Martin Brown wrote:
> On May 8, 2:07 pm, "Peter Crosland" wrote:
>> Martin Brown wrote:
>>> We have tried asking this question of our county council for
>>> guidance, but they did not know the answer. And I couldn't see any
>>> suitable guidance on Google or in the newsgroups. The main question
>>> is:
>>
>>> How long should Parish Council Minutes be archived for as a minimum?
>>
>>
>> As a general legal principle you need to keep the records for at
>> least six years.
>
> OK. So that requirement at least is well satisfied.
>
>> After that the appropriate thing would be to give them to the county
>> records office.
>
> So it is worth a trip to look for the missing minute books there.
> Thanks.
>
>> The records are required to be open to inspection during
>> normal office hours without charge.
>
> This seems a rather onerous burden for unpaid volunteers with no
> permanent offices or staff.
It is one of the responsibilities of the clerk to the council.
> Does publication of the modern PC minutes on the Internet satifsy this
> requirement adequately?
Since the minutes have to be kept in writing and they are open to inspection
then probably not.
>> AFAIK the parish council is supposed to
>> have published an FOI scheme that includes a schedule of charges.
>
> Is there a boilerplate template for this somewhere?
How can you be sure such a template meets the legal requiremts? Ask advice
from the district council.
Peter Crosland
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