parish-editors

A new vacancy has recently gone live with Streethay Parish Council for an Assistant Clerk. Please visit the vacancies page for further details.

Two new vacancies have recently gone live, one with Elford Parish Council and the other with Armitage with Handsacre Parish Council for a Parish Clerk/ RFO and Deputy Clerk respectively. Please visit the vacancies page for further details.

The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) has published an updated edition for 2024 of The Good Councillor’s guide, an essential tool for all councillors, whether new, aspiring, or existing local council members. The guide is designed to provide practical insights into the workings of local democracy and how councillors can effectively contribute to it. The guide is available through the SPCA members advice library section, under the information tab. Alternative you can access this via NALCs member only section.

Good Councillor’s Guide 2024

The SPCA Health and Wellbeing toolkit, a resource for Town & Parish Councils, is now available via the SPCA website – direct link here

As part of the SPCA health & wellbeing (H&W) project, funded by Public Health, a web-based resource page, the ‘H&W toolkit’ has been created to support T/PC who require information on matters relating to H&W.

The site contains three main areas:

1. Partner Organisations and Resources. We have several partners who lead on health matters across the county, for example Everyone Health, who run the free health checks, healthy lifestyle programmes and making every contact count training. Their information, along with a number of other key organisations, is available via the toolkit. Also included in this section are relevant links to access data relating to your locality, which will support future activity around this theme.
2. Funding Opportunities. This section lists local and national funders who support H&W related initiatives.
3. Training. This section contains several training opportunities, including links to relevant webinars, all related to H&W.

Finally, in the coming weeks, there will be a link to examples of local H&W initiatives developed by T/PCs to inspire and showcase the positive work taking place across the county.

The toolkit is continually being updated, so do check back from time to time as new information will likely have been added.

As a reminder, if your T/PC is enthused by improving the health and wellbeing of your local community, please do get in touch with the H&W project officer to share your thoughts, ideas and discuss opportunities, as we may be able to support with your endeavours. Contact Andy Wheeler – Health & Wellbeing Project Officer via andy.wheeler@staffordshire.gov.uk

Dunston with Coppenhall Parish Council and Quarnford Parish Council, as of late March 2024, both have separate open vacancies for part time Parish Clerk / Responsible Financial Officers with no current closing dates.

Please see the vacancies page for further details on each role.

Heath Hayes & Wimblebury Parish Council have two current vacancies open for a Parish Clerk and Responsible Financial Officer and a Communications Officer. The closing date for both is Thursday 21 March 2024.

Please see the vacancies page for further details on each role.

The Staffordshire Parish Councils’ Association President (Councillor Tony Holmes) and Chief Executive (Robert Pettigrew) attended a meeting of the Stone Area Parish Liaison Group in the Frank Jordan Centre in Stone this afternoon.

The main item of business on the Agenda was a discussion about highways, and a team of officers from the County Council – led by Richard Rayson, the community highways manager – spoke about changes in the arrangements with the authority’s strategic partners which should deliver improvements in the levels of pro-active community engagement and action to address the ongoing concerns of parishes and towns across Staffordshire. A discussion followed in which specific concerns – especially those relating to Yarnfield – were raised with the team and the challenge of deteriorating infrastructure quality alongside straitened financial pressures was explored. The Liaison Group also considered other matters, including the upcoming commemorations in 2024 for the eightieth anniversary of D-Day and several other events of importance.

The visit to the Frank Jordan Centre also provided an opportunity for Councillor Holmes and Mr Pettigrew to call in on the Stone Community Hub, which operates out of the building. This independent charity is dedicated to improving the lives of residents in Stone and the surrounding villages by providing advice in time of need. The Hub provides a warm, supportive environment in which to meet, discuss opportunities and support local people with their concerns. Their work is impressive, and relies on local support, fundraising and small grants: any money raised is dedicated to supporting this invaluable undertaking.

The SPCA Annual General Meeting for 2023 was held on the evening of Monday 30 October in the Trentham suite at the offices of Staffordshire County Council.

At the meeting, the President (Councillor Tony Holmes – Forsbrook Parish Council) was confirmed to continue in office, alongside the three Vice-Presidents (Councillors Mike Allen – Haughton Parish Council, Lewis Anderson – Horninglow & Eton Parish Council, and Pat Ansell – Cannock Wood Parish Council).  A new Chairman of the SPCA was elected (Councillor Victor Kelly – Penkridge Parish Council), and Councillor Nigel Caine – Perton Parish Council was elected as Vice-Chairman. A number of new Councillors and a Clerk joined the SPCA’s Executive Committee, including Councillor Tom Kelt – Stone Town Council, Councillor Lyn Swindlehurst – Leek Town Council, Councillor John Anderson – Outwoods Parish Council, and Mrs Dawn Plant – Clerk, Forsbrook.  Members were also elected to the SPCA’s Policy & Resources Committee, and appointments were made to representative external bodies, including the West Midlands’ Association of Local Councils and the National Association of Local Councils, amongst others.

The President invited the SPCA Chief Executive, Robert Pettigrew, to introduce the annual report & accounts for the year (2022-23), and then asked him to outline his plans for the Association. This was followed by a short introduction to the SPCA’s new Health & Wellbeing Project Officer, Andy Wheeler, who spoke about his work in delivering this collaborative project.

Following the conclusion of the formal business of the meeting, Professor Steven Griggs, of the University of Staffordshire, delivered a presentation on the future of local councils, which drew upon a study about the sector in the context of evolving public policy dynamics and highlighted three possible scenarios about how parishes and towns might respond.

The SPCA has recruited a new Health & Wellbeing Project Officer, Andy Wheeler, who started in his role this week.

Introducing himself, Andy writes: I’m Andy Wheeler and I’ve recently joined SPCA in the position of Health & Wellbeing Officer. Prior to relocating to Staffordshire I’d taken up community safety and health & wellbeing roles for local authorities on the south coast.

I really enjoy a project, and am excited by the prospect of what this new position holds. I’m hopeful by working with parish and town councils across the county we’ll make positive steps towards increasing opportunities for health improvement.

Outside of work, I’m a keen runner and cyclists, and since moving to the area, I’ve been enjoying the many lanes and canal paths that Staffordshire has to offer.

I look forward to meeting and working with many of you in due course.