Committees & Working Groups
| Committee / Working Group Title (Grouped by their parent Committee) | JB | SC | SJ | DM | AN | MR | PR | GW |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Main Council Committee | C | M | M | VC | M | M | M | M |
| Communications Working Group | M | M | M | |||||
| Amenities Committee | M | M | M | C | ||||
| Complaints Committtee | M | M | M | |||||
| Finance & Strategy Committee | M | M | ||||||
| New Housing Development Committee | M | M | M | |||||
| Staffing Committee | C | M | M | |||||
| Water Meadows and Flood Defence Committee | M | M | M | M | ||||
| Number of Committees / Working Groups (Excluding Main Council Ctee) | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 6 |
Key: C = Chair, VC = Vice-Chair, M = Member.
The Parish Council Chair and Vice-Chair are ex-officio members of all Committees and Working Groups – these are not shown in the table above.
Representation on External Organisations
Councillors also represent Downton Parish Council on various local external organisations. These are shown in the table below. The Number of Councillors column shows the number appointed versus the number allowed by the external organisation.
| External Organisation Name | JB | SC | SJ | DM | AN | MR | PR | GW | Number of Councillors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Allotments Assoc. >web-site | 1 | 1 / 1 | |||||||
| Brian Whitehead Sports & Social Club Assoc. >charity details >Company details | 1 | 1 | 2 / 2 | ||||||
| Caring Community Support | 1 | 1/1 | |||||||
| Carver Trust. >charity details | 1 | 1 / 1 | |||||||
| Chalk Pit Management Committee - joint committee with Redlynch PC that meets every 2 years in September - see Area Board Meeting 5th April 2012 - Item 7 and Main Council Minutes 9th Sept 2019. | 1 | 1 | 2/2 | ||||||
| Children's Corner Charity | |||||||||
| Community Policing Team Liaison | 1 | 1/1 | |||||||
| Downton Cuckoo Fair. >web site >company details | 1 | 1 / 1 | |||||||
| Downton Link. >web site. >charity details | 1 | 1 / 1 | |||||||
| Downton Memorial Hall / Centre >web site >charity details #1 / details #2 | 1 | 1 / 1 | |||||||
| Downton Memorial Centre Fire Safety ‘Responsible Person’ | 1 | 1/1 | |||||||
| Downton Moot Preservation Trust >web site >charity details >company details | 1 | 1 / 2 | |||||||
| Downton Primary School's Working Group | 1 | 1/1 | |||||||
| Millennium Green Trust. >charity details | 1 | 1 | 2 / 2 | ||||||
| Post Office Service Monitoring | |||||||||
| South Wilts Area Board - Main Group. >info | 1 | 1 | 2 / 2 | ||||||
| South Wilts Area Board - Local Highway and Footway Improvement Group (LHFIG) (replaces Community Area Transport Group (CATG)). >info | |||||||||
| Stockman and Woodlands Trust >charity details | 1 | 1 | 2 / 2 | ||||||
| Number of Working Groups | 2 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 5 | N/A |
Role of Committees
The Parish Council has a main council committee. That can delegate some of its statutory functions (responsibilities assigned to a parish council in legislation) to one or more committees. These may in turn have sub-committees. If there’s a specific task focussed activity then Working Groups may be setup.
The key difference is that a Committee (or sub-committee) comprises members of the council whilst a Working Group can include other individuals. Any committee/sub-committee must hold regular open sessions, at which members of the public can speak.
Unlike Committees and Sub-Committees, Working Groups cannot have delegated responsibilities and do not have to be open to the public, however, they do have to abide by certain Parish Council Policies – See Working Group Protocol. Their findings and recommendations must be minuted and a report submitted to the Committee to whom the council has decided they report. These reports are then discussed at Committee level before being recommended to Main Council. The Council or the Committee can send report back to the Sub-Committee / Working Group requesting more information or clarification before accepting or rejecting the report and its contents.
When are Committees held?
There’s a published schedule of meetings, these are usually advertised by the via the Chair (Cllr Brentor) on village Facebook groups eg Downton Parish Council, Downton Now & Then, Downton Families.
Attending a Committee / Working Group
All committee/sub-committee meetings are open to the public and there is a forum before the start of the meeting at which members of the public can raise concerns and ask questions. There is also an annual meeting which all parishioners are invited to attend. All meetings are advertised on the council notice boards, on the web site and typically on village social media groups. Residents can bring to the attention of the parish council anything that concerns them, either directly or though the clerk. If matters raised are not the responsibility of the council, the clerk can bring them to the attention of the proper authority.
Representation on Parish Council Committees and Working Groups
All Councillors are required to attend the Main Council meetings. They may also work on other sub-committees and working groups – see table below. Representation is proposed and voted on at the annual meeting – the latest one being May 2023. Working Groups may involve members of the public. All Terms of Reference for all committees and working groups are published in a single pdf document. This is approved by the full Council at its annual meeting – the latest one being May 2023.