Role of Office Bearers

The Chairperson

The Chair has perhaps the most important single role to play in ensuring that community council meetings run smoothly. But even a good Chair will find the task exhausting unless all the members of the community council give the role appropriate respect and support.

The Chair is elected in accordance with the rules set out in the community council’s own Constitution. Your Secretary should be able to provide you with a copy. The Constitution is very important because it provides the framework of procedures that will govern the work of your community council.

In essence, the Chair’s job is to make sure that decisions are taken on all of the items that are on the Agenda. In practice, this usually means that the Chair will have to make judgements about how much time to allocate to each Agenda item. It also means that he or she may occasionally have to bring speakers back to the Agenda and generally encourage people to make their contributions brief and to the point.

In regular meetings the role of the Chair is a formal one, all speakers will be expected to address their comments to the Chair. This helps the Chair to keep control of the discussion. In Committee meetings, where proceedings need not be so formal, the Chair may be content simply to steer the general direction of the discussion – this may be described as an enabling role. The extent to which a Chair adopts one or the other of these will be dependent upon the circumstances at a particular time or occasion. Set out below are some of the characteristics of the two approaches.

Perhaps most importantly of all, the Chair is expected to know the rules by which the community council functions, and ensure that at all stages of its work the community council is operating in accordance with any procedures that are set down. In this context the Chair may be called upon to act as an arbiter when there is a disagreement about how the rules should be interpreted.

It is important to recognise that the Chair’s role extends outwith the meeting itself. The Chair may be called upon to act on behalf of the community council between meetings, or to represent the community council in dealing with outside bodies. This role may also be delegated by the community council to other office bearers or members.

Very often the Chair is seen as the “official” spokesperson for the community council and must be seen as authoritative and fair in all of their dealings with outside bodies, groups, individuals and the Press.

The Role of the Vice Chair

The Vice Chair has no specific duties other than standing in for the Chair when he or she is unable to be present. Often the Vice Chair is the next “Chair in waiting”.

The Secretary

The Secretary is responsible for:

• The Agenda
• The Minutes of the meeting
• Answering all correspondence
• Writing any letters
• Circulating information to Members
• Public relations, dealing with the press, TV and radio (the community council could decide to delegate this role to the Chair, or a dedicated media rep)
• Looking after invited visitors and guest speakers
• Arranging the venue for meetings
• Liaison with officials of the local authority and other agencies

To be successful, a Community Council must have an energetic and conscientious Secretary prepared to put in the necessary time and effort. It is more than desirable for all Members, but especially the Chair, to spread the Secretary’s load by, for instance, delegating some of his or her responsibilities to others, either individually or to small sub-committees. It is bad policy to overload your Secretary – you might find difficulty getting volunteers! The duties may be allocated to more than one person, for instance having someone to act as Minute Secretary – taking minutes at meetings.

It is essential that the Secretary has access to word-processing and photocopying facilities.

The Treasurer

The Treasurer is responsible for:

• issuing all cheques and making payments on behalf of the Community Council and any charities and/or other funds dispersed by the Council.
• managing the bank account, account for all funds received, and ensure money is only spent in a manner approved by the Community Council Members as recorded in the minutes.
• maintaining the Community Council’s financial records so that they disclose, with reasonable accuracy at any time, the financial position of the Community Council.
• ensuring cheques are signed by two persons authorised by the Community Council Members as recorded in the minutes, and notified to the bank in writing. It is good practice to have more than two authorized signatories, in the event of someone being unavailable at
  short notice. As a general rule, Treasurers should avoid paying out money except by cheque. This makes accounting for expenditure much
  easier.
• keeping proper accounts of all receipts and expenditure and prepare an Annual Statement of Accounts. Councils should use an independent, external examiner to approve the accounts. This need not be a professional accountant, but should be someone who has some relevant
• must report and answer any questions raised by Members of the Council or the public on the Statement, this must be formally approved at the next AGM. When statement certified and approved, it should be sent to the local authority, as part of the process of applying for the annual administration grant.
• The standard form of words for the Treasurer’s Certificate is: “I certify that the above accounts have been prepared by me and accurately reflect the financial provisions relating to the period …..”
• preparing simple budgets to advise Members prior to their committing funds.