The Information Commissioner's Office has a model publication scheme to help local councils make relevant information available to the public. The Town Council adopted this scheme in October 2016 and we're always working to improve the quality and accessibility of the information available to the public under the scheme.
The scheme is available as a searchable table below. The purpose of this scheme is to make the maximum amount of information readily available at minimum inconvenience and cost to the public. Where we can, we've produced a short explanation and links to the information where it is available online.
Material which is published and accessed on a website will be provided free of charge.
Charges may be made for actual disbursements incurred for information not available online such as:
- photocopying
- postage and packaging
- the costs directly incurred as a result of viewing information.
Charges may also be made for information provided under this scheme where they are legally authorised, justified, and are in accordance with the schedules of fees which is published by Durham County Council at any given time.
If a charge is to be made, confirmation of the payment due will be given before the information is provided. Payment may be requested prior to provision of the information.
If you have any questions about the publication scheme please contact Ian Morris, Town Clerk by email clerk@peterlee.gov.uk
| Information to be published | How the information can be obtained | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Class1 - Who we are and what we do (Organisational information, structures, locations and contacts) | ||
| Who’s who on the Council and its Committees | The membership of the Council and its various committees is agreed at the Annual Meeting every year. The 2023/24 committee membership was agreed on 15th May 2023 and can be found in the minutes of the 2023 Annual Meeting here | |
| Contact details for Parish Clerk and Council members (named contacts where possible with telephone number and email address (if used)) | This information is available on the Council's website: http://peterlee.parish.durham.gov.uk/councillors/ | |
| Location of main Council office and accessibility details | Our main council office is at: Shotton Hall Old Shotton Peterlee County Durham SR8 2PH You can find us on googlemaps here: https://goo.gl/maps/7rVfio9h6qw | |
| Staffing structure | you can view our current staffing structure here. | |
| Class 2 – What we spend and how we spend it | We disclose all expenditure over £500 here: | |
| Annual return form and report by auditor | 2013/4 annual return form: click here 2014/5 annual return form here 2015/6 annual return here 2016/17 Annual Return form here 2017/18 Annual return form here 2018/19 annual return form and report is available here. 2019/20 audited annual return form and report is available here The 2020/21 Audited Annual Return is available here The 2021/22 audited Annual Return form including the external auditor's report can be found here The unaudited 2022/23 Annual Return form can be found here The audited 2022/23 Annual Return form can be found here 2013/4 external auditor report: click here 2014/15 external auditor notice herehere 2015/16 external auditor notice here 2016/17 external auditor notice here. External auditor notice 2017/18 here. External auditor notice 2018/19 here. External auditor notice 2019/20 here. External auditor completion notice 2021/22 here. External auditor completion notice 2022/23 here. | |
| Finalised budget | 2023/24 financial year budget was approved by Council in February 2023. The budget report and detailed appendices are available here | |
| Precept | The precept for the current financial year (2023/4) is £1,570,995.84 This equates to £336.82 per band D household in Peterlee. This is a 10.5% increase in Band D precept from the previous financial year. | |
| Standing Orders and Financial Regulations | The Councils Standing Orders, Financial Regulations, Scheme of Delegation and a range of other policy document can be found here. | |
| Grants given and received | Grants are approved by our Resources Committee. You can view the minutes of the committee meetings here: | |
| List of current contracts awarded and value of contract | We keep a record of contracts >£5,000 awarded here: http://peterlee.parish.durham.gov.uk/?page_id=1194&preview=true | |
| Members’ allowances and expenses | Our Town Councillors receive an annual allowance of £1,206.84 Our Councillors don't tend to make expenses claims, for the 2022/3 financial year there were no claims above £500 | |
| Class 4 – How we make decisions | ||
| Timetable of meetings (Council and any committee/sub-committee meetings and parish meetings) | You can find a timetable of our Council and Committee meetings here: here | |
| Agendas & Minutes of meetings | The Town Council has a statutory duty to keep a hard copy of signed minutes from our official Council meetings and these are available for public inspection at the Council's main offices by prior appointment. The Town Council also publishes meeting agendas and minutes of meetings on our website here: here In some cases of older/archived meetings the hard copy of minutes may not yet have been scanned and made available on this website. If you have any difficulties in accessing minutes via the website please contact the Democratic Services Team on 0191 5862491 or council@peterlee.gov.uk | |
| Reports presented to council meetings – n.b. this will exclude information that is properly regarded as private to the meeting. | Some reports are included with agendas on the website. If you can't find a particular report please contact the Deputy Town Clerk deputy@peterlee.gov.uk or phone 01915862491 | |
| Class 5 – Our policies and procedures | ||
| Policies and procedures for the conduct of council business: | ||
| Procedural standing orders | You can access our main policies and procedures including Standing Orders on the Council's website or by contacting our main office and requesting a hard copy https://www.peterlee.gov.uk/policies/ 0191 5862491 council@peterlee.gov.uk | |
| Committee and sub-committee terms of reference | These are available on request from the Deputy Town Clerk. Please phone 0191 5862491 or email deputy@peterlee.gov.uk | |
| Delegated authority in respect of officers | Scheme of Delegation | |
| Code of Conduct | You can access our main policies and procedures including the Members' Code of Conduct on the Council's website or by contacting our main office and requesting a hard copy https://www.peterlee.gov.uk/policies/ 0191 5862491 council@peterlee.gov.uk | |
| Policy statements | ||
| Policies and procedures for the provision of services and about the employment of staff: | ||
| Recruitment policies (including current vacancies) | ||
| Complaints procedures (including those covering requests for information and operating the publication scheme) | You can access our main policies and procedures including our Complaints Procedure on the Council's website or by contacting our main office and requesting a hard copy https://www.peterlee.gov.uk/policies/ 0191 5862491 council@peterlee.gov.uk | |
| Data protection policies | Our General Data Privacy Notice is available here. | |
| Schedule of charges (for the publication of information) | ||
| Class 6 – Lists and Registers | (hard copy or website; some information may only be available by inspection) | |
| Assets register | You can find a copy of the latest version of the Council's asset register here | |
| Disclosure log ( indicating the information that has been provided in response to requests; recommended as good practice, but may not be held by parish councils) | The Town Council's disclosure log can be viewed here. | |
| Register of members’ interests | The register of members' interests is maintained by the Monitoring Officer at Durham County Council. You can view the register here. | |
| Class 7 – The services we offer | ||
| Allotments | We have two leisure gardens sites in Peterlee. You can find out more about them here. | |
| Burial grounds and closed churchyards | Peterlee Town Council manages the town cemetery at Eden Lane. You can find out more about our cemetery and burial services here. | |
| Community centres and village halls | The Town Council manages The Pavilion Sports & Community Centre on Helford Road. You can find out more about The Pavilion here. | |
| Parks, playing fields and recreational facilities | The Town Council manages a range of parks, play areas and other open spaces in Peterlee. You can find out more about them here. | |
| Agency agreements | ||
| Services for which the council is entitled to recover a fee, together with those fees (e.g. burial fees) | A schedule of our fees and charges can be viewed here |