Introduction
Welcome to the Coxhoe and Quarrington Hill Community Website. It is packed with new and up to date information about the Parish Council and the communities of Coxhoe and Quarrington Hill. The website covers much more than usual council business.
We feel that we are a very ambitious and aspirational council. By working in partnership with people who are committed to our villages we have achieved a massive amount in the last ten years. We want to do even more in the next ten. Our mission is to deliver quality services to Coxhoe and Quarrington Hill.
We are committed to:
- Listening to and responding to the views and needs of local residents and addressing their priorities
- Promoting local democracy
- Proactively working to improve our villages and the well being of our residents
- Working in true partnership to maximise achievement and efficiency in service delivery
- Delivering and improving upon value for money
- Continuous improvement in service delivery
Coxhoe Parish Council’s priorities are those of the communities and are found in the Parish Plan. We believe that if we continue to address the priorities that are set by our communities we will continue to achieve our Council’s mission and values.
The Parish Council Clerk is qualified to CiLCA level (Certificate in Local Council Administration) and the Parish Council took on the General Power of Competence in June 2021, which gave it some extra powers.
We hope you enjoy your visit to our website. and that you find it useful. If you have any comments on it please let us know. Please add it to your favourites to help you revisit it more easily.
What We Do and Where We Are
Coxhoe Parish Council still has its offices at Coxhoe Village Hall, Front Street, Coxhoe. Our Monthly meetings normally take place in the Village Hall. The Elected Members of the Council are largely residents of Coxhoe and Quarrington Hill, who carry out all work on a voluntary basis. While Councillors can claim an allowance they choose not to in the Parish Council in order to serve the community better.
The Parish Council currently has a paid Clerk, who works over 30 hours a week. The Clerk administers the Council, dealing with correspondence and communications as well as the budget for the council. The Clerk is supported by a part time Administration Officer. The council also employs part time Youth Workers as well as Auxiliary Youth Workers. From time to time it employs people or companies on a sub-contract basis for specific tasks i.e. grass cutting, supply and maintenance of the hanging baskets and maintenance of the village clocks which it had fitted to key buildings in the two villages to celebrate the Millennium. The council has an annual budget from income it largely receives from the council tax and this is used to pay for things in the villages regarded by the Councillors as important to the community. The Parish Council services has a precept (the amount of money it raises through the council tax) this year of £137,651 which is a £104.63 charge for a Band D property. For 2022 to 23 the precept agreed is £144,643.88 which is a £107.67 charge for a Band D property and is an increase of three percent or £3.14 from the year before.
The Parish website and our social media accounts were developed and administered by a volunteer. We are grateful to have had access to this voluntary resource.
You should be able to find what you need to know about the Parish Council from our web site. If not please feel free to contact us by phone, post or email.
If you would like to speak directly to the Parish Clerk you can contact them on 07988 283287.
Civility and Respect
We treat everyone with courtesy and respect and ask for the same in return. We ask that you treat your Councillors and Council staff courteously without violence, abuse or harassment.
Councillors and Council staff have the right to carry out their civic duties and work without fear of being attacked or abused. Any behaviour whether that be verbal, physical or in writing, which causes either Councillors or Council staff to feel uncomfortable, embarrassed, or threatened, is totally unacceptable.
The zero tolerance policy includes abuse, aggression or threats made in person, over the telephone or in written communication, including on social media. The council considers threatening behaviour to be:
- Attempted or actual aggressive, or physical actions made towards any Councillor or member of staff.
- The use of aggressive, or abusive language, (including raising of the voice, swearing, shouting or in writing) which threatens or intimidates Councillors or Council staff.
Promoting Democracy
As indicated above, one of our roles as Parish Council is to promote local democracy. That is the reason why our council meetings are open to the public. You might want to get engaged in the work of the Parish Council and a way to do that is to become a local Councillor. We particularly want to promote the engagement in public life or other activities of those persons whose participation may be disproportionately low, perhaps by reason of age, disability, gender assignment, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation.
Equality and Diversity Statement
We want to ensure that everyone using our services is treated fairly and without prejudice or discrimination. We know that all of our customers are different. Our community is becoming more diverse. We want to celebrate and encourage this diversity and foster relationships between different people. We are committed to ensuring that no one is excluded from using our services. We want to ensure that all of our customers have the same opportunities to improve the quality of their lives and secure new life experiences. All customers regardless of disability, age, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation should have equal access to our services yet all have different needs. We recognise this and we will do all we can to meet these.
The Parish Council is fully committed to meeting its responsibilities under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 or Equalities Act 2010 and proving that we have. Should you feel that any of our policies or actions fail to meet our general duties please let us know. We can then consider how we might address any failure and ensure that we minimise or remove completely any disadvantage that may be suffered.
The Parish Council will remove and report any inappropriate text or images posted on its site or on its Coxhoe Parish Council Facebook page or Coxhoe Parish Council Twitter page .
Comments, Compliments and Complaints
Coxhoe Parish Council wants to hear your feedback. Whether you are happy or unhappy with our services or you have any suggestions to how we might improve, we want to here from you. From understanding your views we will learn and get better. If you have a complaint which is not resolved by your contact with the council then you can make a formal complaint. Please view our complaints procedure which you will find on the Important Documents and Policies page.
Adobe Reader
You may need a product like Adobe Reader (free download) to view our PDF documents on our website.