Long Melford fears impact on major upcoming events after Sudbury Town Council unable to approve service level agreement
Unforeseen staff shortages have left a town council unable to continue sharing key resources with a neighbouring village – leaving the status of major upcoming public events uncertain.
Sudbury Town Council confirmed it does not have a service level agreement (SLA) with Long Melford for the 2024/25 financial year and, therefore, cannot commit to certain activities.
Under an SLA, the town council agrees to carry out specific duties for other parishes, such as maintenance tasks, as well as logistical support with major events.
In previous years, this has included installing Christmas lights for the annual Festive Long Melford event, and assisting with the road closure for the village’s remembrance parade.
However, all SLAs must be signed each financial year – which runs from April until the following March – by the Sudbury town clerk, before they can take effect.
Sudbury town clerk Ciaran Griffin stated that no such SLA had been produced by Long Melford Parish Council for his consideration or approval this year.
He added that unexpected staff absences meant the council had to carefully prioritise where it could commit resources.
However, Long Melford Parish Council stated it was ‘surprised and alarmed’ by this, claiming it had only learned at the end of last month that there was no SLA in place.
Parish council chairman Liz Malvisi told the Suffolk Free Press that she feared this would seriously impact Long Melford’s ability to hold this year’s remembrance or Christmas events.
She argued that it was wrong to put a stop to the agreement that had been in place for so many years, when it would ‘impinge on so many people’s lives’.
At the Sudbury Town Council meeting this week, Long Melford parish clerk Clare Lee insisted she had received assurances from council employees that the previous SLA would continue.
While she acknowledged that an SLA for this year had not been signed by the Sudbury town clerk, she also claimed that Long Melford Parish Council had still been invoiced for work undertaken.
“I appreciate that the town council has some financial and resourcing decisions to make, around how it now services existing and future SLAs with parishes,” she told councillors.
“I would respectfully ask that the council honours the imminent events, to include the remembrance parade and the Christmas lights, so that we are able to honour our commitment to our residents.”
Long Melford parish chairman Liz Malvisi told the Free Press she felt there was ‘an implied contract, following on from several years of SLAs’.
“I’m left speechless,” she said. “It’s not an approach that’s conducive to good working relations.
“The Sudbury community wardens provide a lot of services. They manage the speed indicator signs; they manage the community defibrillators – all that will stop.
“If there is no road closure, we can’t have a remembrance parade.
“It’s going to impact businesses as well. People are raising money for Festive Long Melford, but this is going to put the kibosh on all of it.”
At Tuesday night’s council meeting, Cllr Malvisi also highlighted the importance of the SLA in emergency situations.
She highlighted the aid that the community wardens provided to Long Melford during severe flooding last year, helping to evacuate residents from their homes.
In response, Sudbury town clerk Ciaran Griffin explained that every SLA must be reviewed, to check if there are sufficient resources to deliver them, before they are signed.
Mr Griffin reiterated that a parish should not expect additional services, unless specifically approved by him, on behalf of the town council.
Following the meeting, he told the Free Press: “An agreement, by definition, requires both sides to agree.
“The staff working for Sudbury Town Council have never had the authority to make agreements on behalf of the town council.
“Our normal year runs from April to March, and all SLAs are expected to be signed before the start of April – although, if there are difficulties, we will consider later agreements.
“The Long Melford parish clerk produced an SLA form, which she had signed last month, but which had never been presented to me for consideration or approval.
“If sufficient resources were available, this could be considered, but, at the moment, they are not.
“I do not have any record of any communication from the Long Melford parish clerk, so I am surprised to find that she thinks that she has an agreement with me.
“I cannot commit Sudbury Town Council to undertake any activity which we cannot resource.”
Mr Griffin confirmed that the town council currently has four signed SLAs with other parishes, for ‘non-time critical services’, completed when suitable staff are available.
Cllr Adrian Stohr stated that they had to prioritise the town – but added it was unfortunate that they were unable to deliver on some services, as before.
“There’s the word of custom and practice where we have been serving them, so we do have a real issue, in terms of planning ahead,” he said.
“For us, the town has to come first in terms of work. It’s just a shame that it has got to this.”
This was echoed by Jan Osborne, who also suggested that the council should prepare contingency plans for future staff absences.
“I think there’s lessons to be learned,” she told the full council meeting.
“In future, if we haven’t been able to oblige with plan A, I think we should put plan B in place, in the event this happens again.
“For example, if we say we will still deliver on the SLA for Long Melford, what will that mean for Sudbury?
“We’ve got to put Sudbury first – that’s what we’re here for – but we do have a commitment, to a certain extent, to those councils that we have an agreement with.”
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