In the January 19th edition of the Stratford Herald, the JPC clerk, writing in a personal capacity, said "unlike district and county councils, parish councils are not held in a political format". The editor of the Stratford Herald added a post script; "Ms Walsh's assertion that parish council elections are not held in a political format is false".
In the same letter, the parish clerk endorses a group of the existing councillors "the current parish council who in my opinion do an excellent job working under tremendous constraints from a small group who claim to represent the town when in actual fact they form a very small but vocal minority".
At the JPC meeting on Monday 16th January, the leader of the Henley Independents, Mike Willmott, reminded the JPC that Government officers such as parish clerks are not allowed to take part in political activities or promote any political party or group unless they first resign from office which in this case has not happened.
Mr Willmott also asked that the JPC observes the Code of Recommended Practice on Local Authority Publicity and he pointed out that there were very specific rules during periods leading up to elections. Recent editions of the JPC Newsletter had been very biased and party political.
During the Council meeting, a debate took place about correspondence between the Joint Parish Council and the Henley War Memorial Trust, which administers the village hall and the playing fields. In a confused speech, Cllr George Matheou, right, said that when he joined the Henley War Memorial Trust several years ago, he told the then chairman of the Trust that he represented the parish council. Cllr Matheou maintained that this declaration meant that the whole parish council were trustees. Cllr Leech responded that whilst he could “represent” the parish council it did not make the whole parish council trustees. Cllr Leech said the Charity Commission rules were very precise and required that all trustees had to be “people”, not organisations.
Cllr Leech went on to say that it was unfortunate that the parish clerk had advised Councillors at their first meeting in December that the Council were trustees “in equal status” to the other trustees. Cllr Matheou had then used this information to issue a press release which had been widely reported, including in the Stratford Herald, and had criticised the way in which the trust had been run. Peter Crathorne, Chairman of the Henley War Memorial Trust previously had described Cllr Matheou’s press release as “a travesty of the truth”. After a lengthy debate without reaching any conclusions, Councillors decided to move on.
At the end of the meeting, the public and the press were excluded so that Councillors could discuss an unspecified complaint by the parish clerk against an un-named councillor. No information on this secret discussion has been made available to the media or Cllr Leech.
Comments from a Knowledgeable Reader
As the Clerk to Henley and Beaudesert Joint Parish Council, it is Ms Walsh's duty to act as the Proper Officer during elections and faciltate the democratic returning of elected members to the council. This must be an impartial function.
As an informed reader, I think Ms Walsh ought to know her facts. What she states is utterly wrong.
The beauty of the election system in this country is that pretty much anyone over the age of eighteen can stand for election, with or without the backing of a political party. This includes to all three tiers of Local Government.
As it appears she does not understand her role as clerk and wishes to indulge in political views in the parish in which she works, this reader thinks she ought to know that she too could stand for election, subject to her resigning from her post and leaving a one year gap.
Look at what happens on a daily basis in countries that do not acknowledge the importance of democracy!
An Experienced Local Government Officer
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