Think you can help with short-term clerking? Then read on...
DAPTC often receive requests for urgent, short-term help with clerking at parish and town councils - in other words, locum clerking. A locum clerk is someone who steps in to support a council through a period when they have no permanent clerk or where the incumbent clerk needs short-term help. This might be due to sickness, maternity leave, vacancies, helping with workload or a combination of factors. The work varies from council to council, as do the hours and the duration of support.
DAPTC is establishing a register of people available for locum opportunities so that, when we receive a request for help, we can link councils with suitable candidates. We would seek to ensure there is a broad match between a council’s needs and a clerk’s skills/experience/availability and put you in touch with each other. Whether a clerk meets the needs of a council will be for the council to decide after direct discussions and/or interview.
It’s difficult to give clear information about pay and rewards for a locum role, as this would be between clerk and council. When we're notified of a need for a locum clerk, however, we will request details of the outgoing/current clerk's pay and rewards and the council's expenses policy. This information will be passed to clerks on our register and provide a starting point for negotiation. We will advise councils of the need to be flexible in negotiating and that urgency and other circumstances may mean paying at a higher point on the salary scale.
Providing locum support can be very satisfying and rewarding as you’ll know you’ve helped a council at a time it needs it most. It also provides a flexible opportunity for additional income that suits experience and other commitments and helps develop skills for adding to a CV. Ideally, clerks will be CiLCA-qualified with some experience.
Clerks wishing to be added to the register should email a CV and details of general availability to
If you have any queries about locum roles, contact Will Austin,
