Aon/NALC Clerk of the Year 2006

25 September 2006

The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) would like to congratulate Richard Bowran on winning the Aon/NALC Clerk of the Year 2006, following an announcement at the NALC National Conference in Liverpool on 23 September 2006. Richard Bowran has been recognised for his work as the clerk to Newport Parish Council in Essex (he is now taken position of clerk to Letchworth Town Council in Hertfordshire). David Carden, clerk to Burgess Hill Town Council in Sussex took second place in the competition. While the third place prize went to Monica Blyth, clerk to Herne and Broomfield Parish Council in Kent.

The judges said that Mr Bowran in their view should be the Clerk of the Year because of the all round contribution to his made to Newport Parish Council. He achieved consistently high standards across the criteria of partnership working, sustainable delivery and overcoming challenges to name but a few. The judging panel were particularly impressed by his ability to get the local principal authority to adopt the village design statement as part of its community planning.

Mr Bowran, the winning clerk, in jubilant mood said: "I am absolutely delighted to have won this prestigious Award. This award reflects what has been achieved at Newport over the last few years. It also recognises the support I have received from councillors and the Essex Association. The Parish has been the real winner in all this and in moving on to my new post at Letchworth I hope I can make a similar contribution to a Town Council which is in its early stages of life."

Peter Lawrence, associate director, Aon said: "Aon Limited have worked together with the first tier of local government to provide for their insurance in a partnership which goes back more than 40 years. Some years ago, Aon instituted an annual award for Clerk of the Year, which was very successful. This year has seen an unprecedented number of entries, all showing and promoting the professional work which clerks across the country carry out on a day-to-day basis."

Notes for Editors

1. The National Association of Local Councils is the national representative body for 10,000 community, parish and town councils throughout England and Wales. In all, there are over 100,000 community, parish and town councillors throughout England and Wales. These councillors, who serve electorates ranging from small rural communities to major cities, are all independently elected. The councils have powers to raise their own funds through council tax. Community, parish and town councils provide employment for over 25,000 staff while their annual expenditure exceeds £400 million. Together, they can be identified as the nation's single most influential grouping of grassroots opinion-formers. Over 15 million people live in communities served by 10,000 community, parish and town councils nationally - this represents up to 30% of the population. Over 150 new community, parish and town councils have been created since 1997.

For more information contact: Alan Jones on 020 7290 0316 or alan.jones@nalc.gov.uk 

2. Aon has worked with NALC to provide insurance for parish, town and community councils in England and Wales for over forty years. The present scheme, which is underwritten by Cornhill Insurance, comprises a broad package of covers specially designed to meet the particular needs of Local Councils. More than 6,000 local councils currently use the scheme. Aon is a world leader in risk management, insurance broking, reinsurance and human resources consulting services.

3. The NALC/Aon awards have been launched to recognise outstanding achievements in first tier local government. The winners received their awards at the conference dinner in Liverpool.