Hempnall Parish Council

What are we?

Parish and town councils are the first tier of local government. We deliver a vast range of services at a community level. There are around 10,000 community, parish and town councils in England and Wales, made up of nearly 100,000 councillors. These first-tier councils can respond to the needs of the community – delivering the services or representation it most needs. There is a three-tiered structure of local government:

    Town/Parish/Community Council
    District/Borough Council
    County Council

How parish councils work

The Parish Council is the local authority for the village of Hempnall and provides a range of social and recreational facilities. It also promotes the interests of the village in its representations to other bodies. It works in partnership with the larger District Council, County Council and other organisations and agencies to provide and supplement services within the village area. Parish councils are statutory bodies. Members are elected for a term of four years and councils are funded principally by an annual precept. Income and expenditure for the next financial year are calculated in the form of estimates. The net amount (the precept) is added to council tax, collected by the county, borough or district council (principal authorities) and paid to parishes in two six-monthly instalments. All our business is conducted in accordance with the Code of Conduct based upon Statutory Instrument 3576 of 2001 and in accordance with the Parish Council’s Standing Orders. You are entitled to information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in accordance with our publication scheme. For information on becoming a councillor click here and consider joining this Local Council Award Scheme council.

Who are we?

The Parish Council comprises 8 councillors who are elected every four years. Each year the Parish Council elects from amongst its number the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman. Members are not paid by the Parish Council and do not receive any attendance allowance for their duties. The Parish Council employs one part time.

When and where do we meet?

The Parish Council meets at least six times a year. Agendas for the Council and Committees are available to the public three clear days before the meeting date and can be inspected on the Parish Council Notice Board and on this website. Meetings are open to the public and are generally held in The Mill Centre, Mill Rd, Hempnall or Zoom.

What do we do?

The Parish Council is responsible for a number of services and duties within the village, these include:

  • To listen to and act on local issues protecting and promoting local interests
  • Setting the precept (the amount of Council Tax that is spent specifically under the control of the Parish Council)
  • Consideration of local planning applications
  • Grass cutting – playing field, churchyard, Mill Centre
  • Street lighting – Rowland Drive, Mill Fields
  • Maintenance of churchyard walls
  • Maintenance of bus shelters
  • Provision and maintenance of safe play areas
  • Conservation
  • Provision of Tree Wardens
  • Maintenance of War Memorial
  • Liaison with other authorities re footpaths, roads, hedges, dogs, traffic, noise.
  • Representation on local charities, sporting and social committees.
  • Stewardship of public land
  • Making and upholding bye-laws
  • Police community consultation
  • Maintenance of financial records (Audited annually)
  • Informing other authorities of local needs
  • Input to local signeage
  • Street furniture
  • Inspection of Recycling Centre
  • Provision of grants/funding for village improvements

 

Can I take part?

Click here for leaflet on public participation

Click here for a copy of the latest parish council action plan.

Hempnall Parish Council adopted the Code of Conduct detailed below at a meeting held on 21 February 2023. If you have any queries regarding the conduct of Parish Councillors, in the first instance, please contact either the Councillor concerned, the Chairman or the Clerk of the Hempnall Parish Council. If the matter is not resolved to your satisfaction you also have the right to contact the Standards Officer at South Norfolk District Council.

Click here for the Code of Conduct

Click here to view the The Register of Member’s interests

Hempnall Parish Council’s Publication Scheme

HEMPNALL PARISH COUNCIL has selected the following options within the model publication
scheme for local councils.
A charge is not normally made for reasonable limited requests

Mandatory Core Classes of Information

    1. Council Internal Practice and Procedure

Minutes of Council, Committee and Sub-Committee meetings – limited to the last 2 years

Procedural Standing Orders

Councils Annual Report to Parish Meeting.

    1. Code of Conduct.

Members Declaration of Acceptance of Office

Members Register of Interests

    1. Periodic Electoral Review

This is information concerning changes to the electoral arrangements for parish, town
and
community
councils. It includes recommendations for the creation of new wards, the amendment of
existing wards,
proposals for the names of new wards and alterations to the number of councillors to be
elected to the
council. Information relating to the last Periodic Electoral Review of the council area
Information
relating to the latest boundary review of the council area.

A matter for South Norfolk District Council

    1. Employment Practice and Procedure

Terms and Conditions of Employment

Job Descriptions

    1. Planning Documents

Responses to Planning Applications

    1. Audit and Accounts

Mandatory

Annual return form – limited to the last financial year

Annual Statutory report by auditor (internal and external) – limited to the last
financial
year

Receipt/Payment books, receipt books of all kinds, Bank Statements from all accounts –
limited to the last
financial year.

Precept request – limited to the last financial year

VAT records – limited to the last financial year

Financial Standing Orders and Regulations

Assets register

Risk Assessments

Signature D Hook – Chairman

Ian Nelson – Clerk

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 – PUBLICATION SCHEMES

Declaration Form

Name of Public Authority – Hempnall Parish Council

Address: Karinya, Bungay Road, Hempnall, Norwich, NR15 2NG

 

This has adopted the model scheme titled Hempnall Parish Council’s Publication Scheme
produced in
accordance
with section 20 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and will publish information in
accordance with
that scheme.

 

Signature Ian Nelson

 

Position Parish Clerk

 

Date 26.11.2002

 

The contact details for the person/official who will be responsible for maintaining the
publication scheme
and who should be contacted if any issues arise concerning the organisation’s compliance
with the Freedom
of Information Act are:

 

Name Mr Ian Nelson

 

Position Parish Clerk

 

Address Karinya, Bungay Road, Hempnall, Norwich, NR15 2NG

 

Contact telephone number :- 01508 498467

 

E-Mail address :- [email protected]

Our meetings are conducted in accordance with our adopted Standing Orders and Chairmanship Guidence. Click here for a copy.

A commitment to excellence for your community

We know that local councils are at the very heart of their communities; giving neighbourhoods a voice and making people more involved in the decisions that affect them. Over 15 million people (35% of the population) live in the communities served by local councils. Local councils want to serve their communities as best they can and make a real difference to the lives of the people that live there.

Hempnall Parish Council was awarded Quality Status in 2007 and requalified in 2011. This Scheme was replaced in 2015 with the Local Council Award Scheme

The new Local Council Award Scheme has been designed to celebrate the successes of the very best local councils, and to provide a framework to support all local councils to improve and develop to meet their full potential. The scheme offers councils the opportunity to show that they meet the standards set by the sector, assessed by their peers, and to put in place the conditions for continued improvement.

In order to achieve Foundation Statusin the Local Council Award Scheme, parish and town councils must demonstrate that they have reached the standard required by passing several tests. These cover the following areas:

  • Standing orders and financial regulations
  • Code of Conduct and a link to councillors’ registers of interests
  • Publication scheme
  • Annual return
  • Transparent information about council payments
  • Calendar of all meetings including the annual meeting of electors
  • Minutes for full council meetings and (if relevant) all committee and sub-committee meetings
  • Current agendas
  • The budget and precept information for the current or next financial year
  • Complaints procedure
  • Risk management scheme
  • Register of assets
  • Contracts for all members of staff

If you have a complaint about the way the Parish Council has made any decision we hope you will come to the next meeting to talk to us about it. If you do not get a satisfactory answer, there is a set procedure to follow ( Please see link below).

However, if you have a complaint about something else in the parish and want to know if we can help, you can either write in to the clerk, who will raise the matter with the councillors at the next meeting, or you can come in person to the next meeting. There is always a slot at the start called “public participation” where you can say what you want to and if we are able to give you the answer there and then we will.

Click here for a copy of the full complaints procedure.

The parish council has a Data Protection Committee, the members of which are shown on the “Serving You” tab. Click here for the terms of reference of the Data Protection Committee.

More relevant information can be found below:

Everyone has a duty to safeguard children, young people and vulnerable adults.  This policy outlines practices that will promote the safety of children, young people and vulnerable adults using Hempnall Parish Council’s facilities.

Click here for a copy

Registers of Interest

It is a legal requirement to make available the register of interest declared by each parish councillor.

This is a link to South Norfolk and Broadland District Council’s website which hosts the information.  Click on a councillor’s name and the the llink to register of interests for more information.

Disclaimer

Hempnall Parish Council has tried to ensure that the information on this Website is accurate. However, Hempnall Parish Council nor it’s employees, will not accept liability for any loss, damage or inconvenience arising as a consequence of any use of or the inability to use any information on this Website. Hempnall Parish Council may use links throughout the site to further sources of information and advice. The inclusion of any link should not be taken as endorsement of any kind by Hempnall Parish Council of the linked Website or any association with its operators. Further, Hempnall Parish Council has no control over the availability of the linked pages.

Copyright

Material on this Website, including text and images, is protected by copyright©. It may not be copied, reproduced, republished, downloaded, posted, broadcast or transmitted in any way except for your own personal, non-commercial use. Prior written consent of the copyright holder must be obtained for any other use of material. Copyright in all materials and/or works comprising or contained within this Website remains with Hempnall Parish Council and other copyright© owner(s) as specified. No part of this site may be distributed or copied for any commercial purpose.

Privacy Statement

Hempnall Parish Council is committed to safeguarding your privacy, while providing a high quality of service. Hempnall Parish Council will treat your personal information as confidential and your details will not be given or sold to anyone. We will use the information collected online to help us understand more about how our site is used by visitors, and to develop and enhance our services to you.

When you provide Hempnall Parish Council with personal information – for example, when requesting forms to be sent out to you – we take steps to ensure that your information is treated securely. Note: This privacy policy only covers the Website at www.hempnallpc.org; other links within this site to other Websites are not covered by this policy. Once you have accessed another website via one of our links you will be subject to the security and privacy policy of that site.

Data Protection Act

Hempnall Parish Council is registered under the Data Protection Act – registration number PZ8694654. In accordance with our responsibilities under the Data Protection Act, you should be aware that the personal information you choose to provide will not be passed to any person or organisation outside Hempnall Parish Council (unless we have your consent, or where we have a legal obligation or have the statutory powers to do so) but will be held by relevant staff in the service area relevant to your comments.

It will be understood by Hempnall Parish Council that, in providing personal information, you agree to its use by Hempnall Parish Council under these conditions and to the extent described in this and succeeding clauses of this Disclaimer.

Information use

It is only when you complete a form that requests personal information or when you email Hempnall Parish Council that you can be identified. When completing forms you may be asked for a variety of personal information such as name, address, postcode etc. Where you voluntarily choose to give us your personal details that data – within the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998 – will be used exclusively for providing you with the information or service you have requested. If there is a need to share your personal information with any other system or third party then consent for us to do this will be requested at the point of data collection.

Freedom of Information Act

Hempnall Parish Council complies with the Freedom of Public Information Act . Click the links below for more details.

For a copy of the Hempnall Parish Council’s Information Guide click here

For a copy of Hempnall Parish Council’s Model Publication Scheme click here

For a copy of Hempnall Parish Council’s Complaints Procedures click here