08/06/2026
Celebrating Local Council Clerk Week 8-12 June
Local councils (parish, town and community councils) have been part of the fabric of local life since 1894. The Society of Local Council Clerks says “they are dynamic, community-led bodies working at local level - often where national policy meets real life” and “are part of the bedrock of neighbourhood governance.”
Everything Odiham Parish Council does is for the benefit of the local community. It acts as a local voice on planning matters, supports local voluntary partnerships and campaigns for change. The Council protects local assets and services with specific responsibility for The Bridewell, local play areas, open spaces, Hook Road allotments, King Street public toilets, Odiham Cemetery, benches, and Odiham War Memorial. Odiham Parish Council also leads on civic events and gets involved in community celebrations, such as the Kings Coronation Street Party in 2024 and the Freedom of the Parish to RAF Odiham celebrations.
In England and Wales, parish and town council clerks are the trained professionals who enable this work: advising councillors, guiding decision-making, ensuring transparency, and supporting councils to meet their legal duties while staying focused on the needs of local people. In practice, this involves a wide range of different responsibilities, skills and areas of interest.
Andrea Mann, Odiham Parish Council’s Parish Clerk, says “I take pride in a role which is both enjoyable and rewarding. Every day brings new challenges and opportunities, meaning no two days are the same. There’s so much a local council can do when the dynamics between the community, councillors and staff work well.
With the establishment of new unitary authorities in Hampshire, Odiham Parish Council’s role will be more important than ever during the next few years of change.
I would like to see more young people considering a career in clerking. The profession is supported by a professional body https://www.slcc.co.uk/ and, I can assure you, anyone choosing the role as a career will never get bored!”
Rob Smith, Chief Executive of the Society of Local Council Clerks (SLCC), said “Here’s the truth: when a community pulls off something brilliant - revives a hall, opens a play space, protects a green, secures a grant, brings people together - there’s almost always a clerk in the engine room making it happen. Clerks are the lynchpins of around 10,000 local councils across England and Wales. They’re not ‘just admin’. They’re the people who keep decisions legal, money accountable, meetings fair, and local democracy real.”
https://youtu.be/uvA3u44JCQw
Ever wondered who decides where the new skatepark goes, or why your...
