Parish Council

Contact our Parish Clerk

For all matters concerning the Parish Council along with all correspondence, please contact the Clerk, details as shown below:

Clerk to the Council, Laura Naunton
15 Llewellyn Drift, Kesgrave IP5 2DN

Mobile: 07487890734
email : lauranaunton@hotmail.co.uk

Dates of Council Meetings:

Meetings are held at 7.30pm in the Village Hall and usually on the 1st Monday of the month. (there may be a few exceptions). The Annual Parish Meeting followed by the Annual Parish Council Meeting usually takes place in May. 

Newbourne parish Council is just one of over 8,700 parish and town councils which collectively represent about 16 million people in England. Parish councils form the most local level of government in rural and urban areas and listen to local opinion so as to act as a voice for local residents. The range of services and amenities they provide varies a great deal between parishes.

What services does Newbourne parish council provide?

The services fall into three main categories:

• representing and promoting the local community
• delivering services to meet local needs
• striving to improve quality of life in the parish

Some examples of which are:

• children's play area
• some of our verges and hedges
• support for the village hall
• our bus shelter
• notice boards

It also works with Suffolk County Council, Suffolk Coastal District Council and Suffolk Constabulary to advise on or secure other services, for example:

• litter bins
• planning (see link below)
• footpaths
• highways
• crime reduction

How does it make decisions?

The parish council is made up of up to eight councillors who meet monthly (on the first Monday of the month) to make decisions on the work and direction of the council. As an elected body, through its councillors, it is responsible to the people it represents - that's the local community. Attending a council meeting is the best way to find out what it does. Newbourne Parish Council also has a web site which gives more detail about what the Parish Council has been dealing with recently e.g. agenda and minutes.

From where does it get its money?

Each year the Parish Council asks for a sum of money, called a ‘precept', which is collected through your council tax. It also can receive money from the County Council and District Council via bids or grants from various funds; this money is used by the Parish Council to improve facilities (e.g. the village hall and play spaces) and provide services for our community.

What do parish councillors do?

Councillors have three main areas of work:

1. Decision-making: through attending meetings and committees with other elected members, councillors decide which activities to support, where money should be spent, what services should be delivered and what policies should be implemented;
2. Monitoring: councillors make sure that their decisions lead to efficient and effective services by keeping an eye on how well things are working;
3. Getting involved locally: as local representatives, councillors have responsibilities towards their parishioners and local organisations. This often depends on what the councillor wants to achieve and how much time is available.

The day-to-day work of a councillor may include:

• going to meetings of local organisations
• going to meetings of bodies that affect the wider community, such as the police, the Highways Authority, schools and colleges
• bringing parishioners concerns to the attention of the council

How are parish councillors elected?

Parish councillors are elected by people who live within the parish area/boundary to represent residents in that area.

Could I become a Parish Councillor?

Most people are eligible to become parish councillors as long as you live or work in or near the parish. Very few people are prevented from representing their community. Whilst this will require a little or as much of your time as you like, there is a requirement to regularly attend parish council meetings which take a couple of hours one evening per month. The only payment you will receive is the satisfaction of helping residents obtain better services and the village by providing a better life style. If you wish to find out more please speak to any parish councillor via the parish clerk who will arrange for the councillor to contact you or directly to the parish clerk.

Members of the Council:

Laura Naunton - Clerk & RFO, Web Site

Andrew Garfath-Cox - Chairman 

Susan Pollard - Deputy Councillor 

Micheal Frost - Councillor

Lionel Scott - Councillor 

Jim Wicks - Councillor 

Kwini Lusher - Councillor

Transparency Code for Newbourne Parish Council

The Government wishes to hand more power to the public by providing them with tools to be able to hold those Parish Councils to account, who have a turn over not exceeding £25,000 per financial year, which is the case for Newbourne Parish Council. (Turnover has been defined as the gross income and gross expenditure per year)

In return the Government has removed the relevant Parish Councils from the routine external audit regime. Instead these Councils will be subject to the new transparency requirements of the new Transparency Code for Smaller Authorities. However, due to an oversight regarding the length of the contracts of the appointed External Auditor firms, relevant Parish Councils will still also be subject to the External Audit Regime until 2017. This means that these Councils will have to comply with the new Transparency Code and continue to be subject to annual External Audit, until 2017.

The new Code will require that relevant Parish Councils to make available by publishing, information regarding their accounts and governance by July 1^st 2015. After which the relevant information must be published in accordance with the Code. This is not less than once a year by the 1^st July.

The Government will then appoint an External Auditor/s to the relevant Councils, in order to comply with the public's right to call in the Councils accounts. The Councils will also be required to display the annual notice inviting the public to inspect the accounts.

Information to be Published Annually (See Newbourne's Compliance reference as proof against this criteria)

All Items of Expenditure above £100: (See Cashbook)

Each individual items of expenditure over £100

1. This should include the date that the expenditure was spent.
2. A summary of the purpose of the expenditure i.e. grass cutting or stationery.
3. The amount of money spent
4. The amount of VAT that cannot be recovered

Councils will not be required to publish copies of their books, deeds, contracts, bills, vouchers, receipts or any other related documents. However, these should be available for inspection by request in accordance with Local Government Act 1972 s226 (3).

End of Year Accounts: 

1. Publication of the statement of accounts. This can be a copy of the relevant page in the Annual Return Form. This should be approved and signed by the RFO and Chairman presiding at the meeting where the statement of accounts was approved

In addition the following items must also accompany the statement of accounts:

1. A copy of the bank reconciliation for that financial year
2. An explanation of any significant variances in the statement of accounts (defined as more than 10% -15%)
3. An explanation of any differences between 'balances carried forward' and 'total cash' and 'short term investments' if relevant
 

Annual Governance Statement: 

1. Parish Councils should publish their annual governance statement in the format included in the Annual Return
2. Publication of the relevant page with the Annual Return would satisfy this requirement
3. The annual governance statement should be signed by the Chairman and the Clerk
4. Detail any recommendations (weaknesses) with an explanation and how these will be addressed .i.e. the Fidelity Guarantee is insufficient, the Council will be raising the threshold in accordance to the Internal Auditors, suggested amount.

Internal Audit Report: (not relevant)

1. The Internal Auditors Report should be published. The relevant page in the Annual Return will satisfy this requirement
2. The report should be signed by the Internal Auditor who carried out the audit
3. Any recommendations should be explained and how the council will address them
4. Where any recommendation is subject to an area of internal control yet to be addressed, the following information will be required: When the last audit took place and when the next one will be. If it is an area of internal control that is not required an explanation should be provided by the Council.

List of Councillor Responsibilities, including:

1. The names of all Councillors on the Parish Council
2. List of Committees and their purpose and functions, with the Committee Councillors names and also any non-members. It should also state each Committee's Chairman and Vice- Chairman
3. A list of Councillors appointed to other External Public Bodies, by the Council to represent it
(See list of Councillors and thier responsibilities on this page)

Details of Public land and Building Assets: (See Newbourne PC Assets Register Jan 2015)

1. All land and building assets included on the Councils asset register. This can be by publishing the asset register in its entirety or an edited version just showing any land or buildings on it. The information should include: Its location (address or description of the location of any land or buildings); Whether the Council owns, leases or custodian trustee of the land or building. If the Council manages any land or assets on behalf of a charity this will need to be included .i.e. manages a closed church yard for the Parochial Church Council; Date of the acquisition if known; Cost of the land or building (or proxy value); What the land or building is being used for at the time of publishing

Information to be published more frequently than once per year

1. Relevant Parish Councils should publish their draft full council minutes and committee minutes not later than one month after the meeting
2. Agenda's should be published within three clear days of the Council or Committee meeting it relates to
(see this page with relevant documents available as pdfs on left hand side)

Method of Publication

1. The data required by the Code should be published on a website that offers free public access
2. This can be the Councils or the relevant District/ Borough Authorities website
3. Any mistakes in any documents should be replaced with a revised version, with an explanation of what information has been corrected or added.

Other Documents

Register of Interests: This is maintained by Suffolk Coastal District Council

Contact our Web Site

For all matters concerning the web site please contact Laura Naunton:

email : lauranaunton@hotmail.co.uk