Penistone Parish Wards

Penistone Town Council
Penistone Parish Wards are set in stone through an HM Government Order: 'The Borough of Barnsley (Electoral Changes) Order 2003' passed by Parliament to allocate the number of councillors required to represent each Penistone Parish Ward serving on Penistone Town Council (PTC). Fifteen council members are distributed around the four Parish Wards with a term of office of four years.

HM Government Order:
'The number of councillors to be elected for the parish ward of Penistone shall be six, for the parish ward of Cubley and Spring Vale shall be four, for the parish ward of Thurlstone and Millhouse shall be three, and for the parish ward of Hoylandswaine shall be two.'

Where there are more nominations than places, an election is called. Where there are no more than the required number of candidates for a parish ward, that ward is 'Uncontested' and no election is required, with the sitting councillor staying in place.

• Until 1974, Penistone was under the West Riding County Council (WRCC) based in Wakefield.
• Penistone Town Council was formed after the 1974 demise of Penistone Urban District Council, as a 'successor council.'
• The Local Government Act 1972 (enacted 1974, see Wiki), led to 'Local Government Reorganisation' and a seizure by BMBC of Penistone's assets.
• Penistone has a Mayor (not 'Lord Mayor' as you find in a city) and a Deputy Mayor chosen in the Annual (publicly observed) council meeting.
• The current Mayor by tradition serves as Chair of PTC general meetings and can sit ex-officio on all PTC sub-committees.

Eligibility
For general guidance about Parish/Town Council membership, please see the Electoral Commission's Guidance for Candidates or Agents.
In particular, to be able to stand as a candidate in a Parish/Town council election, you must (Pt. 1, pdf):

• Be at least 18 years old,
• Be a British citizen, an eligible Commonwealth citizen or a citizen of any member state of the European Union,
• And meet at least one of the following four qualifications:
  • a. You are, and will continue to be, registered as a local government elector for the parish in which you wish to stand from the day of your nomination onwards.
  • b. You have occupied as owner or tenant any land or other premises in the parish area during the whole of the 12 months before the day of your nomination and the day of election.
  • c. Your main or only place of work during the 12 months prior to the day of your nomination and the day of election has been in the parish area.
  • d. You have lived in the parish area or within three miles of it during the whole of the 12 months before the day of your nomination and the day of election.

The Parish Wards of Penistone
The current list of councillors 2023, following the 4th May 2023 Election.

Elections, 4th May 2023
Given the radical change of PTC membership from this ballot, with only four previous members being re-elected, and an undercurrent of public dislike for the Conservative Government, it looked as though voting was influenced by national politics more than usual. At local level, it should be the person, not the politics. The BMBC Elections were on the same day.

With change of line-up, the Mayor-elect for 2023, Cllr Barraclough could not become Mayor of Penistone after failing to be re-elected. Similarly, the retiring Mayor Cllr Shiggins also failed to be re-elected and could not become Vice-chair. As a Mayor, Cllr Shiggins had performed his public duties well. The Annual PTC Meeting of 22nd May 2023 which decided the make-up of each sub-committee had to start from scratch. On top of this, the Town Clerk Nigel Bailey had been new to the job this year was presented with a great deal of unfamiliar work.

Interesting New Members
Frances Nixon replaced the redoubtable Joe Unsworth who had given decades of service but retired from council work. Another who gave many years of service and retired was Roger Hinchliff, on the Conservative side. Another newbie was Lisa Cork, a well-known and professional accountant who was until recently had worked in the RBL office. Lisa is a no-nonsense and efficient sort of person and not a rule-breaker. Another interesting newbie is Rob Blackshaw, a veteran of the Royal Navy and Director of 'Penistone TriServices CIC' which runs Penistone Armed Forces Day. The next AFD is due in June 2024. Mandy Lowe-Flello is well-known as a Lib-dem activist and former community liaison officer for Penistone Tesco.

PTC has had no members serving also on Barnsley Council for a few years but the new intake includes two well-known BMBC councillors, Cllr Hannah Kitching and Cllr David Greenhough, which ought to help improve communications between PTC and BMBC.

Casual Vacancy, November 2022
Following the departure of Cllr Wood, a new vacancy occurred in 2022 for the Penistone Ward. The Agenda for the December PTC meeting carried the names of the applicants for discussion. These were listed as: Andrew Crawford, Roy Garratt, Ruth Pearson and John Roberts. Another 'off the grid' arrangement. Ruth Pearson gained the position.

Casual Vacancy, March 2021
A vacancy arose in March 2021 to represent Cubley and Spring Vale, following the departure of Cllr Carol Bradbury. This was during the Covid-19 pandemic period and many normal processes were disrupted. The statutory notice of vacancy (i.e. required by law) did not appear in a timely fashion. PTC's new Co-options Policy (revised March 2021) covered the protocols for 'Casual Vacancies', although still subject to the legislated national law:

Electoral services at the Principal Authority to be informed of the vacancy; 14 days-notice to electors to call a poll must be provided. (etc.) - and -
1. A notice is erected in a conspicuous place in the Town inviting people who are interested in being a town councillor to write to the council/complete an application.

In May 2021, and after a prolonged delay, the public was eventually invited to apply to be considered for co-option:

The council can now fill the vacancy by co-option, which is a process whereby the council considers applications from interested persons and can then select someone to fill the seat.

When the notice finally did appear, at first online only, the usual option for candidates to 'Claim a Poll' was not included (people don't usually claim a poll but they must have that right). Unfortunately, a poll costs money. PTC went 'off the grid' again. On Wednesday 7th July 2021, a Co-option meeting was held in private at the Community Centre with no public notification whatsoever. As a workaround, the candidates were again classed as 'the public' with the 'real public and press' excluded. From Co-option Minutes (pdf, uploaded 20th July), we discover that there were three unidentified applicants. Someone, somewhere made the un-minuted decision that it would be 'Prejudicial to the public interest' for the public and press to observe the meeting.

As an interesting aside , the Mayor's Report of 28th April 2021 Annual Assembly referred to: '... a review of the council processes as part of our plan to achieve a Quality Council status, to ensure we become more transparent in our function.' We shall see.

Two Co-options, March 2021
The co-option meeting was held on 1st March 2021. Two 'Casual Vacancies' had appeared for the Hoylandswaine parish ward at the end of 2020. During the Covid-19 pandemic when meetings were being held online and possibly because of technical issues, Cllr Steve Marsh had missed a number of meetings and lost his seat. The Mayor Cllr Steve Webber had also left the council in November 2020 to relocate to Greece.

The two Hoylandswaine vacancies were advertised on PTC noticeboards in January 2021, but only for consideration by co-option. The deadline for candidates was 28th January 2021. No mention of an election. You can find the Co-option Minutes at PTC.

A March 2021 co-option was held in private, with the three candidates described as 'Three members of the public' but, given that the meeting was in private and invitation-only, that was an erroneous description. They were 'candidates' as the real members of the public and press could not attend because they were not invited to attend.

Minutes of the Ordinary Town Council Co-Option Meeting held remotely on Monday 1st March 2021 at 7.00 p.m.
Present: The Mayor, Cllr A Millner in the Chair, Deputy Mayor Cllr G Millner and Councillors: Barraclough, Bradbury, Chadburn, Cutts, Perkins, Rusby, Wood and Unsworth. Also present T. Ball, Town Clerk,

Three 'members of the public' were present who were candidates for the meeting ...

Another absurdity was that, by being described as 'Three members of the public' instead of what they actually were - candidates, they were not named in Minutes. Usually, the names of candidates for any position in public life are expected (and probably required by law) to be made public, as that gives the public the opportunity to object to an unsuitable candidate. Something wrong there and it is hardly a GDPR issue. That is very insulting to a democratic process.

But the rules state in black and white that they allow the Press and Public to attend as, at some point in the proceedings, 'press and public' should be 'recalled to the meeting.' From that line we can reasonably infer that 'press and public' are already there and not excluded. Now this is where PTC ties itself in knots because 'public and press' are in reality being excluded (or at least the press, if we accept that candidates are sole representatives of 'the public'). Inconsistent at least and damaging to public confidence in procedure.

5. The council will request all those submitting an application to attend a town council meeting and provide a short five-minute presentation as to their suitability as a town councillor, prior to resolving to co-opt the most suitable candidate. At this stage of the co-option process, where candidates speak in the meeting this is not prejudicial to the public interest, however where the council is discussing the merits of candidates and inevitably their personal attributes etc, this could be prejudicial and so for this part of the process, the council will exclude members of the press and public. Once this discussion is concluded, members of the press and public should be recalled to the meeting.

As a co-option meeting is supposed to be one of those fundamentally democratic processes, to choose representation of the public, it could be argued that it is definitely 'prejudicial to the public interest' to exclude that same public from observing the proceedings. Is that not obvious? Also, does a private selection create a category of councillor who might be, in the public perception, not as legitimate as one openly elected by the people?

In the end, the Hoylandswaine vacancies were filled by Neville Shiggins and David Walker, who are no doubt good choices. The other candidate remained anonymous.
See the 2014 Co-option below concerning when a PTC Co-option Meeting was last held in public.

May 2019 Election Notes
PTC Election, 2nd May 2019. Details of the Penistone Town Parish Ward election from BMBC website. Other wards were uncontested but now have some new members. Figures in brackets are for those who were unopposed.

The Notice of Election reverted to the legal distribution of councillors in each parish ward. Penistone Town ward was the only one with more candidates than seats and requiring an election, the others being 'Uncontested.' Thurlstone and Millhouse Green Parish Ward was short of a candidate, a vacancy which is likely to be filled through co-option.

Notes:

• Newly-elected for 2019: Richard Trotman, David Wood, Carol Bradbury, Nicholas Perkins and Michael Barraclough. Carol Bradbury had served before as Mayor.
• Lost, following the 2019 elections: Wayne Chadburn, Jill Hayler, Brenda Hinchliff, Graham Saunders and Paul Hand-Davies. Many thanks to all.
• Other ballots held on the same say, 2nd May 2019, were the Oxspring NDP Referendum and the BMBC elections.
• A Co-option Meeting was held on 29th May 2019 to fill the Thurlstone and Millhouse Green vacancy. This was conducted in private with no public notification.
• Of two candidates, Wayne Chadburn was chosen. Minutes od the co-option meeting appended to Annual PTC minutes of 20th May 2019.

Council Vacancy, April 2018
This arose because Councillor Michael Thomas Ogle (Cubley and Spring Vale Parish Ward) had been absent from six or more PTC meetings. From the PTC Meeting of Monday 19th March 2018, Minutes :

'The Town Clerk also stated that Cllr. Ogle had also not attended the last six meetings of the Town Council and referred to the Local Government Act 1972 which states that: If a member fails throughout six consecutive months to attend any meetings of the Council or of its Committees or sub-committees of which he is a member, or other body as a representative of the Council, or at a meeting of any body of persons, he ceases automatically to be a member of the Council. Following a brief discussion, it was agreed that the Town Clerk writes to Cllr Ogle explaining the situation and asks him to tender his resignation.'

A note from the Town Clerk, in the same Minutes: The Town Clerk’s office received notification from Cllr Ogle during the Town Council meeting offering his resignation from the Town Council due to business reasons.

PTC Co-option Notes, 5th March 2018
Three people submitted their names for the Thurlstone and Millhouse Green Parish Ward to fill a vacancy which arose in January 2018 upon the resignation of Cllr Jan Stanley. Details of this co-option went back in time and were appended to the earlier 19th Feb 2018 PTC Minutes .

The candidates were: Steve Webber, Michael Barraclough and Hannah Kitching. There being no call for an election, a co-option meeting was arranged at the convenience of the candidates for Monday 5th March 2018, location unknown. The candidates were interviewed individually in alphabetical order and each asked the same questions. It appears that votes were taken for the candidates and, by a clear majority, the former councillor Steve Webber was duly co-opted. He then signed the form of acceptance for the post and made the usual declarations.

The meeting was attended by Councillors R Hinchliff (Mayor), Mrs B Hinchliff, J Hayler, G Saunders, A Kimberley, J Unsworth, S Marsh, P Hand-Davis, W Chadburn, A Millner, Mrs G Millner and J Cutts. Whilst their choice of candidate may well have been the right one and appears to have been conducted in a proper way, where co-options are concerned, the council's approach to transparency is often questionable.

Unlike the 2014 co-option where the public and press were invited to attend and scrutinise the process (see below), this one was held in private with no public notification. Council meetings are normally announced on PTC noticeboards. Given the rigour which applies to normal elections (and the penalties for non-compliance, such as fines or even jail), it is surprising and unsettling that the same standard of openness and transparency is not automatically applied to Casual Vacancies, and without hesitation. This tells us something about the corporate mindset, rather than any individual councillor.

As a general rule, residents have a legal right to attend and observe all council meetings (with certain, well-defined exclusions). This right of access was brought into UK law through a Private Member's Bill in 1960, and introduced by a certain Mrs M Thatcher. It is a right which is readily acknowledged by the council, yet resolutely denied to the public by the simple expedient of keeping the meeting schedules on a 'need-to-know' basis.

Beyond the requirements of UK Law, there is no technical obstruction to uploading plans, meetings calendars or other useful documents, as they are already stored digitally on the office computers. They could very easily be published on the PTC website for the convenience of all.

Election Notes, 7th May 2015
Election Day had a General Election, PTC and BMBC elections all on the same day, Thursday 7th May 2015. Of the Penistone parishes, only the Thurlstone Parish Ward was contested. Some names had also changed in the uncontested Parish Wards. For Thurlstone and Millhouse, three candidates needed to be selected from the four. It was a close-run battle with only 162 votes between the highest and lowest. Source BMBC - Parish Wards.

The following were uncontested and correctly deemed 'Duly Elected':

2015 Notes
Wayne Chadburn also went under the flag of 'Yorkshire First.'
See BMBC's 'Current Elections'. and 2015 Parish Elections.

Public Co-Option, 1st September 2014
A rare event in public. The vacancy had been created by the passing of Cllr Peter Starling. In this case, the casual vacancy was filled in an unusually open and publicly-observed Co-option Meeting. This followed an article in the Barnsley Chronicle (1st Aug 2014) referring to there being 'little interest' in filling the little-known PTC vacancy. A prospective candidate raised a storm in the newspaper by claiming to have put his name forward and been disregarded.

With a new-found zeal for public accountability (or perhaps because of the scathing press criticism about its traditionally opaque co-option procedures), PTC hastily called the co-option meeting and invited the public and press to observe. This was successfully conducted under public scrutiny and a vote was taken for each candidate. A member of the public checked that the votes were correctly done. This meeting had been in stark contrast to the 'confidential' approach of the January 2014 co-option (see below) and the later co-options following this one which were all held in private.

The three 2014 candidates were Rita Dyson, Jeanette Edwards and Kevin Steel. There had originally been four but David Wood rescinded his application because of family and business commitments. He stated an intention to re-apply in the May 2015 election when all fifteen seats would come up for election (he did not). In attendance were: Councillors Pilkington, Hand-Davis, Barron, Beever, Hinchliff and Mrs Hinchliff, Webber and Mrs Webber, Millner, Marsh (Chairman and Mayor), Rusby, Unsworth and Cutts (Deputy Mayor). Also BMBC's Deputy Elections Officer, Jane Owen, observed the process and Town Clerk Keith Coulton officiated.

The Selection Process
Each candidate presented themselves and their reasons for wishing to join Penistone Town Council. Their replies are summarised briefly below. They were each given the same 'set question', which was: "From your point of view, what do you think will be the most crucial issue that Penistone Town Council needs to address in the coming twelve months?"

• Rita Dyson
  Wife of the late Cllr Peter Starling, civil servant in Barnsley (legal matters), knowledgeable about PTC activities and procedures and understands the need for discretion and confidentiality. Would be honoured to work with PTC and serve the people of Penistone. To the set question: Problems of the parties working together for what is best for the town and its people, the housing shortage, the schools and planning,
• Jeanette Edwards
  Chair of the Penistone West Crime and Safety Committee and chairs the evening PACT meetings. Passionate about Penistone but concerned about problems such as parking enforcement and the unfinished ramp to St John's school causing difficulties for the children. To the set question: Parking enforcement is not up to promised standards and general matters such as dog fouling and littering.
• Kevin Steel
  Lives near where large-scale housing developments are proposed. Governor at St John's, in business as marketing and development consultant, PR and knowledge of social media, involved with inward investments for Penistone. Interested in using Localism to empower Penistone people. To the set question: Increasing housing demand threatens Penistone's traditional rural values and the town can't stand the BMBC-proposed level of extensive development.

The successor was Kevin Steel with eight votes. Rita had three votes and Jeanette two votes. Thirteen votes were cast in total, one from each councillor (Cllr Rob Chapman was absent). A member of the public was asked to scrutinise the count to ensure fair play. Kevin signed the declaration of Acceptance of Office at the event and Ed Elliott of the Barnsley Chronicle took notes.

PTC Co-option, January 2014
This vacancy arose following the resignation of Councillor Donna Green in December 2013. A public notice calling for nominations was properly exhibited on the PTC noticeboard but not on the PTC website. At a general meeting, a small Co-option sub-committee was set up instead of the more usual full council. The selection process was declared 'confidential' and its processes kept private.

This led to questions on social media and elsewhere about its impartiality, which might have had an effect on the co-option which followed in September 2014. One observer was heard to utter "Unbelievable!" upon leaving the Council meeting where this unusual process with minimal oversight by the councillors had been agreed by the full council.

The Applicants:
The candidates were named at the PTC meeting of 20th Jan. 2014 and publicised in the Barnsley Chronicle. Most are well-known in the district.

• Kevin Steel - (Twitter) Barnsley Business & Innovation Centre. Active on local planning issues, etc.
• Jeanette Margaret Elizabeth Edwards - Chair of Penistone West Crime & Safety Sub-Group.
• Karen Watkins - (Facebook) Former PTC councillor, Sewing and Craft Tutor and a 'Penistone Marketeer.'
• Wayne Chadburn - (Website, Twitter) Mathematics teacher and blogster.
• William John Anderson - Possibly the retired ex-head of Dronfield Junior School.

As none of them had requested an election (which would have been their right, with the support of at least 10 residents), the matter went to co-option and PTC could choose any person who fitted the legalities (not been bankrupt or a criminal, etc.), which are same conditions for anyone seeking to be elected.

Five candidates applied for and were proposed and seconded for this vacancy. However, none of them were selected. The chosen councillor was someone of good standing but who was not one of the five candidates who had applied for co-option. As the principal source of information (not prominent anywhere else), the Barnsley Chronicle announced the new councillor as Mr Gordon Beever of HoylandSwaine. The public were suspicious about the selection process. Some suggested that this co-option had not been done correctly or in the spirit of openness and transparency.

Mr G Beever is the well-known and respected Chairman of Penistone Church Football Club, former Director of the (dissolved) Gordon Beever Developments LLP, Ingbirchworth and other building companies. Also a Director of JCLG Ltd., Halifax Rd., Penistone. Whilde the actual co-option process might in this case appear to be of a secretive and suspicious nature, no blame or other aspertions are put upon the person selected.

Casual Vacancies in General
Electoral services at the Principal Authority are to be informed of any Casual Vacancy and 14 days notice for electors to call a poll must be provided. The gist is that if there are more candidates than vacancies, an election can legally be called with the right support. Co-option is not automatic but the process to follow where an election has not been called. In general, in the event of a 'Casual Vacancy' occurring in the office of a Parish (or Town) Councillor, public notice must be given by the council in accordance with Section 87(2) of the Local Government Act 1972.

Where the council declares the vacancy in accordance with Section 86 of the 1972 Act (ie. through the disqualification or non-attendance of a member) the vacancy must be advertised immediately. In other cases, the public notice must be given as soon as practical after the vacancy has occurred. (There might be some variations employed and the timings adjusted by public holidays, weekends, etc., but these are the rules in outline).

From the NALC's Good Councillor Guide (page 11 ): 'Co-option: the council chooses someone to fill a vacancy if insufficient candidates are proposed for seats at an election. An ordinary election occurs every four years but there may be an election when a seat falls vacant at other times. In addition, if a vacancy occurs between elections (for example, by the resignation of a councillor), the council must generally find out if the electors want an election before they can co-opt. It is better for democracy if councillors are elected rather than relying on co-option, so they can be confident that the council is the community’s choice of representatives.'

Election
In brief, publication of the 'Notice of Casual Vacancy' starts the process which allows ten electors of the parish to request that an election be held to fill the vacancy. There is no set form of words for this request, which might simply be a letter headed with such words as 'We the undersigned being electors for the ……..… Parish, call for an election to fill the vacancy arising from the [death][resignation] of ... ' It is helpful if the ten signatures are accompanied by printed names, addresses and electoral numbers from the current electoral register.

Co-option
Assuming there is no call for a bye-election following the notice of a vacancy, the council can fill the vacancy by co-option. Following receipt of applications, the next suitable council meeting will have an Agenda item 'To receive written applications for the office of Town Councillor and to co-opt a candidate to fill the existing vacancy'.

The council will request all those submitting an application to attend a town council meeting and provide a short five-minute presentation as to their suitability as a town councillor, prior to resolving to co-opt the most suitable candidate. Public and Press must leave the room during the consideration phase of the Co-option Meeting. 'The councillors will vote in the normal way, ie. Proposer, Seconder and vote by show of hands. This part of the process is not 'prejudicial to the public interest' and the public (including candidates) should be present for it.'

Please note that PTC's Co-option Meetings (Co-options 2021) are described in terms of their being public meetings, a principle which has often been disregarded by the council. See also the quote at the bottom of this page.

Qualification of Council Members and Elected Mayors
In order to be eligible, the candidate must:

• be 18 years old or over; and -
• is an Elector for the parish;
• or has resided in the parish for the past twelve months
• or has rented/tenanted land in the parish;
• or had his/her principal place of work in the parish;
• or has lived within three miles (direct) of the parish
• and is not disqualified from being a councillor by virtue of section 80 of the Local Government Act 1972.

Under section 80 of the Local Government Act 1972, a person is disqualified from standing as a candidate or being a member of a local authority (in our case, either PTC or BMBC), if they:

• Are employed by that local authority;
• Are employed by a company which is under the control of the local authority;
• Are subject to bankruptcy orders;
• Have, within five years before being elected, or at any time since being elected, been convicted in the UK, Channel Islands or Isle of Man of any offence and have received a sentence of imprisonment (suspended or not) for a period of not less than three months without the option of a fine;
• Are disqualified under Part III of the 'Representation of the People Act 1983';

Declaration of Acceptance
All Councillors (whether elected or co-opted) must complete a ‘Declaration of Acceptance of Office’ form, which confirms that the Councillor is taking up office, and that they agree to abide by the Council’s ‘Code of Conduct’ which can be found on the PTC website.

Declaration of Pecuniary Interests
All Councillors (both elected and co-opted) must complete a ‘Register of Interests’ form to give details about any property/land they own in the Parish area, any financial interests, and any other bodies that they belong to/carry out work for, in order to reveal any matters that they have an interest in, should the Council be called upon to make a decision in that area.

A Parish/Town Council is a corporate body and, as such, is subject to Judicial Review if the correct procedures are not followed. It is a criminal offence if a member or co-opted member fails, without reasonable excuse, to comply with the requirements to register or declare disclosable pecuniary interests. It is also a criminal offence to take part in council business at meetings, or act alone on behalf of the council, when prevented from doing so by a conflict caused by disclosable pecuniary interests. This applies only to pecuniary interests, not to any breaches of the other elements of a Code of Conduct. Either offence is punishable by a fine not exceeding level 5 (currently an unlimited amount), and an order disqualifying the person from being a member of a relevant authority for up to five years (see HMG Explanatory Note ).

PTC's current Register of Interests is incomplete but its entries are mostly the same as BMBC's Register of Interests (Parish Councillors).

Term of Office
Parish and Town Councillors hold office for four years. When scheduled elections are held (usually the first Thursday in May every four years), the terms of all the existing Councillors end on the fourth day after the day of the election, at which time the newly-elected councillors will succeed them (provided they have made their Declarations of Acceptance of office).

One exception is that the Chairman of a parish or town council continues in office until his or her successor is appointed. This applies even if he or she is not re-elected or does not stand for re-election. The Vice-Chairman also continues until after the new Chairman is elected. Existing Councillors may put themselves forward for re-election but they will not be able to serve a further term unless they have been properly nominated as candidates and are subsequently elected.

During the four-year term of a Council, if one of the Councillors fails to attend meetings for a period of six months, or resigns, dies, ceases to be qualified or is disqualified, a ‘Casual Vacancy’ occurs and a 'Notice of Vacancy' will be displayed in a central and prominent location. Usually the press is notified. Apart from the time limit for requesting an election to fill a casual vacancy, such a request needs to be made by ten electors for the area concerned (if the parish or town is warded, that means ten electors from the ward in which the vacancy has arisen). The request must be signed by each of the ten electors and delivered to the Returning Officer at Barnsley Council.

Links
Some interesting references.

• Penistone Town Council - With a wealth of interesting information.
• PTC Policy Documents - Their co-option procedure document has been updated.
• 'Governance in Penistone' - A tidier and more succinct look at PTC by Wayne Chadburn.
• Penistone Community-led Plan - Also viewable as a booklet in Penistone Library. This predates the NDP.
• Penistone NDP - Penistone Neighbourhood Development Plan (NDP).
• Parish Elections - HMG legislation, 'The Local Elections (Parishes and Communities) (England and Wales) Rules 2006.' (Notes, )

• Parish/Town Elections - Prospective candidates might like to read this page from the Electoral Commission
• 'Can You Stand for Election' - Lists the eligibility and disqualification critera for candidates.
• 'The Good Councillor's Guide on Finance and Transparency' - The 2017 version from the 'National Association of Local Councils' (NALC).
• 'Standards Matter' - These are 'The Nolan Principles.' (The Seven Principles of Public Life) which are binding on every holder of public office and at every level, from Parish to Parliament.

There are currently two Registers of Interests for PTC councillors, as outlined in BMBC's Code of Conduct . See also: 'How We Work'. You might notice that BMBC's list is generally older than that of PTC, except for some newer recruits, one of whom is missing from PTC's list.

• BMBC Parish Council Register of Interests: Pecuniary, non-pecuniary interests of Parish/Town Councillors.
• PTC Councillors and Register of Interests: From 2015 it has adopted a similar form to BMBC, requiring full disclosure.

For overseas visitors, you can learn more about UK parish and town councils from the National Association of Local Councils (NALC) and ONS notes, which say: 'Modern Parish Councils can provide facilities such as village halls, war memorials, cemeteries, leisure facilities and playgrounds. They have duties such as maintenance of public footpaths and may also spend money on cultural projects, community transport initiatives and crime-prevention equipment. In addition they must be notified of all planning applications and consulted on the making of certain by-laws.'

Also HMG's 'Understand How Your Council Works' explains more: '(Parish Councils) are elected and can help on a number of local issues, like providing: allotments, public clocks, bus shelters, community centres, play areas and play equipment, grants to help local organisations and consultation on neighbourhood planning. They also have the power to issue fixed penalty fines for things like: litter, graffiti, fly posting and dog offences.'