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Councillor Surgeries Terms of Reference
Councillor Surgeries. It is the intention of the Parish Council that once the Old Police House becomes available for Community use, that we undertake Councillor Surgeries. In order that the procedures for dealing with members of the public is standard, what follows are the terms of reference and procedure for running the surgeries 1) It is proposed that Councillor Surgeries take place twice a month, on a Saturday morning and a Thursday evening and last for two hours. The times will be Thursday evening 7pm to 9pm and Saturday 10am to 12midday. The idea of the evening surgery is to accommodate those people who are working and are not available at weekends. 2) Councillors who volunteer to run surgeries will work off a rota and there will be 2 Councillors for each session. 3) In order to assist Councillors in the event of having to contact another agency, a directory will be compiled containing contact telephone numbers and e-mail addresses where available. 4) All interviews conducted with members of the Community will be recorded on the Interview Form and recorded in a Day Book with sequential reference numbers. Councillors should be aware when completing these forms that they have to be factually correct and are subject to inspection under The Freedom of Information Act. The subject should cover only those matters that the Parish Council would deal with, consider it the same as a member of the public asking question at a Parish Council Meeting. 5) Where possible the query should be dealt with there and then. If that is not possible, it may be that further information may be required that is not to hand e.g. it may need a telephone call to Waveney District Council, then the person should be informed they should receive a reply within 10 working days. 6) The situation may arise that requires the person to either return of provide further information. For that reason these enquiries should be highlighted in the Day Book and Councillors holding subsequent surgeries should make themselves aware of the circumstances and deal with accordingly. This will ensure continuity when Councillors take over. 7) If any query raised by a member of the public requires further work such as follow up telephone calls, or If any query or problem requires a written response or e-mail, then these matters will be brought to the attention of the Parish Clerk, who will deal,
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