The Parish Council has seven elected (or co-opted) members, who are:
- Mark Hughes – Chairman
- Alan Routledge – Vice Chair
- Bob Powers
- Howard Hollands
- Richard White
- Eleanor McMillan
- Cheryl Hill-Cottingham
The only employee of the Parish Council is the Parish Clerk, Ruth Jubb, to whom all enquiries or items to be brought to the attention of the Councillors should be addressed:
stistedparishcouncil@yahoo.co.uk 07877 817276
The Parish Clerk is qualified, but councillors are drawn from volunteers who meet certain eligibility criteria and are then voted by the electorate in the parish to sit as a member of the Parish Council, i.e. a Parish Councillor. Under law, the Parish Council is a corporate body – a legal entity, separate from that of its members, and decisions of the council are the responsibility of the whole body.
It is given certain powers to act, but as the first tier of local government, these powers are very limited. For example, a parish council is not permitted to repair roads, but it can provide street lighting; it cannot determine planning applications in its parish, but it can give an opinion to the planning body (Braintree District Council).
In brief:
- A council must do what the law requires it to do,
- A council may do only what the law says it may do, and
- A council cannot do anything unless permitted by legislation.