-rata in accordance with National LC1 scale points 15-25 [Current rates are: SCP 15 is £8.344p per hour and SCP 25 is £11:185p per hour].

For further details and job description please contact Brian Thorpe (present clerk) on:

Tel 01604 64415 or email B-Thorpe@sky.com

Please submit your application (before Wednesday 25 August 2010) to:
A. G. Crisp, Chairman, Hollowell & Teeton Parish Council,
15, Spring Close, Hollowell, Northampton. NN6 8RY
or email: andycrisp@btinternet.com

The Northamptonshire County Association of Local Councils (Northants CALC) provides member services to parish and town councils in Northamptonshire. We have an immediate vacancy for someone to join our small, busy team providing finance and administration support.  This is a good opportunity to work as part of a dedicated and vocational team and to help make a real difference to local government in Northamptonshire.

You should:

• Be an energetic organiser who pays great attention to detail
• Have experience in office management/administration
• Have excellent spoken and written communication skills
• Be able to demonstrate organisation, planning and time management skills
• Possess excellent IT skills and have the ability to write clear reports and keep accurate records

 You will be responsible for the day to day administration of the Association’s finances and will assist the Chief Executive to compile financial management reports.  You will manage the Association’s premises in Litchborough, provide administrative support to staff and act as the front line of customer support.

We would be particularly interested in your application if you can show that you have an understanding of the local government sector although this is not necessary and training and ongoing support will be provided.

The post will be based in Litchborough and will involve occasional evening/weekend meetings.  Reasonable requests for flexible working will be considered.

For an informal discussion of this post, please contact: Danny Moody, Chief Executive, on 01327 831482.

Closing date: 5pm, 18 August 2010
Interview date: 9 September 2010

Application details: For an application pack please contact:

Danny Moody
Chief Executive
Northants CALC
6, Litchborough Business Park
Northampton Road
Litchborough
Northamptonshire
NN12 8JB

e-mail: info@northantscalc.gov.uk

web: www.northantscalc.gov.uk

We positively welcome applications from all parts of the community. The successful applicant will be selected solely on their ability to carry out the duties of the post.

Download your copy of the July/August eUpdate here.

Signing the Northamptonshire Councils' Charter

A new era of joined up working and joined up thinking has begun in Northamptonshire.  Councils across the three tiers of local government –  parish, district and county – have signed the Northamptonshire Councils’ Charter, a document that describes the relationship between Local Councils (parish and town councils) and Principal Councils (district, borough and county councils).

The Charter builds on existing work and aims to ensure that when services are delivered in parished areas by Northamptonshire Councils they are efficient and effective, that the services are provided by the council best placed to deliver that service, regardless of whether they are a Local Council or Principal Council, and that through working together to improve services and reduce costs quality of life will be enhanced for residents in Northamptonshire.

The Charter was signed by Northants CALC (on behalf of the Local Council sector), Northamptonshire County Council, Corby Borough Council, Daventry District Council, Northampton Borough Council and the Borough Council of Wellingborough.

Speaking at the event, Danny Moody, Chief Executive of Northants CALC said, “It is a very important time for local government.  There cannot have been many moments in history when partnership working across government was quite so à la mode and, at the same time, economically necessary.”

The Charter includes nine Workstreams; things that Northamptonshire Councils can work on together.  They range from creating a new Community Policing Programme for parishes, to developing strategic, county-wide approaches to tackling parking problems and issues with dog fouling.

Paul Blantern, Chief Executive of Northamptonshire County Council said in his speech that it was important to “Ensure local councils have the opportunity to have a greater say in what happens locally” and that he was seeking “improved engagement and communications” across local government.

Much work lies ahead, but if the will and ambition signified by the signing of the Charter can be harnessed then the future looks bright for Northamptonshire.

All the keynote presentations from the Conference can be downloaded below:

Cllr Jacqueline Hart – Welcome to Towcester (notes); Welcome to Towcester (slides)
Kate Houlihan – Support for Parish Councils: Training & Development
Paul Blantern – Local Really Matters
Jean Morgan – Working Together…

For further details of the Local Council Conference 2010 or for more information on the Northamptonshire Councils’ Charter please contact Northants CALC.

The Conference is the fourth to be hosted by Northamptonshire County Council in recent times and takes place on 16 June at Towcester Racecourse.

The theme of the event is partnership working and the focus is on the Northamptonshire Councils’ Charter, which is due to be signed by Northamptonshire Councils as the Conference finale. The Charter marks a new era in the relationship between parish and town councils and their Principal Council partners.

The event will include presentations from leading figures in the public sector in Northamptonshire, interactive workshops, and a Q&A panel to answer delegates’ questions.

A full report, with copies of presentations and other information, will appear on this web site soon after the event.

www.lgbce.org.uk

The recommendations, which include reducing the number of councillors on Northampton borough Council from 47 to 45, may have an impact on parish and town councils within the borough.

The electoral review may also be of interest to the wider local council sector as the draft recommendations include predictions of population increase and demographic change in the borough, which will have an impact the whole county.

Download the May/June eUpdate for all the latest news and information for Local Councils.

The Northamptonshire County Association of Local Councils (Northants CALC) is to become a limited company after a unanimous resolution to incorporate was passed at a meeting of the Association on 15 May 2010.

Until now Northants CALC has been an “unincorporated association” with unlimited liability falling on the eighteen members of the County Committee.  Once incorporated the Association’s liability will be limited by members each guaranteeing £1 in the event that the Association has to be wound up.

This latest development is a simple governance issue and won’t change anything to do with the day to day operation of the Association, but it does mark another step along the way of the Association’s growing professionalism and business-like approach to providing excellent member services to the 260 parish and town councils and parish meetings in Northamptonshire.

It is hoped the incorporation and registration at Companies House will be completed within the next few weeks.

Northamptonshire Councils were consulted on the Charter from January to April 2010 and below is an end of consultation report that contains:

• Key themes and conclusions
• A copy of the final Charter document, incorporating a clarifying statement
• A record of the changes made to the consultation draft (Appendix 2)
• The full text of the Local Council responses (Appendix 3)
• A record of Principal Council responses (Appendix 4)
• A list of those Councils responding to the consultation (Appendix 5)
• Proposed next steps (Appendix 6)

Please click here to download the full report.

Download the Essential Clerk. (PDF, 1,682Kb)