Policy, Resources & Communications Committee

Agenda

HASSOCKS PARISH COUNCIL

To:      All Members of the Policy Resources & Communications Committee: Frances Gaudencio, Ian Weir, Maria Angelaki-King, David Bunting, Lesley Cruickshank-Robb, Don McBeth, Paul Shepherd with copies to all other Councillors for information.

A meeting of the POLICY RESOURCES & COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE on Wednesday 22 July 2026 at 7.30pm in the Council Chamber, Parish Centre, Adastra Park, Hassocks

Parish Clerk 16 July 2026

Members of the public are encouraged to come to the meetings and there is an opportunity for them to address the Council relating to the non-confidential items on the published agenda. A period of 15 minutes will be set aside in item 4 Public participation. It may be necessary to consider particular items in confidential session and where this arises, these items will be considered at the end of the agenda.

1. TO ACCEPT APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

2. TO ACCEPT DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

3. To accept the Minutes of the Policy Resources & Communications Committee held on 2 June 2026. (Previously Circulated).

4. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

5. HASSOCKS DEMOGRAPHICS – Members are asked to note the contents of the report (Appendix 1).

6. COMMUNICATIONS

  • Community Engagement Officers Report (oral report).
  • Public Communications Policy – Members are requested to review and APPROVE the draft Communications Policy (Appendix 2).
  • Public Communications Strategy – Members are requested to review and APPROVE the draft Communications Strategy (Appendix 3).
  • Website and branding – the Business Plan includes an objective to ‘Review our branding and website and maximise its use as a communications tool’ and to ‘Overhaul the PC website’ in 2026/27. These projects are both listed in the draft Communications Strategy. It is proposed that the Council’s current website and branding agency undertakes an initial website audit to review – Content structure and clarity, Accessibility considerations, Performance and technical issues, SEO foundations and discoverability. What’s working well vs. what needs improvement, and Council branding. This work will cost £560 plus VAT and can be funded through the EMR 357 – website and communications budget. The findings will be used to develop a full proposal for improvements, to be presented to the next PR&C Committee meeting.

7. Remembrance Sunday (oral report)

8. BUDGET MONITORING– Members are asked to review the budget outturn for the period 1 April 2026 – 13 July 2026 to check progress for the year to date (Appendix 4).

9. STAFFING MATTERS

  • Clerk Review Procedure – the committee is asked to review the Clerk Review Procedure (Appendix 5), draft provided for comments and approval.
  • Eye Tests & Glasses – The Council’s Employee Handbook states that ‘The Council will arrange for the provision of free eye tests when requested and at regular intervals thereafter or where a visual problem is experienced, at no cost to the employee. Where employees require corrective appliances specifically for use with display screen equipment, the Council will arrange for the supply of corrective appliances up to current cost limits.’ Members are asked to consider a proposal that the Council should pay for eye tests as necessary plus 50% toward the cost of corrective glasses, up to a value £130.

10. URGENT MATTERS at the discretion of the Chair for noting and/or inclusion on a future agenda.

11. DATE OF NEXT MEETING – 29 September 2026

FILMING, RECORDING OF COUNCIL MEETINGS AND USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA

During this meeting members of the public may film or record the Committee and officers from the public area only providing it does not disrupt the meeting. The Confidential section of the meeting may not be filmed or recorded. If a member of the public objects to being recorded, the person(s) filming must stop doing so until that member of the public has finished speaking. The use of social media is permitted but members of the public are requested to switch their mobile devices to silent for the duration of the meeting.

Documents

APPENDIX 5

HASSOCKS PARISH COUNCIL Clerk’s Annual Performance Review —Procedure

Purpose

This document describes the process for conducting the Clerk’s annual performance review. It is intended as a practical guide for the Chair of Council and reviewing councillors.

Step 1 — Distribute committee chair input forms

The Chair of Council sends the Committee Chair Input Form to all committee chairs, asking them to complete and return it by a specified deadline. Chairs should be advised that their responses are confidential: they will be seen by the reviewing councillors only and not by other committee chairs or the Clerk, until after the review meeting.

Step 2 — Send self-assessment to the Clerk

At the same time, the Chair sends the Clerk’s Self-Assessment Form to the Clerk, with a clear deadline for return. The Clerk should be reminded that the self-assessment forms the basis of the review conversation and will be treated with respect.

Step 3 — Collate and review input

Once responses are received, the reviewing councillors (typically the Chair of Council and the Chair of PR&C) read through all committee chair responses and distil the key themes — strengths, achievements and any development points. They also revisit the review record from the previous year to check progress against any objectives or actions agreed at that time.

Information from this step should be recorded in sections 1 and 2 of the Annual Review Record, see step 6.

Step 4 — Review the Clerk’s self-assessment

The reviewing councillors review the Clerk’s completed self-assessment ahead of the meeting, noting any points they wish to explore or affirm during the conversation.

Step 5 — Conduct the review meeting

The Chair of Council and one other councillor (preferably the Chair of PR&C) meet with the Clerk to conduct the review. The conversation should be constructive and two-way, drawing on the self-assessment, the committee chair input and the councillors’ own observations. The previous year’s review record should also be referred to so that progress on any agreed objectives or actions can be discussed.

Step 6 — Complete the Annual Review Record

Following the meeting, one of the reviewing councillors completes the Clerk’s Annual Review Record, capturing key strengths, achievements, development objectives and any actions the council has agreed to take. The record should be an accurate reflection of the conversation. Both reviewing councillors and the Clerk sign the completed record.

Step 7 — Collate and file documents

The following documents are passed to the Clerk for secure filing as a confidential personnel record:

  • The responses from committee chairs (Step 1)
  • The distilled summary of committee chair input (Step 3)
  • The Clerk’s completed self-assessment (Step 4)
  • The signed Annual Review Record (Step 6)

 

Minutes

HASSOCKS PARISH COUNCIL

Draft Minutes of the meeting of the Policy Resources & Communications Committee held on 22 July 2026 at 7.30pm in Parish Centre, Adastra Park, Hassocks.

Attendees: Parish Councillors Frances Gaudencio, Ian Weir, Maria Angelaki-King, Paul Shepherd, Don McBeth,

In Attendance: Elaine Langridge (Clerk & RFO), Alastair Lichten (Community Engagement Officer)

MINUTES

PRC26/15    APOLOGIES – Cllrs David Bunting, Lesley Cruickshank-Robb

PRC26/16    DISCLOSURE OF INTERESTS

Disclosure by Councillors of personal interests in matters on the agenda, and whether the Councillor regards their interest as prejudicial under the terms of the Code of Conduct – None.

PRC26/17    MINUTES

The minutes of the meeting held on 2 June 2026 were accepted as a true and accurate record of the meeting.

PRC26/18    PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

No members of the public were present.

PRC26/19    HASSOCKS DEMOGRAPHICS

The Community Engagement Officer provided a report with some headline findings about local demographics.  He explained that Government Census produced by the Office for National Statistics was the main source for the data.  The last Census was carried out in 2021 during Covid so this may have affected some of the figures in relation to economic activity for example.  In general, Hassocks residents are getting younger, more diverse, less economically active, more car dependent, and the main area of employment is professional services and administration.   Members welcomed the report which they found interesting and useful when considering local service needs, making fundraising bids, developing future projects and targeting communications. There was general discussion about how older people are living longer and how many older people contribute to the community through volunteering roles.  Cllr Angelaki-King remarked on how many disabled people and carers live in the Parish and queried what provision is made for them.  The Clerk stated that one of the projects in the new Public Communications Strategy is to develop a community group listing so we will carry out further research. Cllr Weir requested a 2021 v 2011 comparison by age band.

PRC26/20    COMMUNICATIONS

PRC26/20.1 COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT OFFICERS REPORT

The Community Engagement Officer informed Councillors that he is currently working on two community consultations regarding Adastra Park improvements and a Traffic Regulations Order application. The Council has been making more social media posts and he has created an online application form for Community Grants.  The next Hassocks Life article will be published in September and items for inclusion are currently the two community consultations and volunteers (Remembrance Sunday steward recruitment and thanks to the Garden of Remembrance group).

PRC26/20.2 PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS POLICY

The Policy provides an overarching guide to the Council’s values and principles; to be reviewed every three years.

Members discussed the content of the policy and are asked for the following clarifications and amendments:

Para 9 – amend text as follows, ‘We will use clear, plain language and accessible formats wherever practical, taking care that communications are able to can be understood by people with different needs, including those using assistive technologies.’

Para 11 – the Community Engagement Officer explained that the council will use Alt Text, an accessibility tool that enables visually impaired people who use screen readers to understand visual content by providing image descriptions.

Para 16 – the Clerk explained that at present the Council only allows profiles and Pages that it follows to comment on social media posts. A pinned post on Facebook invites the general public to contact the Council by phone, email or in person if they want to raise any issues. Members were supportive of this approach and in agreement that staff time should not be spent responding to social media comments.  They are however interested in two-way communication and the views of residents so the Community Engagement Officer will monitor social media and press outlets for mentions of Hassocks, the Parish Council and Councillors, to be shared with PR&C members on a weekly basis.

Amend text as follows, ‘Where appropriate, we We will restrict two-way communications on social media channels and/or redirect responses to alternative channels. This will be in cases where an informal response is not appropriate, or managing repeated informal responses is not proportionate.’

Paras 19 / 20 – typo, these should be bullet points not numbered paragraphs

Para 25 – amend text as follows, ‘All substantive public communications must be signed off by the Clerk. Substantive public communications will be issued by the office with the approval of the Chair of the relevant committee or working group, with notice provided to the Chair and Vice Chair of Council, and the Chair of the Policy, Resources & Communications Committee.’

Para 29 – too wordy, amend text as follows,‘The Council will maintain a number of digital and print such communications channels and details of the content, regularity, third party content and responsibility for each channel will be set out in the Communications Strategy.   and maintain them to the extent as is deemed appropriate to achieve the aims of the communications policy and strategy. The communications strategy sets out: which channels are to be maintained and how, the purpose and expected content of specific channels – including any expected third party content, who is expected to have managing responsibility for each channel and who is to oversee its use.’

Para 32 – it was agreed that Councillors must be able to express themselves freely in their personal social media communications but must ensure they are clear the views they express are their own and not those of the Council.  They have a responsibility to abide by decisions made by the Council as a whole, even if they personally disagree or vote against, but they can share their personal opinions. They should not bring the Council into disrepute and must comply with the Code of Conduct.

Para 33 – Councilllors discussed the need to be able to arrange meetings and chat informally on WhatsApp but agreed it should not be used to conduct Council business.

Amend text as follows, ‘Personal email or social accounts (including WhatsApp or similar message platforms) must not be used for to conduct Council business.’

Paras 34-37 – it was agreed that the Council’s ‘Photography and Filming Policy’ (approved in February 2026) should be incorporated into the Communications Policy.

Members RESOLVED to APPROVE the Public Communications Policy, subject to making the amendments listed above.

PRC26/20.3 PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGY

The Strategy is an operational document which outlines the Council’s communication style, channels, events and projects; to be reviewed annually.

Cllr Gaudencio felt that the Voice and tone section of the strategy helps to define what kind of a Council we are with an ‘upbeat’ and ‘friendly’ approach.

In terms of the channels, it was noted that the ebulletin is a new venture. The Community Engagement Officer thought this would not be too onerous to produce and distribute as it will be a roundup of existing news and messages.  It will take some time to develop a subscriber mailing list, but recruitment can take place gradually over time and it should prove useful for future consultations and engagement activities.

The Website runs on WordPress software, which is functional, easy to use and content can be edited in-house.

Para 3.1 – add Talk About to the communication channels table as an occasional publication

Members RESOLVED to APPROVE the Public Communications Strategy, subject to making the amendments listed above.

PRC26/20.4 WEBSITE AND BRANDING

The Community Engagement Officer wants to undertake an ‘discovery phase’ to carry out an audit of the current website and arrange a workshop with Councillors to discuss Council branding.  He will do this work with the support of the Council’s current website and branding agent to produce a report and proposal for consideration at the next PR&C meeting. Cllr Weir asked for the workshop to include background information about how the website functions.  Councillors agreed to the release of earmarked reserves to fund this work.

PRC26/21    REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY

The Clerk informed Councillors that the Assistant Community Engagement Officer is ready to submit the road closure application.  She has been in contact with the key stakeholders, the band is booked and she has recruited volunteers to assist with stewarding on the day.

PRC26/22    BUDGET MONITORING

Members noted the first quarter budget monitoring out turn and raised a number of queries.

Cllr Ian Weir asked if there further income is expected in relation to the Bowls Club as it is lower than budgeted. The Clerk did not have the information available and agreed to find out and update him.

Burial Ground income is higher than estimated because two plots have been purchased by people who do not live in the Parish so the fees are higher.

It was noted that Administration costs were high for the first quarter which is due in part to the purchase of additional equipment, funded through the office expansion earmarked reserve.  Also, the pavilion repairs and renewals budget was high due to one-off costs funded through earmarked reserves allocated to the Adastra Park masterplan.

Cllr Weir queried why there is £2,500 in the budget for the skatepark.  The Clerk advised that when the installation was completed the retention sum was not paid as the contractor needed to come back for a final inspection.  These funds are unlikely to be spent now so they will be transferred to an earmarked reserve in the next financial year.

The Street Lighting repairs and energy, Christmas Lights, Dog Bins and Audit Fees budgets are all in credit due to accrued sums carried forward from 2025/26 to cover bills not yet received.

PRC26/23    STAFFING MATTERS

PRC26/23.1 CLERK REVIEW PROCEDURE

Councillors approved the Clerk Review Procedure with the following amendment to be added to the document at Step 7:

  • Copy of the signed Annual Review to be retained by the Chair for two years.

PRC26/23.2 EYE TESTS AND GLASSES

Councillors are keen to support measures that aid staff wellbeing and agreed that the Council will pay for staff eye tests plus 50% toward the cost of corrective glasses, up to a value £130.

PRC26/24    URGENT MATTERS AT THE DISCRETION OF THE CHAIRMAN – None

PRC26/25    DATE OF NEXT MEETING Tuesday 29 September 2026
Hassocks Parish Council
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