SETTLE Town Council’s Rebecca Hill is just one of three council clerks to be shortlisted for a national award.

Ms Hill is in the finals of the Star Council Awards as part of the National Association of Local Councils annual conference on October 30in Milton Keynes.

Putting their clerk forward in the competition, Councillor Joe Lord said: “Settle has a parish council that punches above its weight in terms of its work, and the trust placed in it by parishioners. This, in a large part, is due to the sterling work of our clerk.

“Rebecca joined Settle Town Council as clerk five years ago, and since then has had a very positive effect on the council and the town.

“Rebecca has modernised council procedures, resulting in an efficient council that delivers great outcomes for parishioners, and offers an appropriate use of public money. Examples of this include the digitalisation of council records and systems, the utilisation of financial management systems, the update of policies, and the increased use of social media to engage with parishioners.

“Furthermore, she will identify training courses that she thinks will be useful for herself, councillors, or council staff to ensure the council is an effective and valuable body.

“Her willingness to work very flexible hours means community project meetings can be run at times convenient to all, and this has been particularly useful for the Skate Park working group meetings.

“In addition to this, through her town council role Rebecca acts as clerk to the Town Team – a group of town and district councillors and business owners who are developing plans for major projects in the town – and clerk to the Castlebergh Crag project, which is an ambitious plan to develop the large limestone crag that overlooks the town.”

Ms Hill said: “I was delighted and a bit taken back to be nominated by the town council and I can’t believe I’m one of three on the shortlist for this national award.

“It has made me feel very much appreciated and supported.

“ It is a challenging role in the current climate of austerity measures and uncertainty for local authorities and small parish councils.

"Funding for any improvements has to be found from outside of the parish precept in order to develop facilities and amenities and also to enable existing services to be maintained. It’s always a juggling act finding the time and resources and I have a great team of colleagues who support me.

“In fact we are just waiting for confirmation of match funding to reach the target of £100,000 for the Skate Park which has been a dream for the young people of Settle for more than 16 years so it should become a reality within the next six to nine months.”

Cllr Sue Baxter, chairman of NALC, said: “Each year the awards get bigger and the level of entries gets stronger. This year we were particularly pleased to see how local councils have engaged with their communities to make a positive impact. We received a record number of nominations this year and would like to congratulate this year’s finalists, and thank everyone for their entries.”