PRESS RELEASE: Who is your clerk? Local Council Clerk Week
Published: 06 July 2023
This is the person who works with your councillors to make sure that Sevenoaks Town Council provides the services you need in your local neighbourhood. Linda is responsible for all governance matters including the council meetings to which you are invited and is trained and qualified, with many years of experience in a range of disciplines to make sure the council runs properly and within the law. Also, the role includes operating a £2m turnover council and all that this entails, working with your local MP, liaising with the district and county council about changes to speed limits, car parking charges and potholes, obtaining for funding grants and project managing local projects, researching complex planning issues, running the council’s finances and managing community buildings, facilities and events. Council Clerks are normally well known in the local community and often the facilitator to assist voluntary groups succeed with their projects. They are good in a crisis too as seen when they helped to coordinate community efforts during the pandemic.
Clerks are professionals and serve around 10,000 local councils in England and Wales. These councils emerged in 1894 to give a democratic voice to local people and they’ve changed enormously in that time, particularly during the last 20 – 30 years. They are real place shapers and, today, many manage and maintain parks, sports facilities, skateparks and recreation grounds, play areas, allotments, community and youth centres, car parks, public toilets, cemeteries, street cleaning, run events and much more. Most of all clerks and councillors are advocates, the voice for their communities.
Clerks are celebrated in other countries and Local Council Clerk Week aims to help raise the profile of this important profession here and explain the work clerks do on behalf of town, parish and community councils.
For more information about the functions and facilities provided by Sevenoaks Town Council please see www.sevenoakstown.gov.uk and or the back page of your Town Crier magazine delivered to your home.
Linda Larter MBE, BA (Hons), FSLCC Professional Biography
Linda Larter has been a Clerk for over 30 years working with councils varying in population sizes from 250 to 70,000 plus, including two newly created councils and is currently Chief Executive / Town Clerk for Sevenoaks Town Council.
Linda has a Local Policy degree and is a Fellow of the Society of Local Council Clerks.
In 2000 the Millennium Commission nominated Linda for an MBE for a Community Centre project.
Linda was also President of the Society of Local Council Clerks for two years and in 2022, was elected to a Board Director. In 2023 Linda was elected as a Board Director to IIMC, International Institute of Municipal Clerks representing Clerks worldwide.
Recently she has been heavily involved in the joint NALC / SLCC / OVW Civility & Respect Project and acting as one of its ambassadors.