Mr. Lee Harper-Smith
Parish Clerk
Lee joined the parish council in July 2018 as Parish Clerk/Responsible Finance Officer (RFO).
The clerk is the council’s principal executive and adviser and is the officer responsible for the administration of its financial affairs. Lee is the parish council’s only employee.
The clerk is not answerable to any individual councillor – not even the chairman. He/she is an independent and unbiased employee of the council, recognising that the council is responsible for all decisions and taking instruction from the council as a body.
As the council’s proper officer the clerk is responsible for implementing council policy; ensuring the council acts within the law; advising the council on all aspects of its work and may have delegated powers of decision making especially in urgent situations.
It is the clerk who prepares and posts notices, is responsible for writing the agenda and minutes, keeps the council’s records, deals with correspondence, arranges the council’s insurance and issues the precept.
The clerk has a key role in advising the council, and its members, on governance, ethical and procedural matters.