Policies and other Documents
General documents and policies can be found on this page.
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The Conduct of a Councillor
The Yorkshire Local Council Association (YLCA) has advised that The Localism Act 2011 (‘the 2011 Act’) received Royal Assent in November 2011. It replaced the statutory framework regulating the conduct of members of local authorities in England established by the Local Government Act 2000.
The 2011 Act introduced new arrangements to regulate the conduct of members of local authorities including town and parish councils, the registration and disclosure of certain interests and how complaints about their conduct are handled.
The principal authority (in our case, Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council – BMBC) is exclusively responsible for receiving, investigating and deciding code of conduct complaints which relate to the members of town and parish councils in their area.
Ss.28(6) and (9) of the 2011 Act require a principal authority to have in place arrangements to investigate and determine allegations that a member of a town or parish council in its area has failed to comply with his/her council’s code of conduct.
It is therefore, to the monitoring officer at BMBC that any complaint regarding a councillors behaviour must be directed and unless he/she resigns, dies or is disqualified he/she will remain a councillor until the next local elections; there is no remit for Penistone Town Council to initiate any measures to discipline or issue any sanctions for any such behaviour.
Please address any complaints about the behaviour of a member of The Town Council to:-
The Monitoring Officer
Barnsley MBC
Westgate Plaza One
1 Westgate
Western Street
Barnsley
S70 2DR
Click here to read the code of conduct as issued to councillors by PTC on election.
Complaints Procedure
The Town Council adopted a complaints procedure to deal with complaints anyone may have in relation to Penistone Town Council. It is designed to deal with any complaints that cannot be settled by way of dealings with the Clerk or Assistant Clerk or that involve other staff members.
Co-option Policy
The purpose of this policy is to outline the procedure to be followed by Penistone Town Council when a casual vacancy arises by virtue of councillor resignation, disqualification or death.
Media Policy
The purpose of this policy is to define the roles and responsibilities within Penistone Town Council (known as “the Council”) for working with the press and media (known as “the media”) and deals with the day-to-day relationship between the Council and the media.
Public Participation Policy
Penistone Town Council wishes to encourage public participation during its meetings in order to use this as one means of consulting with the public. However, the Council recognises that rules must control the manner of participation in order that the Council Meeting may continue to operate effectively.
Public participation is an opportunity to ask questions not to make statements.
Public Operational Risk Assessment Management document.
Period for the Exercise of Public Rights
Dates set for the period for the exercise of public rights document (2021) can be downloaded here.
Records Management Policy / GDPR
The guidelines set out in this document supports Penistone Town Council Data Protection Policy and assists us in compliance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000, the General Data Protection Regulation 2018 (GDPR) and other associated legislation.
It is important that Penistone Town Council has in place arrangements for the retention and disposal of documents necessary for the adequate management of services in undertaking its responsibilities. This policy sets out the minimum requirements for the retention of documents and sets out the requirements for the disposal of documents. However, it is important to note that this is a live document and will be updated on a regular basis.
Penistone Town Council will ensure that information is not kept for longer than is necessary and will retain the minimum amount of information that it requires to carry out its functions and the provision of services, whilst adhering to any legal or statutory requirements.
Click here to view the full Penistone Town Council Records Management Policy.
Click here to view our Privacy Notice for Staff, Councillors and Role Holders.
Security Incident Policy
A personal data breach means a breach of security leading to the accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure of, or access to, personal data. This includes breaches that are the result of both accidental and deliberate causes.
Our security incident policy details how we would deal with a personal data breach and how we deal with the incident.
Click here to view a PDF copy of our security incident policy here.
Model Standing Orders
Financial Regulations
Click the link below to download a PDF copy of the current Financial Regulations document.
Financial Regulations 2023 (400KB)
Publication Scheme
This document details the kinds of information that Penistone Town Council holds and how this information may be accessed to meet our commitment under the model publication scheme.
We are expected to make the information in this definition document available unless:
- it does not hold the information;
- the information is exempt under one of the FOIA exemptions or Environmental Information Regulations exceptions, or its release is prohibited by another statute;
- the information is readily and publicly available from an external website; such information may have been provided by the public authority or on its behalf. The authority must provide a direct link to that information;
- the information is archived, out of date or otherwise inaccessible; or
- it would be impractical or resource-intensive to prepare the material for routine release.
Action Plan
This document details the current action plan as set by the Town Council for 2021 to 2022.
Warmer Spaces Policy
Click the link below to view a PDF copy of the Warmer Spaces Policy.