Duties & Responsibilities

Parham Parish Council has a number of duties and responsibilities, defined by various acts of parliament including the Local Government Act (1972).

A Scheme of Regulations and Management of Common Land was granted by Suffolk Coastal District Council (now East Suffolk Council) allowing the Parish Council to manage the three village greens that were registered ownerless under the 1965 Commons Registration Act. These are North Green, Mill Green, and Silverlace Green on which there are a number of village ponds which are maintained and regularly cleaned out to help encourage bio-diversity. 

The Parish Council also has a duty (as from 1 April 2015) to publish certain information on this website, including dates of meetings, minutes, end of year accounts and policies we have adopted. Draft minutes of meetings should be published within one month of the meeting and can be found on the 'Agendas, Minutes & Accounts' page.  However, it must be reiterated that the minutes are only a draft document and do not become an official record of the Parish Council meeting until they are approved at the next Parish Council meeting.

The  budget  for the next year is proposed in November, allowing an opportunity to consider and approve the budget at January's meeting , before setting the precept (funding requested from East Suffolk Council to cover next year's village expenditure).

Where possible, applications, from organisations, for financial assistance should be received by the end of September.  

The next election is May 2023. Parish Councillors are all unpaid volunteers who operate on a non-party political basis.

Parham Parish Council employs a Parish Clerk, who carries out administrative duties and is a contact person for the public.  The clerk can be contacted on   parhamparishclerk@gmail.com