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This section of our website explains how Stratfield Mortimer Parish Council (SMPC) is organised to help Parishoners understand how it runs. It includes information on all aspects of the Council and how Parishoners can get involved with the running of the village.
SMPC is the first tier of Local Government responsible for the Civil Parish of Stratfield Mortimer in West Berkshire. SMPC has fifteen elected Councillors and three part time employees, the Clerk, an Administrative Assistant and a Custodian. Information on the Councillors and employees are available in the sidebar.
The Council is organised into various committees and working parties. Details can be found in the sidebar.
We hold various meetings throughout the year to enable Councillors undertake the majority of their responsibilities. A summary of these is shown below and full details are available from the links in the sidebar and in the details below
The Annual Parish Meeting is a meeting of the people of the Parish. It must be held between 1st March and 1st June each year. Details of the next meeting are in the Calendar. Minutes of previous meetings are in the Minute Archive.
The Guidance Notes on Annual Parish Meetings (opens in new window) is available on our Policies page.
Full Council meetings are held on the second Thursday of each month, except in August and December. They are to allow all of the Councillors to vote on proposals from the Committees and from elsewhere. Details of the next meeting are in the Calendar. Minutes of previous meetings are in the Minute Archive.
The Agenda for full Parish Council meetings, showing the business to be discussed, are displayed on the two Parish Council Notice Boards (one outside the Library entrance and one outside The Baobab) at least three days before the meeting. The current agenda is also available on the Calendar and Committee page the same timescale.
Members of the public can briefly address the Council during the Public Session in respect to business on the agenda. This Public Session will be for a maximum of 10 minutes, at the discretion of the chairman. An individual member of the public should not speak for more than 3 minutes and questions shall not require a response at the meeting, nor start a debate on the question. The chairman of the meeting may direct that a written or oral response be given.
Any such discussion will form part of the formal proceedings of the Parish Council and will, therefore, be included in the Council's official minutes. Any resultant follow-up action will be dealt with separately.
Should their presence be prejudicial to the public interest by reason of the confidential nature of the business to be transacted or for other special reasons, the public’s exclusion from part or all of a meeting shall be by a resolution which gives reasons for the public’s exclusion.
The Council is organised into various committees to undertake the bulk of business by the Councillors. Full details of the current committees are available from the Committees subsection. This includes current members, future meeting schedules as well as previous minutes for each specific committee. Details of the next meeting are also in the Calendar. Minutes of previous meetings are also in the Minute Archive.
The Council strives to meet all recommended codes for transparency. Some are required by law and some are recommended good practice. Our Transparency Code page has an overview of how we meet the legislation along with links to all the current information.
