Author: Rachael (Page 18 of 25)

Are you an organised person, want to be paid to work for your community, from home, flexibly? Hever Parish Council have a vacancy for the Parish Council Clerk.

We would like to hear from you if you have excellent computer literacy skills, the ability to multitask and provide both written and numerical support to the council and have some knowledge / interest of the area. The Clerk provides independent support to the Councillors, who vote on decisions.

The post is interesting and varied and the successful applicant will be required to provide professional guidance in respect of all aspects of the Council’s work.  It is not essential to have experience of working in Local Government.

Evening meeting attendance will be required for ~ 6 evening parish meetings / year, the rest of the hours (16 hours / week in total) can be worked flexibly.

The salary will be in the range of £10.65 – £15.37 per hour depending on experience and annual appraisal.  There is a generous pension and working from home allowance.

The Clerk provides all the administrative functions of the Council and is the principal point of contact for Hever parish residents, other local councils, contractors and professional organisations. This includes preparing minutes, agendas and project plans, all correspondence and financial matters / annual audit and planning applications.  Maintaining the parish council website / noticeboards / social media also required. The Clerk is also the Proper Officer and Responsible Financial Officer of the Council.

 

The Council – Hever Parish Council has 10 Councillors, who make decisions and represent ~ 1,200 residents in Four Elms, Hever and Markbeech, Kent. See www.hever.org  The Council owns and maintains two play areas / recreation grounds, one closed cemetery, a pond and surrounding bank and a large “hut”.

 

The Role/ The Person

The ideal candidate will have previous office based experience with a good working knowledge of IT (emails, documents and spreadsheets and the internet).  Confidence in basic accounting / finance are also required.

We are looking for someone with a professional attitude, excellent time management skills together with flexibility and a can-do, hands on, proactive attitude and who is confident that they can work on their own and their own initiative.

The ideal candidate will be a good communicator, they must have good interpersonal skills

Whilst relevant experience is preferred, specific training will be provided where required e.g. finance, planning, local government. There will be a comprehensive handover and support from the Council members and experts.

 

The Offer

16 hours of work / week will be flexible.   All the work is from home so it is essential to have good broadband access.  A computer / webcam will be provided and there is professional IT support.  Interested applicants should contact the Clerk asap, Charlotte Cole (clerk@hever.org) with any queries and for a formal job description and subsequently send a brief CV and set out reasons for applying in a covering letter.

The closing date for Applications is 14^th May – which may close early subject to interest, with interviews being held by Zoom.  Start date asap.

3 new Cllrs. March 2021

PDF

Please see above link for information about drop-ins, consultation closes at the end of June.

 

14.04.21  Whilst the Affordable Housing consultation is paused…

Hever Parish Council awaits Govt. clarity regarding the holding of public meetings after 7th May.

Following the publication of a letter from the Local Government Minister saying that due to ‘a lack of parliamentary time’ and the fact this would ‘need a change in the law’ they would not be extending the ability for councils to meet virtually, even in the short term.  The irony was on the same day Parliament voted through an extension of their provision to meet remotely until the 21st June.  Needless to say, local government is up in arms, the Prime Ministers own Roadmap would make it impossible for large physical meetings to take place.  In the letter to local government leaders saying the rules won’t be extended, in the passage regarding the need for meetings to be ‘open’ to the public, the letter suggests that we should keep that virtual until 21st June.  However, all is not lost, legal action is being taken and Leaders are pushing local MPs to apply pressure on the government to have a rethink.

There is an application by Hertfordshire County Council, Lawyers in Local Government and Association of Democratic Services Officers to the court for a declaration. This will continue despite the government’s decision and is expected to be determined before the end of April.

https://www.nalc.gov.uk/library/news-stories/3469-letter-to-council-leaders-remote-meetings/file

https://www.cfgs.org.uk/remote-meetings-partnership-compendium-of-information-on-remote-meetings/

https://www.slcc.co.uk/remote-meetings-court-date-announced/

Any further updates will be placed here on the website.

March FAQ

11.03.21

FAQ March 2021 final

 

09.02.21

Affordable housing consultation – Frequently asked Questions.  Feb 2021

The consultation is paused until 1^st May 2021 to provide more information and time.  If you have a query which is not answered by the attachment below, then please contact the Clerk (clerk@hever.org) who will continue to provide information.

HPC will continue to update the website with further information and plans for May onwards and how to submit comments (from May).

FAQ Feb 2021final

 

25.01.21

Hever Parish Council have agreed to a Proposal from the Clerk to pause the affordable housing public consultation – until 1^st May 2021.  There will be further information posted on the website (www.hever.org) shortly and another call for sites undertaken across the parish during the whole of February.

 

All feedback received to date will be retained and incorporated into the evidence going forward.

The Council would like to thank all those who have engaged in the consultation to date and subject to national guidance, hope that discussions can continue (including in public), in a balanced and respectful manner.

 

Please see www.hever.org or noticeboards across the parish for further information – including details on the call for sites process, regional affordable housing guides, frequently asked questions etc.  

The planned zoom sessions on 26th and 30 th will no longer be taking place.  Events and guidance on how to engage with the consultation (to re start from 1st May) will be released nearer the date. 

 

HPC Public Consultation Event Handout final

 

Frequently asked questions – uploaded 18.01.21 FAQ January 2021

How can I comment?

You have a month to comment (deadline 14th February) so no rush and lots of different ways to comment (to suit your style);

 

• online survey;https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfZLsmr9GbNY8Lwu7QTU0pYIGmjm4jUIfjA8uPQ6TSfHozU-g/viewform?usp=sf_link
• Forms will be delivered to every household in Four Elms – which can be returned to the post box outside the Four Elms Village Hall or Bistro / Nursery in Four Elms.
• See Facebook (Hever Parish Council) and comment there.
• Email Charlotte the Clerk – clerk@hever.org

Hever Parish Council are required (by Sevenoaks District Council) to undertake a Housing needs survey every 5 years.  This was done (independently) in 2018 – you may remember getting a survey in the post, but totally understand that it was a long time ago and you may not have been interested in responding.  It was also advertised widely (on all noticeboards, Link magazine, Facebook, plastic banners etc.).  We have been considering the responses to that survey and investigating possible solutions to the issues raised – lack of affordable housing to rent, particularly smaller properties, for local people.  There is only site in the parish that is available for consideration (everything else was either not in a suitable location or landowner chose not to).  Now we want to provide locals with lots of opportunities to hear about the proposals and ask questions to Hever Parish Council (and English Rural Housing Association on the 20^th) and for locals to be able to comment in lots of different ways (online survey, by email, leaflets delivered to households in Four Elms etc.).

Please note this is a consultation and opportunity to ask questions which we hope will be of interest, NOT a planning application.  This is because the parish council want your views.

The Parish Council won’t own the land or housing or have any financial interest or risk in the scheme whatsoever.

Please see lots of information on www.hever.org and join a zoom meeting if you have queries, before you comment and advise the Clerk if you need any assistance in submitting comments etc.   We are holding zoom meetings daytime, weekend and early evening to try to make it as accessible for everyone as we are unfortunately unable to hold public meetings and unlikely to do so for quite some time due to covid.  If none of these dates or time are convenient, please contact the Clerk who will happily arrange another time to answer your queries.

The deadline for comments is 14^th February – so we hope that gives everyone lots of time to study the proposals.

Please do contribute to the consultation – your view is important!  Thank you.

 

Please see the one click links for zoom meetings below.  You do not need to download / install any apps.  If you wish to submit any questions in advance, please email clerk@hever.org

 

Wednesday 20th  January 10am – midday (English Rural Housing Association will also be present to answer queries)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://zoom.us/j/99045980003?pwd=SDB0U0xrNWhjb2lSQTY5S0lXdi9udz09

 

Tuesday 26th January 3- 5pm (Clerk and Councillors will be present to answer any questions)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://zoom.us/j/94756315752?pwd=V2J0SVlnQ20ya01yZzBJYkRDU1FHZz09

 

Saturday 30^th January 4 – 6pm (Clerk and Councillors will be present to answer any questions)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://zoom.us/j/91453444035?pwd=UCsvUkZhU3ZKY3ArZU5od0hNUjNDdz09