The Welney WebsiteAn unofficial look at Welney Parish Councilpage created September 2006, last amended/updated Monday, 24 June 2019 |
The Welney WebsiteAn unofficial look at Welney Parish Councilpage created September 2006, last amended/updated Monday, 24 June 2019 |
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Why unofficial?
Why do we need to 'take a look' at the Council and its activities?
That is why we all need to 'keep an eye on' them. Welney Parish Council, the internet and opennessIn February 2005 the Webmaster of this website suggested to Welney Parish Council that to comply with the Government's desire for easier access to official papers, the Council's minutes and accounts ought to be available on-line. To assist the Council (whose members and Clerk had little or no IT skills) the webmaster offered to provide the Council with its own official section on The Welney Website.The Webmaster designed five web pages with suggested text and gave a presentation to Council. After a good deal of debate the Council agreed to accept the offer for a 3-month trial period. That period was followed by two six-month agreements for The Welney Website to host the Council's pages. Agendas and minutes of meetings were added as were the 2005 accounts, but Council did not ask for any other pages. In April 2006 the Council announced that as part of its attempt to become a so-called "quality status" council it was going to start its own website. In June 2006 the Council stopped further postings on this site, and in September 2006 we learned (from a non-Council source) that the Council had launched its own website. It contained a page of information based originally on that provided by this website but presented in an unattractive and muddled manner; the agendas and minutes of Council meetings from May 2006 onwards; and the dwindling number of meetings of its 'WASH' committee. It did not publish its accounts on-line, something many parishioners wanted to see. The Council 'ticked the box' (regarding its application for quality status) by having a website, but it has not really embraced the internet, and it seems to reject the concept of openness. (This was still largely the situation in late 2018 when many items were missing or burried in the wong headings) Parishioners comments about the Council's site included the dearth of information, it was often inaccurate or long out of date and the peculiar haphazard list of minutes and agenda (note that 35-40% of Council funds, that's our money, goes on "administration"!) In spring 2011 the Council launched a new and much better presented website (provided by Norfolk CC). However there is no re-direction from the old site and the only minutes available are for the current year. Fortunately, all their published minutes from January 2005 to date are on this site with easy to follow chronological listings. This website provides three links to the Council's site (on this page, on the 'local government' page, and on the 'links' page). The Council has not reciprocated, nor has it posted links to other local sites (e.g. school, church, etc), but it does carry an advertismernt for a business run at a Councillor's home. |
UPDATE NOTE 2011
These comments and criticisms were
first written in 2006 based on close
observations since May 2003.
In 2011 it seems they are nearly all just as applicable except that points raised during public participation are now usually recorded.
UPDATE NOTE 2019
Since the comment above in 2011 until early 2019 it seems to have got much worse with
major blunders over the building of the
William Marshall Center (replacement for
Parish Hall and Pavillion) and allowing a
lengthy
fraud by the Clerk.
New Clerks and new procedures are now in place, see menu on left.
ACCOUNTING FRAUD
At the Council meeting on 3rd June 2019, Chairman Cllr. Loveday read out an email from DC Foreman of Norfolk CID
"... detectives from King's Lynn are investigating allegation of financial misconduct within Welney Parish Council. Enquiries continue, however financial irregularities with the accounts dating back several years have been discovered. One female suspect has been questioned." It is widely known that the suspect is Mrs Copeman, the Clerk from Feb 1996 to Apr 2017 who is said to have confessed. |
Function and roleThe Parish Council is the first tier of local government, and serves the civil parish of Welney.In England the boundaries of a civil (government) parish may differ, sometimes considerably, from that of an ecclesiastical (church) parish of the same name.The civil parish covers 2056 hectares (5080 acres), and at the 2001 census had a population of 520. The electoral roll for the same year showed 415 people over 18 were registered to vote, occupying 208 dwellings in all, 161 in Welney village and along the Wisbech Road, 20 in Tipps End and 27 at Suspension Bridge and scattered along the Hundred Foot Bank. There were also a number of dwellings that were either unoccupied or the occupants had exercised their right not to register. Tipps End is unusual, not only are there at least 3 alternative spellings for the area, but it is divided into 2 counties and three parishes. Of the 56 dwellings in 2007, 27 were in the county of Cambridgeshire, in the parish of Christchurch, and 29 in Norfolk - 3 in the parish of Upwell, and 26 in Welney parish (note, only 20 shown on the 2001 electoral roll). Welney Parish Council has no jurisdiction over or responsibility for the residents and premises outside its border, and has no influence on the other authorities, although it does meet some adjoining parish councils to discuss matters of mutual concern..The Council has responsibility for the following:
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Composition
Meetings
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AdministrationThe Council is administered by a paid, part-time, Parish Clerk whose responsibility is to:
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Finance
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Training & adviceThe Council subscribe annually to the Norfolk Association of Town and Parish Councils (NATPC), who in turn are members of the National Association of Local Councils (NALC); the Norfolk Association of Village Halls (NAVH); and the Norfolk Playing Field Association (NPFA). A wide range of advice and publications are available from those organisations.Of particular interest to all existing and potential Councillors is the Councillor's Guide, and maybe the Training Strategy document. Those and many other pages can be found on the websites of NALC and/or the Society of Local Council Clerks. Grants or 'Bursaries' are available to Welney Parish Council to cover some training costs. |
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Parish Action PlanThis project started in late 2005 to ascertain the views of residents on a range of matters affecting the the parish, present and future. The plan was formulated by a group comprising a number of Parish Councillors and various parishioners, and was published in March 2008. The Parish Council will use the findings as a guide for the future. The Plan was circulated to all households within the Parish, plus a number just over the border in Cambridgeshire.You will not find any details of the Plan on the Council's site, but luckily the full version is available in PDF format on this website. The plan was reviewed late in 2012, and probable again since then. |
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