The Parish Council employs two part time members of staff. The Parish Clerk and the Assistant Parish Clerk. The Parish Clerk works 25 hours a week and is known as the Proper Officer. They are responsible for the running of the council and ensuring it remains legal. The Parish Clerk is also the Responsible Financial Officer (RFO). This means they are responsible for the management of the council precept and its finances which are audited internally and externally each year.
The Assistant Parish Clerk works 10 hours a week and their main role is to support the clerk and the council in all its activities. The two form a strong team that makes sure the council runs as smoothly as possible.
The current Assistant Clerk, Ann Jacobs, was the previous clerk for 16 years. In 2020 she decided to reduce her workload and take a step back from managing things. This is when the new clerk was recruited.
She has decided to retire on 31st May 2023. At that time she will have completed 19 years of service for the parish council. She is the longest serving Parish Clerk for this council since it was formed in 1932.
Ann started work on 4th July 2004. This was the year Manchester United won the FA Cup which was played at the Millennium Stadium because the new Wembley Stadium was still under construction, AFC Bournemouth finished 9th in League 2, the summer Olympics were held in Athens and petrol was 80p a litre.
Ann has been involved in a great many parish council projects and plans. Liaising over forestry plans at Moors Valley, parish plans for planning and the refurbishment of the playpark in 2007. She was instrumental in securing a large grant for the playpark refurbishment and attended the House of Lords for a lunch for those who were the recipients of large grants.
But probably of more significant importance is that she has helped hundreds of residents daily with the more mundane things that affect all our lives. Helping to relocate lost dogs, assistance with grants, offering advice to people, sometimes simply offering an ear to a concerned resident and just being there to help. For this the Parish Council is eternally grateful.
The Parish Council is now in a position to find a replacement for Ann. It will start its recruitment campaign in January 2023. Adverts will appear in the press and on the Dorset Council website in the new year and we hope to interview near the end of February with a start date sometime in May 2023.
If you are interested in this position, please give the Clerk a call on
01425 482727
for an informal chat or email
clerk@stleonardspc.org.uk
for further information.
The role is 12 hours a week, based in the office at St Leonards. Experience of Microsoft Word, Excel and Outlook and financial bookkeeping are required and experience of working in local government and minute taking is desirable.
