This table should be compared with the powers and duties table and, at some stage, will be combined.
General power of competence
Under the Localism Act 2011 eligible PCs can be granted a “general power of competence” (GPC) which allows them within certain limits the freedom to do anything an individual can do provided it is not prohibited by other legislation, as opposed to being limited to the powers explicitly granted to them by law. To be eligible for this a parish council must meet certain conditions, such as at least two-thirds of the councillors being elected as opposed to being co-opted or appointed, and having a clerk with suitable qualifications. However, such activities cannot use precept funding, and specific funding must be obtained from other sources.
In principle the GPC can allow councils to engage in a range of activities such as setting up a trading company or co-operative to operate commercial activities, such as lending or investing money, or running a local shop, post office or energy company. Or allow it to contribute towards the provision of a service by another authority.
Meetings
A typical parish notice board, which is the usual “noticeable place” where official notices are posted.
The central function of the Council, the making of local decisions and policy relevant to the public interest of the parish, is performed at the meetings of the Council. A PC must hold an annual meeting and at least three other meetings in a year; however, monthly meetings are the most common, and some larger councils have fortnightly meetings. An extraordinary meeting may be called at any time by the chairman or members, but due notice must be given.
A PC consists of the chairman and not fewer than five elected parish councillors, and a quorum of the main council committee is at least one-third of the members, or three members, whichever is the greater. Every meeting is open to the public, who are encouraged to attend, except for those items where the Council formally resolves to exclude the public and press on the grounds that publicity would be prejudicial to the public interest. This would have to be due to the confidential nature of the business. This latter also applies to any subcommittee of the parish council.
A Council can form committees with delegated powers for specific purposes; however these must adhere to the protocols for public attendance, minute-taking and notice of meetings that apply to the main Council. A committee may form sub-committees. A Council can also appoint advisory groups which are exempt from these constraints to give flexibility, but these have no delegated powers and cannot make financial decisions. Such groups may contain members who are not councillors.
Public notice of meetings of the council and its committees must be given at least three clear days before and be displayed in a “noticeable place” in the Parish, giving time, date and venue. A summons to attend the meeting is also issued, specifying the agenda, to every member of the Council. Items not on the agenda cannot be formally debated or resolved. Items brought up by the attendance of the general public or in correspondence can be discussed, but formal resolutions on these must be deferred if they are not covered by the existing agenda to the next meeting so that due notice can be given. It is common practice to have a “public participation” item at the beginning of the agenda so that the public knows the time when this will occur.
The minutes of the meeting are taken by the clerk, and are ratified at the next meeting of the council. They must also be displayed in a noticeable place in the parish, and for many councils, they are now also displayed on the internet.
Procedures for the conduct of meetings are set out in Schedule 12 of the Local Government Act 1972, and where this is not overridden by legislation, by the standing orders of the Council. Most adopt the National Association of Local Councils (NALC) model standing orders.
Councillors are expected to adhere to the “Nolan principles” of conduct in public life
Administration
The administration of the Council is managed by its Clerk, a paid employee appointed by the council, who acts in a combined statutory role of Proper Officer (secretary or chief executive) and Responsible Financial Officer (RFO) (treasurer). They may be full-time or part-time, depending on the amount of council business, and large PCs may require more than one official for these tasks, in which case they are a group led by the Clerk.
The Clerk as the Proper Officer “enacts” (cause to happen) the decisions of the Council, and they receive official correspondence and issue correspondence on the instructions of the Council. The clerk also prepares agendas for meetings of the Council and its committees, gives notice of these to the Council members and the public, and records and publishes the minutes of these meetings. The Clerk is the formal point of contact with the public, and a source of information for the public about the Council’s activities. The necessary financial monitoring and reporting are the clerk’s responsibility, and in this role the clerk is known as the “Responsible Financial Officer” (RFO) of the Council. The clerk also provides procedural guidance for the Council itself, and ensures that statutory and other provisions governing or affecting the running of the Council are observed. Clerks are encouraged to have a formal qualification, such as the Certificate in Local Council Administration (CiLCA). A councillor cannot become the paid clerk of their council, due to conflict of interest, but they can be appointed on an unpaid basis; preferably temporarily. A councillor cannot become a paid clerk until 12 months after leaving office.
Elections and membership
The cycle of PC elections is four years, and councillors are elected by the block vote system, with voters having the same number of votes as seats on the council, in a secret ballot. Those candidates with the highest number of votes sufficient to fill the number of vacant seats are elected. The legislation provides that the number of elected members of a parish council shall not be less than five. Larger parishes may be divided into parish wards, with separate elections for each ward.
The timing of the election cycle is usually linked to that of the election of a district councillor for the ward containing the parish. Where the elections to a district council are delayed or cancelled (e.g due to its abolishment with the formation of a unitary council or a change from elections by thirds to the whole council), the term of a parish council may be extended to match the next elections to the new authority.
A candidate must be at least 18 years old and at least one of the following:
- A British citizen, an eligible Commonwealth citizen
- Citizen of Ireland
- Citizen of any member state of the European Union
and candidates must state on their consent for nomination form their qualification for election, which must be at least one of the following:
- they are a registered elector of the parish
- during the whole of the 12 months before the day of nomination and the day of election they have occupied, either as owner or tenant, any land or other premises in the parish.
- their main or only place of work is in the parish during the whole of the 12 months before the day of nomination and the day of election.
- they have lived within 4.8 km (3 miles) of the parish boundary for 12 months before the day of nomination and the day of election.
The chairman of the previous council shall remain in office, even if not elected to the newly constituted council, until a new chairman is appointed at the first meeting of the new council.
Uncontested elections
Where there are an equal number or fewer candidates than there are vacancies, all candidates are elected unopposed, and no poll is taken. Where there are fewer candidates than vacant seats, the parish council has the power to coopt any person or persons to fill the vacancies. This power, however, may only be exercised if there is a quorum of councillors present and within 35 days of the election.
If the PC fails to fill the vacancies within this period, the district council may dissolve it and order fresh elections. If there is not a quorum elected the district council must dissolve it and order fresh elections.
Contested elections
Where there are more candidates than vacancies, a poll must be held. Undivided parishes, or multi-member parish wards, hold elections under the block vote system.
Casual vacancies
If a vacancy occurs during the term of a parish council, it may be filled by either election or co-option. Elections only occur if, following the advertisement of the vacancy for 14 days, 10 electors send a written request to the returning officer. If no request is received, the parish council will be required to fill the vacancies by co-option. If vacancy occurs within 6 months of a scheduled election, then a by-election cannot be called, but the council has the power to co-opt. The nomination qualifications required of a candidate for co-option are the same as for those for election. If the number of vacancies on the parish council is such that there is no longer a quorum, the district council may temporarily appoint persons to bring the council up to strength in the interval prior to an election.
History
Civil parish councils (PCs) were formed in England under the reforming Local Government Act 1894 to take over local oversight of civic duties in rural towns and villages. The act created two new types of local authority, PCs and district councils, to rationalise the large number of bodies which existed for a variety of activities such as public health, secular burials, water supply and drainage. It also finally removed secular duties from the local vestry committees and gave them to the new PCs.
An idea of the scope of this huge re-organisation can be gained from the words of H H Fowler , President of the Local Government Board, who said in the parliamentary debate for the 1894 Act:
“62 counties, 302 Municipal Boroughs, 31 Improvement Act Districts, 688 Local Government Districts, 574 Rural Sanitary Districts, 58 Port Sanitary Districts, 2,302 School Board Districts … 1,052 Burial Board Districts, 648 Poor Law Unions, 13,775 Ecclesiastical Parishes, and nearly 15,000 Civil Parishes. The total number of Authorities which tax the English ratepayers is between 28,000 and 29,000. Not only are we exposed to this multiplicity of authority and this confusion of rating power, but the qualification, tenure, and mode of election of members of these Authorities differ in different cases.”
The government chose the civil parish as the basic unit of local government in rural areas. Each PC’s area of responsibility was a geographical area known as a civil parish. The civil parishes were also grouped to form rural districts, which became the geographical areas of rural district councils. Civil geographical parishes continued to exist in urban districts, but did not have parish councils.
Whilst the bulk of the rationalised activities went to district councils, PCs took over a number of lesser powers including all the secular activities of the parish Vestry committee; a system of local government based on ecclesiastical parishes that originated in the feudal system.
Modern development
Two principal Acts of Parliament have increased the general powers of parish councils, and removed onerous constraints.
Local Government Act 1972 (LGA 1972)
The Redcliffe-Mud Report led to the LGA 1972 which dramatically re-organised local government with amalgamation of district councils, large-scale changes to county boundaries and creation of metropolitan areas. However, the parish council was retained as the “grass roots” tier of local democracy for rural areas. In addition, many small towns which had previously formed municipal boroughs or urban districts became “successor parishes” within larger districts. The Act also recognised the role of PCs in development planning in their parish, and gave them the right to be informed and consulted on applications for such development. However, the original proposal to grant a general power of competence to councils was not carried through, and the doctrine of ultra vires remained. This meant that PCs could not do anything outside their statutory powers.
Localism Act 2011
It was not until the Localism Act 2011 that PCs were freed of the constraints of ultra vires which had limited the activities of PCs to only those things for which they had been given statutory powers. They were given a radical new power: to “do anything that individuals generally may do” as long as that is not limited by some other Act. This is known as the General Power of Competence (GPC), and is available to “eligible” PCs. An eligible council is one which has resolved to adopt the GPC, with at least two-thirds of its members being declared elected, rather than co-opted, and the Clerk must hold an appropriate qualification. However the precept may not be raised specifically for activities which rely only on the power of the GPC, and such funding must be obtained from other sources.
The Localism Act also introduced new rights and powers to allow local communities to shape new development by coming together to prepare neighbourhood plans (NP). Neighbourhood planning can be taken forward by two types of body: town and parish councils or “neighbourhood forums”. Neighbourhood forums are community groups that are designated to take forward neighbourhood planning in areas without parishes. It is the role of the local planning authority to agree who should be the neighbourhood forum for the neighbourhood area.
Neighbourhood forums and parish councils can use new neighbourhood planning powers to establish general planning policies for the development and use of land in a neighbourhood. These are described legally as “neighbourhood development plans”. In an important change to the planning system, communities can use neighbourhood planning to permit the development they want to see – in full or in outline – without the need for planning applications. These are called “neighbourhood development orders”.
Planning. Who do I submit a planning application to?
Planning applications should be submitted to the District Council.
