Abbreviations used in Parish Council meetings and documents;
In common with many organisations, the Parish Council will often use abbreviations when referring to organisations, procedures or events at meetings and in documents, sometimes residents will not know what some of them mean, these are some of the abbreviations and what they refer to.
AGM = This refers to the Statutory Annual meeting, usually held in May, at which the Chair is elected for the coming year, Councillors roles are allocated and policy documents reviewed.
APM = This is the Annual Parish Meeting, sometimes also called the Annual Parish Assembly. The APM is not a Parish Council meeting, it is the Parish meeting to review the activities of the past year, the meeting can be called and organised by parish residents, but in most parishes the Parish Council facilitate the meeting.
EGM = Extraordinary General Meeting, this will be a meeting of the full Parish Council, called by the Chair when an item needs to be discussed before the next scheduled meeting.
NALC = The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) is a membership organisation and the only national body representing the interests of local (parish and town) councils. NALC works in partnership with county associations to support, promote and improve local councils.
ESALC = East Sussex Association of Local Councils (ESALC) represents the interests of its 102 member Local Councils across East Sussex. ESALC is affiliated to the National Association of Local Councils (NALC). The role of the Association is to encourage, represent, advise, and train its member councils. Our goal is to ensure that the voice of the first tier of local government is heard across the county and by the Government.
RALC = Rother Association of Local Councils – RALC is an association representing all Local Councils in the Rother District of East Sussex.
RFO = Responsible Financial Officer (RFO). The RFO is the Council appointed Officer responsible for the Council finances, in many councils the RFO responsabilities are taken on by the Parish Clerk.
AGAR = Annual Governance and Accountability Return (AGAR). At the end of each financial year the Parish Council prepares an Annual Governance & Accountability Return (AGAR) which includes an Annual Governance Statement and Accounting Statements. The AGAR is subject to both an internal audit and an external audit.
PLWB = Public Works Loan Board – The PWLB lending facility is operated by the UK Debt Management Office (DMO) on behalf of HM Treasury. The facility provides loans to local authorities, and other specified bodies, from the National Loans Fund, this borrowing is mainly for capital projects.
CSW = Community Speedwatch
Community Speedwatch reports presented to Council will also contain some Police related abbreviations.
- RPU = Road Policing Unit
- NPT = Neighbourhood Policing Team
- SSRP = Sussex Safer Roads Partnership
- SORN = Statutory Off-Road Notification (vehicle owner has notified DVLA the vehicle is not on the road)
- DVLA = Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency
ESCC = East Sussex County Council
RDC = Rother District Council.
Some that are unique to Etchingham Parish Council;
ETSR = The Etchingham Trust for Sports and Recreation – The Etchingham Trust for Sports and Recreation (ETSR) is a charitable trust (registered number 1076642), established in 1998 to help provide a new village hall and playing fields for the parish of Etchingham and for the benefit of the surrounding areas. The Trust is now responsible for running and maintaining the Village Halls at Parsonage Croft. Etchingham Parish Council is the Sole Trustee for ETSR.
ERGT = The Etchingham Recreation Ground (Queen’s Garden) Trust (ERGT) is a registered Charitable Trust set up in 2002 to look after the ‘green’ area in the village known as The Queen’s Garden (Registered Charity No. 1093289). The Parish Council is the Trustee Body for the charity.
TESAG = The Etchingham Safety Action Group (TESAG). Following many resident concerns regarding safety on the main road through the village, especially the A265 as it passes the entrance to the Primary School and Village halls, and concerns regarding the narrowness of some of the pavemants, the Parish Council created the Sub-Committee, TESAG will deal with other safety issues, but the main focus is road safety. The TESAG committee is made up of concerned residents, members of village campaigning groups and representatives from the school.
