BRETBY PARISH COUNCIL

Grant Award Policy

1.     Introduction

A grant is any payment made by Bretby Parish Council to an organisation for a specific purpose that will benefit the Parish, or residents of the Parish, and which is not directly controlled or administered by Bretby Parish Council.

By documenting this policy, Bretby Parish Council aim to ensure that the process is:

• Open
• Transparent
• Fair
• Supports local organisations

2.     Parish Council Powers and Section 137

The Localism Act 2011 allows Parish Councils more flexibility in how they spend money within the local community by use of the General Power of Competence.  In order for the Council to use this power they must have a Certificate in Local Council Administration qualified clerk and at least two thirds of the Councillors have to be elected rather than co-opted or appointed.  Bretby Parish Council does not hold the General Power of Competence.

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) has notified the National Association of Local Councils (NALC) that the appropriate sum for the purpose of section 137(4)(a) of the Local Government Act 1972 (the 1972 Act) for local (parish and town) councils in England for 2025/26 is £11.10 per elector.[1] Amount for 2026/27 is £11.60 per elector[2].

Bretby Parish Council has no obligation to spend all or any of the money available under this power to them.  The money will have come into them via the precept which has been made on South Derbyshire District Council and will have been reflected in the resident’s council tax bills.

3.     Who Can Apply

Applications will be considered from any properly constituted, voluntary, not-for-profit organisations, charities, societies and clubs.

Grants will not be made to the following:

• An individual
  • Commercial organisation
  • Political parties
  • Projects that are the prime responsibility of other statutory authorities
  • For projects that discriminate on any grounds

4.     What can be funded

The project should be something that makes the local community a better place in which to live, work or visit

It should benefit the people who live in the parish

There should be evidence that local people support the project and are involved in carrying it out

Applications do not have to be from groups that already exist

Each group may only make one application per financial year

5.     Conditions of Support

Applicants must demonstrate how the grant will bring benefit to all or part of the parish of Bretby.

The grant must be used for the purpose for which the application is made and within twelve months of receipt.  If not, or the applicant is for any reason unable to use the grant for the stated purpose, then all monies must be returned to Bretby Parish Council.

The organisation must have a bank account in its own name into which payment can be made. 

For all grants awarded the applicant must provide a written report to Bretby Parish Council on how the money has been used within twelve months of receiving the grant.

A public acknowledgement of any grant awarded should be made by the recipient.

6.     Application Procedure

All applications must be made in writing to the Clerk; via email or post. 

All applicants must complete an application form, available online or on request from the Clerk.

 All requested information must be supplied for an application to be considered.

Bretby Parish Council may as it sees fit, request the following information from organisations applying for grants:

• Copies of their last year end accounts (if appropriate)
  • The number, or percentage, of members that belong to the organisation and that live within the parish
  • Details of any restrictions placed on who can use/access their services.

7.     Assessment Procedure

Grant applications will be considered at the Parish Council meeting following receipt of the application.

The Council’s decision on the application will be communicated to the applicant within two weeks of the Council meeting at which it was discussed.

Bretby Parish Council reserves the right to request any further information which it deems necessary in order to complete the decision making process.

Applications will not be considered retrospectively.

•  Process Review

This process will be reviewed annually by the Clerk and any changes noted below and when this has been agreed by the Council.

[1] https://www.nalc.gov.uk/resource/section-137-expenditure-limit-for-parish-and-town-councils-announced-for-2025-26.html

[2] https://www.slcc.co.uk/section-137-expenditure-limit-confirmed-for-2026-27/

BRETBY PARISH COUNCIL

Grant Application Form

Please complete all information and send to Clerk: clerk@bretbyparishcouncil.org

Declaration

The information given in this application is to the best of my knowledge true and accurate.

Any grant awarded will be used for the purpose specified in the application and is subject to the conditions set out in Bretby Parish Council’s Grant Awarding Policy and by which we agree to abide.

BRETBY PARISH COUNCIL

Co-option Policy

Although the process for co-option is not prescribed in law it is important that all applicants be treated alike so that the arrangements are seen as open and fair. The co-option process will be as follows:

• The Parish Council will advertise the vacancy (or vacancies) on the Parish Council noticeboards, on the website. The notices will include:

            ·A contact point so that people considering putting their names forward for co-option can obtain         more information on the role of a parish councillor;

            ·The co-option process;

            ·The closing date for all expressions of interest;

            ·The date on which the Parish Council intends to make a decision.

It is permissible for Parish Councillors (or any parishioner) to approach individuals to suggest that they might wish to consider putting their names forward for co-option.

• The applicant will complete an ‘Application for Co-option’ form.

• When an application is received, the Clerk to the Parish Council will consider the application, check that the individual meets the qualification requirements, and confirm that, if successful, they would be willing to accept the Code of Conduct and other obligations of a Parish Councillor.

Any applicant wishing to talk to any of the councillors should contact the clerk for the clerk to make arrangements for a meet.

• Applicants will be informed of the date of the meeting at which the Parish Council will make its decision on the co-option.

Co-option meeting

Notice of the intention to co-opt should be included in the agenda for the meeting of the Parish Council either beneath a dedicated heading or within ‘Councillor Vacancies’ or similar. Applicants may be invited to the meeting to introduce themselves and to provide Councillors with the opportunity to ask questions of them, or the Parish Council can decide to rely on the written submissions alone.

If applicants are not invited to speak at the co-option meeting they are welcome to, but are not required to, attend as members of the public.

There are no special reasons which justify excluding the public during a council meeting, (s.1(2) Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960) when it is making decisions about a matter of public interest such as co-option

Voting Process

The person co-opted must receive a majority of the votes of those Councillors present and voting at the meeting where the co-option takes place. Where there are two or more applicants for one vacancy, this rule means that a person must get a majority of votes over all the other applicants. Where applicant A receives four votes, and applicants B and C receive three votes and one vote respectively, A is not elected because he has the same number of votes as B and C put together and does not have a majority over their combined votes. Where there are more than two applicants it is desirable to eliminate the applicant with the least number of votes, so that the final vote is between two applicants only.

After the Vote

1. The Clerk will notify the applicants of the results as soon as practicable (unnecessary if they attend the meeting).

1. Successfully co-opted applicants become Councillors in their own right, with immediate effect having signed their Declaration of Acceptance of Office, and are no different from any other member. Their term of office runs until the next quadrennial elections for the parish Council.

BRETBY PARISH COUNCIL

Scheme of Delegation to the Parish Clerk

Introduction

This Scheme of Delegation was approved by Bretby Parish Council on 17^th March 2026

The scheme does not delegate any matter:
a. Reserved by law
b. Which by law may not be delegated to a Councillor and /or Officer.

Any subsequent amendments are identified by the date and minute number of the Council resolution in brackets after the amendment.

The powers and duties set out in this scheme are delegated to the Parish Clerk.

The Parish Clerk is also the Councils Responsible Financial Officer and the Proper Officer and responsibility for the management of the organisation.

The scheme will be reviewed on a regular basis as required by the Council and when a new Parish Clerk is appointed.

1. Extent of Delegation

1.1 All delegated functions shall be deemed to be exercised on behalf of and in the name of the Council.

1.2 The Parish Clerk will exercise these powers in accordance with:
• Approved budgets
• The Council’s Financial Regulations
• The Council’s Contract Procedure Rules
• The Council’s Procurement Strategy
• The Council’s Policy Framework and other adopted policies of the Council
• All statutory common law and contractual requirements.

1.3 The Parish Clerk may do anything pursuant to the delegated power or duty which it would be lawful for the Council to do including anything reasonably implied or incidental to that power or duty.

1.4. In addition, the Parish Clerk is authorised to undertake the day-to-day administration of the Council to include:
• Emergency expenditure up to £500 whether or not there is budgetary provision for the expenditure (subject to Standing Orders and Financial Regulations)
• Payment of all invoices, within agreed budget and subject to authorisation by two bank signatories. Authorisation can be made by email if face to face authorisations is not possible
• Taking appropriate action arising from other emergencies (in consultation with the Chairman/Vice Chairman of Council as appropriate to the circumstances)

2. Urgent Decisions of Council

2.1. Urgent decisions required between scheduled meetings of the council are delegated to the clerk in consultation with the Chairman of the council.

2.2. Decisions made under this delegation will be reported to, and recorded in the minutes of the next council meeting.

2.3  Under this delegation, where appropriate, the clerk may decide that an extraordinary meeting of the council be called to deal with the urgent matter.

3. Planning Delegation to the Clerk

3.1. The council delegates decisions arising under development control consultations to the clerk in consultation with all Councillors.

3.2. Consultation may be by correspondence, including email, or in person. It may also take place at meetings of the council.

3.3. The clerk will arrange for relevant papers to be circulated to the councillors who should return their comments, to the clerk for determination of the council’s response within the prescribed consultation period.

3.4. Delegated decisions will be reported to and recorded in the minutes of the next council meeting.

3.5. In respect of controversial or major development proposals, the clerk in consultation with the chairman, may decide that a parish meeting and/or an extraordinary meeting of the council be called to consider the matter.

4. Written Records

4.1. The Openness of Local Government Bodies Regulations 2014 (2014 SI No. 2095), which came into force on 6 August 2014, require a written record to be kept of certain decisions made by an officer of a parish council acting under delegated powers. The Clerk will keep a log of all decisions made under delegated powers and will arrange for these to be made open for public inspection via the Council website.

Adopted March 2026

BRETBY PARISH COUNCIL 

Grievance Policy 

1. This policy is based on and complies with the 2015 ACAS Code of Practice  

(http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=2174. It also takes account of the ACAS guide on discipline and grievances at work.  

(https://www.acas.org.uk/media/1043/Discipline–and–grievances–at–work–The–Acashttps://www.acas.org.uk/media/1043/Discipline-and-grievances-at-work-The-Acas-guide/pdf/DG_Guide_Feb_2019.pdfguide/pdf/DG_Guide_Feb_2019.pdf ). It aims to encourage and maintain good relationships between the Council and its employees by treating grievances seriously and resolving them as quickly as possible. It sets out the arrangements for employees to raise their concerns, problems or complaints about their employment with the Council. The policy will be applied fairly, consistently and in accordance with the Equality Act 2010.   

2. Many problems can be raised and settled during the course of everyday working relationships. Employees should aim to settle most grievances informally with their line manager.   

3. This policy confirms:   

• Employees have the right to be accompanied or represented at a grievance meeting or appeal by a companion who can be a workplace colleague, a trade union representative or a trade union official. This includes any meeting held with them to hear about, gather facts about, discuss, consider or resolve their grievance. The companion will be permitted to address the grievance/appeal meetings, to present the employee’s case for his /her grievance/appeal and to confer with the employee. The companion cannot answer questions put to the employee, address the meeting against the employee’s wishes or prevent the employee from explaining his/her case.  

• The Council will give employees reasonable notice of the date of the grievance/appeal meetings. Employees and their companions must make all reasonable efforts to attend. If the companion is not available for the proposed date of the meeting, the employee can request a postponement and can propose an alternative date that is within five working days of the original meeting date unless it is unreasonable not to propose a later date  

• any changes to specified time limits must be agreed by the employee and the Council  

• An employee has the right to appeal against the decision about his/her grievance. The appeal decision is final  

• Information about an employee’s grievance will be restricted to those involved in the grievance process. A record of the reason for the grievance, its outcome and action taken is confidential to the employee. The employee’s grievance records will be held by the Council in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)  

• audio or video recordings of the proceedings at any stage of the grievance procedure are prohibited, unless agreed by all affected parties as a reasonable adjustment that takes account of an employee’s medical condition  

• if an employee who is already subject to a disciplinary process raises a grievance, the grievance will normally be heard after completion of the disciplinary procedure  

• if a grievance is not upheld, no disciplinary action will be taken against an employee if he/she raised the grievance in good faith  

• the Council may consider mediation at any stage of the grievance procedure where appropriate, (for example where there have been communication breakdowns or allegations of bullying or harassment). Mediation is a dispute resolution process which requires the consent of affected parties  

• Employees can use all stages of the grievance procedure if the complaint is not a code of conduct complaint about a councillor. Employees can use the informal stage of the council’s grievance procedure (paragraph 4) to deal with all grievance issues, including a complaint about a councillor Employees cannot use the formal stages of the council’s grievance procedure for a code of conduct complaint about a councillor. If the complaint about the councillor is not resolved at the informal stage, the employee can contact the monitoring officer of SDDC who will inform the employee whether or not the complaint can be dealt with under the code of conduct. If it does not concern the code of conduct, the employee can make a formal complaint under the council’s grievance procedure (see paragraph 5)  

• If the grievance is a code of conduct complaint against a councillor, the employee cannot proceed with it beyond the informal stage of the council’s grievance procedure. However, whatever the complaint, the council has a duty of care to its employees. It must take all reasonable steps to ensure employees have a safe working environment, for example by undertaking risk assessments, by ensuring staff and councillors are properly trained and by protecting staff from bullying, harassment and all forms of discrimination  

• If an employee considers that the grievance concerns his or her safety within the working environment, whether or not it also concerns a complaint against a councillor, the employee should raise these safety concerns with his or her line manager at the informal stage of the grievance procedure; the Clerk should raise the matter with the Chair of the parish council. The council will consider whether it should take further action in this matter in accordance with any of its employment policies (for example its health and safety policy or its dignity at work policy) and in accordance with the code of conduct regime.  

Informal grievance procedure  

4.  The council and its employees benefit if grievances are resolved informally and as quickly as possible. As soon as a problem arises, the employee should raise it with his/her manager to see if an informal solution is possible. Both should try to resolve the matter at this stage. If the employee does not want to discuss the grievance with his/her manager (for example, because it concerns the manager), the employee should contact the Chairman of the parish council or, if appropriate, another councillor. If the employee’s complaint is about a councillor, it may be appropriate to involve that councillor at the informal stage. This will require both the employee’s and the councillor’s consent.  

Formal grievance procedure  

5. If it is not possible to resolve the grievance informally and the employee’s complaint is not one that should be dealt with as a code of conduct complaint (see above), the employee may submit a formal grievance. It should be submitted in writing to the Chairman of the parish council.  

6. The parish council will appoint a committee of three members to hear the grievance. The committee will appoint a Chairman from one of its members. No councillor with direct involvement in the matter shall be appointed to the subcommittee.   

Investigation  

7. If the committee decides that it is appropriate, (e.g. if the grievance is complex), it may appoint an investigator to carry out an investigation before the grievance meeting to establish the facts of the case. The investigation may include interviews (e.g. the employee submitting the grievance, other employees, councillors or members of the public).   

8. The investigator will summarise their findings (usually within an investigation report) and present their findings to the sub-committee.   

Notification  

9.  Within 10 working days of the Council receiving the employee’s grievance (this may be longer if there is an investigation), the employee will normally be asked, in writing, to attend a grievance meeting. The written notification will include the following:  

• the names of its Chairman and other members  

• the date, time and place for the meeting. The employee will be given reasonable notice of the meeting which will normally be within 25 working days of when the Council received the grievance  

• the employee’s right to be accompanied by a workplace colleague, a trade union representative or a trade union official   

• a copy of the Council’s grievance policy  

• confirmation that, if necessary, witnesses may attend (or submit witness statements) on the employee’s behalf and that the employee should provide the names of his/her witnesses as soon as possible before the meeting  

• confirmation that the employee will provide the Council with any supporting evidence in advance of the meeting, usually with at least two days’ notice  

• findings of the investigation if there has been an investigation   

• an invitation for the employee to request any adjustments to be made for the hearing (for example where a person has a health condition).  

The grievance meeting  

10. At the grievance meeting:   

• the Chairman will introduce the members of the committee to the employee  

• the employee (or companion) will set out the grievance and present the evidence  

• the Chairman will ask the employee questions about the information presented and will want to understand what action does he/she wants the Council to take  

• any member of the committee and the employee (or the companion) may question any witness  

• the employee (or companion) will have the opportunity to sum up the case  

• a grievance meeting may be adjourned to allow matters that were raised during the meeting to be investigated by the committee.  

11. The Chairman will provide the employee with the committee’s decision, in writing, usually within five working days of the meeting. The letter will notify the employee of the action, if any, that the Council will take and of the employee’s right to appeal.   

The appeal  

12. If an employee decides that his/her grievance has not been satisfactorily resolved by the committee, he/she may submit a written appeal to the parish council. An appeal must be received by the Council within five working days of the employee receiving the committee’s decision and must specify the grounds of appeal.   

13. Appeals may be raised on a number of grounds, e.g.:  

• a failure by the Council to follow its grievance policy  

• the decision was not supported by the evidence  

• the action proposed by the committee was inadequate/inappropriate   

• new evidence has come to light since the grievance meeting.  

14. The appeal will be heard by a panel of members of the parish council who have not previously been involved in the case. There may be insufficient members of the parish council who have not previously been involved. If so, the appeal panel will be a committee of three Council members who may include members of the original committee. The appeal panel will appoint a Chairman from one of its members.  

15. The employee will be notified, in writing, usually within 10 working days of receipt of the appeal of the time, date and place of the appeal meeting. The meeting will normally take place within 25 working days of the Council’s receipt of the appeal. The employee will be advised that he/she may be accompanied by a workplace colleague, a trade union representative or a trade union official.  

16. At the appeal meeting, the Chairman will:  

• introduce the panel members to the employee   

• explain the purpose of the meeting, which is to hear the employee’s reasons for appealing against the decision of the committee  

• explain the action that the appeal panel may take.   

17. The employee (or companion) will be asked to explain the grounds of appeal.   

18. The Chairman will inform the employee that he/she will receive the decision and the panel’s reasons, in writing, within five working days of the appeal meeting.   

19. The appeal panel may decide to uphold the decision of the staffing committee or substitute its own decision.   

The decision of the appeal panel is final.