You will remember from a few months ago, a ruling by the Information Commissioner’s Office which found that emails sent to and from volunteers of a Parish Council were covered under a Freedom of Information Act request for information.
However, this does go further.
If you use volunteers to pick up letter, community drinks stands or any other activity, which the Parish Council has organized, those volunteers are acting on behalf of the PC and ultimately, the PC may be liable for their actions. You need to think about the following;
Insurance? Have you notified your insurers that you use volunteers?
Safety? Have your litter pickers got high viz vests and gloves? Have you briefed them?
Interacting with others? Have you explained what is acceptable behavior?
Volunteers are such a crucial and valuable layer of our society, just make sure you have everything in place to make it work without any snags.
You all belong to LALC and they will have guidance and policies that you should consider and formally adopt