On being eaten by bureaucracy

An interesting spin on self-cannabalism, one might think. There I am, a bureaucrat to my fingertips, in a mini-flap over a set of rules. The problem is, put simply, I have to read them. And what are these rules, you ask? The Standing Orders for Creeting St Peter Parish Council.

Alright, we're not a vast organisation, with a staff that runs to a part-time Parish Clerk, and responsibility for... not very much actually. The Standing Orders run to eighty, yes eighty, clauses and fourteen pages, with references to European Union Public Sector Procurement Rules (damn, there goes the opportunity to get my kid brother to put in the best tender for the new High Speed Rail Link from Creeting St Peter to Westminster...), the Standards Board for England (heavens, do they have jurisdiction this far down?) and to a Code of Conduct that, I hate to admit, I actually haven't seen.

Now don't get me wrong, it's not that I'm opposed to such things, but it does seem rather sad that we should have to have them. But the Standing Orders aren't the only document that, as a newbie Parish Councillor, I need to be aware of.

We also have Financial Regulations, ten pages of them. There are references to the Audit Commission Act 1998, the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 and the VAT Act 1994, and references to contracts in excess of £50,000 (twelve years of precept income at current levels).

And last, but not least, we have financial risk assessment and management. It seems that there is a high risk of illegal activity or payment, if only because none of the councillors have been properly educated as to our legal powers. That's possibly true, as I was rather hoping to learn as I go along. Apparently, there are also concerns about the adequacy of the precept. Again, I'm not yet in a position to comment, as I still don't have a true grasp of what we, as a parish Council, actually do. Mind you, given that only one of the councillors stood for election in 2007, and the other three have been co-opted since then, it would be a fairly steep learning curve...

It's enough to make you wonder if I didn't make a mistake in volunteering in the first place...