Policy number 9
Thorpe on the Hill Parish Council
Website Policy
The Parish Council website is provided by Lincolnshire County Council (LCC) and allows access to Thorpe on the Hill Parish Council via secure user names and password system. Therefore the Parish Council has ultimately decision-making authority over the content of the website with the support and help of LCC.
1 Purpose
1.1 The main purpose of the website is to provide a platform for the Parish Council to discharge its legislative duties in providing the relevant information to the community as set down in various Acts of Parliament.
- As secondary benefits, the website also
- fosters a relationship between LCC, town and parish councils so they can better work together to support our communities.
- creates a communication platform which is of benefit to parishioners and promotes their engagement
2 Aim
2.1 Enable the Parish Council to meet its legislative duties and communicate the required information to the residents of the Parish. For example this may include agendas, minutes, directory of council members, and any other relevant Parish Council documents.
2.2 Support engagement of residents of the Parish with the Parish Council. This may include providing contact details for Parishioners to raise concerns or questions with the Parish Council, and help to provide a mechanism to facilitate surveys and/or consultations where appropriate.
- Provision of information in a timely, accurate, fair, and objective manner.
2.4 Provision of information useful to residents of the Parish including available services and events within the Parish.
2.5 Promote the use of the website with Parishioners as a source of information and guidance to community activities, businesses and clubs in the Parish.
3 Website content
3.1 It is not practical for all decisions regarding individual notices and items of content to be approved by the Parish Council. Therefore this document sets out the day to day editorial activities of the website to be delegated to an approved editorial team, whilst providing a clear framework of what is acceptable and unacceptable. This may be reviewed by the Parish Council from time to time.
3.2 The website will focus upon providing factual content.
3.3 The website will not publish opinions, except where these are the correctly approved opinions of the Parish Council, or where these opinions form a part of Parish Council business (for example as part of sharing views upon a consultation or planning application).
3.4 All content will be published by a member of the editorial team authorised by the Parish Council. There will be no open access ability for the public to directly publish content on the website.
3.5 If anyone outside the Parish Council wishes to suggest content to be published they should use the contact details available on the website.
3.6 In the interests of efficient and timely publication of information, Website Managers shall have delegated authority to publish content that fits one or more of the following criteria and provided other parts of this policy and procedure allow the publication:
- Parish Council documents which are approved or legally required for publication. An example of this may be agendas, minutes, register of councillors’ interests.
- Any notice which is approved for publication on the Parish Council noticeboard or by the Parish Council in the Parish Magazine
- Any notice sent to the Parish Council which is intended for public circulation and where publication is in the public interest (for example Police notices, road closures or formal consultations)
- Details of any public event held within the Parish which is substantially operated on a not-for-profit or charitable basis. It is recognised that events that may be primarily of a not-for-profit or charity nature may contain peripheral commercial activities for example catering facilities at a charity event may be provided on a commercial basis. This should not prevent the inclusion of such events where this does not form a material part of the event.
- Details of any clubs, societies or public services based within, or which primarily target residents of, the Parish.
- Content which is likely to encourage usage of the website without materially impeding the website’s primary purpose, nor causing any material harm – for example local news and weather feeds, or photographs of recent village events (copyright permitting).
3.7 The website will not carry “paid for” advertising nor publish notices which are primarily of a commercial nature without approval of the Parish Council. However the local nature of some businesses may warrant their inclusion on the website to support parishioners and the Parish in general such as public service business ie Post Office, along with businesses based within the Parish.
3.8 Other content and/or functionality can be implemented as instructed by and approved by the Parish Council on submission of a proposal as an agenda item by a Web Manager.
3.9 The Parish Council reserves the right to remove content and / or Website Managers access to the website without notice in certain circumstances but will normally give at least 1 months’ notice should this become necessary.
4 Website Links
4.1 The website may contain links to other third-party websites and webpages where these fit one or more of the following criteria:
- Links that provide further information on an event, club, society, public service, or other permitted body within the website content policy.
- Links to mainstream news and weather sites covering the local area.
- Links to other local council, government, or government agency websites.
- Links approved by the Parish Council for inclusion.
5 Complaints process
5.1 In the event of an objection that content does not comply with the policy, the website editors will seek guidance as soon as reasonably practical from no fewer than two independent councillors as to whether either:
- The content concerned should remain in place and be reviewed at the next available Parish Council meeting.
- The content concerned should be removed pending review at the next available Parish Council meeting.
5.2 The objector will be informed as soon as possible what action the Parish Council has taken and will be referred to the Parish Council complaints procedure.
Website Procedure
The procedures below have been developed from the policy and any changes to the policy may impact on the procedures and visa versa. Therefore both should be read as one document and approved by the Parish Council.
1 Website Access
1.1 Access to the website will be provided to those editorial team members via the Parish Clerk who will liaise with LCC for logins and passwords.
1.2 Website Managers are appointed by the Parish Council. All Website Managers must adhere to the council’s adopted Website Policy and this procedure.
1.3 If a Website Manager fails to adhere, the Parish Council will consider suspending or terminating their editorial access to the website.
1.4 Website Managers will sign for their access as part of Parish Council assets.
2 Website build
2.1 The following points should be adhered to when adding content:
- Wording uploaded directly onto the website will be converted by the website to ensure it meets accessibility standards. LCC are responsible for this not the Parish Council.
- Words should not be in capitals or underlined as it proves difficult for those with accessibility problems to access. Any other formatting should be kept to a minimum.
- Accessibility code, Privacy policy and contact details will be uploaded by the Parish Clerk into the appropriate area of the website. The Cookie Policy will be uploaded by Lincolnshire County Council onto all Parish websites and is their sole responsibility.
- All documents must be held within the website itself or within the Website Google account created by the Parish Clerk. Editorial team members will have access to this editorial Google account. This Google account and all documents held within it are the property of the Parish Council.
- Website Managers must ensure that content and images uploaded onto the website are not copyright protected. This is the sole responsibility of each individual website manager. Credit must be given to the owner if they agreed to the use of images or content.
- All Website Managers should consider the use of images in content held within the main website, as overuse of images may slow the website down especially when using mobiles and tablets.
- Creation of Homepages or Categories is the responsibility of LCC and Web Managers should only use those provided by the administrator.
- Retention of documents on website must be in line with the Parish Councils Retention Policy and if not, a statement must be made on the website explaining the reasons of the variation.
3 Website Managers and Responsibilities
3.1 Currently there are five Website Managers, the Parish Clerk, the ORPMR Caretaker and three Councillors identified as Nominated Councillor 1, 2 and 3. Nominated Councillor 3 will provide cover if needed but is not an active Website Manager.
3.2 Those responsible for various parts of the website are:
Council Business homepage which is provided for the business/ paperwork of the Parish Council – Parish Clerk
Parish Information homepage which is provided to allow easy access to information that is considered useful to parishioners. Currently this includes information about local services and businesses, local clubs and groups, local charities, other elected local representatives, the parish magazine, local planning, fix my street and traffic news. The contents of this homepage will be regularly reviewed in the light of feedback from parishioners, as the Parish Council seeks to provide a source of useful community information - Nominated Councillor 1
Parish Amenities homepage which is provided for the type of physical elements provided in the Parish – Nominated Councillor 2 with the exception of
ORPMR – Caretaker and Tennis Court and allotments – Parish Clerk
The Latest News menu is located on the Main Homepage. Responsibility for this menu will be shared between all Web Managers with each one having responsibility for news items for their own areas.
Image widgets on the main homepage are currently all for parish amenities. Responsibility for these will be shared between the Parish Clerk, ORPMR Caretaker and Nominated Councillor 2.
3.3 All Web Managers may update items in other areas if the changes required are urgent and the relevant Web Manager is unavailable. In these cases, the updates must be notified to the relevant Web Manager as soon as possible.
4 Parish Magazine
4.1 PDF versions of the parish magazine will be uploaded by the Nominated Councillor 1 in the parish information homepage with permission from the Editor.
4.2 A maximum of five back copies will be held at any one time, plus the current version.
5 Parish clubs and groups
5.1 As stated in the Website Policy, the Parish Council will support groups and clubs within the Parish to access the website.
5.2 Engagement with the club or group organisers will be through the appropriate Website Manager.
5.3 As website capacity is limited, and regular updating time consuming, the information held will be limited to a description of the activities of the group or club, with contact details.
5.4 If a group or club does wish to provide further information, the organisers should discuss an external link to their website, or a webpage held within the Website’s Google account, with the appropriate Website Manager.
5.5 Groups and clubs based outside the Parish will only be allowed web space under exceptional circumstances and with the agreement of the Parish Council.
6 Parish Businesses and commercial venues
6.1 As stated in the Website Policy, the Parish Council wishes to promote parish businesses and commercial venues via its website.
6.2 This will normally be achieved with a link to the website of the business or venue held under Parish Information.
6.3 Business information will only be included if the business has given permission or the information is already in the public domain. This permission should be electronically recorded by the individual Web Manager and filed in the relevant section of the Website Google drive.
6.4 Businesses will be provided with a named point of contact on the editorial team, normally the Councillor with responsibility for the parish information homepage.
6.5 All communication with businesses should be through the email address associated with the website google account.