Parish Councils

Not to be confused with Parochial Church Council (PCC).

How many Parish Councils?

There are some 10,480 parish and town councils in England.

What is a Parish Council?

A Parish Council (PC) is a civil local authority in England, which is the lowest tier of local government.

They are elected corporate bodies, and have variable tax raising powers, carrying out beneficial public activities in geographical areas known as civil parishes.

PCs may be known by different styles, they may resolve to call themselves a town council, village council, community council, neighbourhood council, or if the parish has city status, it may call itself a city council. However, their powers and duties are the same whatever name they carry.

How are Parish Councils funded?

PCs receive the majority of their funding by levying a precept upon the council tax paid by the residents of the parish (or parishes) covered by the council. They can vary enormously in size, activities and circumstances; representing populations ranging from fewer than 100 (small rural hamlets) to up to 130,000. Most of them are small: around 80% represent populations of less than 2,500; PCs are made up of unpaid councillors (cllrs) who are elected to serve for four years: there are about 70,000 parish cllrs country-wide.

What meetings do they have?

Not every civil parish has a PC: smaller ones, typically those with fewer than 150 electors, often have parish meetings instead, which can fulfil many of the functions of a PC. Alternatively, parishes with small populations may apply to be grouped together with one or more neighbouring parishes under a common PC.

When were they formed?

Civil PCs were formed in England under the reforming Local Government Act 1894 (LGA 1894) to take over local oversight of civic duties in rural towns and villages from the vestry committee. PCs are generically referred to as “local councils” to distinguish them from “principal councils” (e.g. district councils, county councils, unitary authorities or London borough councils) and most are affiliated via County Associations to the National Association of Local Councils (NALC), which represents their interests at a national level.

What Powers and Duties?

Their activities fall into three main categories:

1. representing the local community,
2. delivering services to meet local needs, and
3. improving quality of life and community well being.

Compared to higher tiers of English local government, PCs have very few statutory duties (i.e. things they are required to do by law) but have a much more extensive range of discretionary powers which they may exercise voluntarily. For this reason, there are large variations in the activities of PCs, depending on their size, resources and abilities.

The “General Power of Competence” is a power awarded in 2012 to eligible councils, which further broadens the scope of activities that councils can be involved in.

 

Parish Councils (PCs) have the power to tax their residents to support their operations and to carry out local projects, and this is done through the council tax system. Although there is no limit to the amount that can be raised, the money can only be raised for a limited number of purposes, listed below, as defined in LGA 1894 and subsequent legislation.

 

Who is responsible?
Government >				National
Council >	Parish	District or  Borough	County
Item v
UK foreign policy				Yes
UK domestic policy				Yes
UK security				Yes
UK law				Yes
Taxes (except Council Tax)				Yes
National Health Service				Yes
State Benefits (unemployment, tax credits, state pensions)				Yes
Education			Yes	Yes
Social Services		?	Yes	Yes
Roads and Transport			Yes	Yes
Waste Disposal			Yes	?
Economic Development		?	Yes	Yes
County planning and the environment			Yes
Fire and public safety			Yes
Libraries			Yes
Trading standards			Yes
Waste management		Yes
Environmental health		Yes
Tourism and encourage tourism	Yes.5	Yes
Leisure and amenities		Yes
Planning permission and building control	Yes.4	Yes
Housing needs services		Yes
Collection of Council Tax		Yes
Coastal protection		Yes
Off street parking	Yes.3	Yes
Regeneration		Yes
Licensing		Yes
Allotments (if demand unsatisfied)	Yes.1
Public seats, toilets and clocks	Yes.2
Bus shelters	Yes.3
Children’s play grounds	Yes
Grants for local projects/ organisations	Yes
Buildings for social clubs and meetings (community centres), provision of.	Yes.2
Parish lighting and street lighting (roads and public places)	Yes.3
Recreational/ sports fields	Yes.2
Cemeteries and crematoria	Yes.2
War memorial maintenance	Yes. 2.
Cycle and motorcycle parking	Yes.2
Maintenance of rights of way	Yes.2
Guardianship of common land (such as village greens)	Yes.2
Bus shelters	Yes.3
Certain traffic signs and other public notices	Yes.3
Roadside verges (provision, maintenance and protection)	Yes.3
Markets (provision of markets or market places & buildings)	Yes.3
Intention to provide burial grounds	Yes.4
Proposals to carry out sewerage works	Yes.4
Rights of way surveys	Yes.4
Intention to make byelaws in relation to hackney carriages, music and dancing, promenades, sea shore and street naming	Yes.4
The appointment of governors of primary schools	Yes.4
Sponsoring public events	Yes.5
Support of the arts and provision of entertainment	Yes.5
Providing grants to local voluntary organisations	Yes.5
Funding crime prevention measures	Yes.5
Providing grants for bus services, and funding community transport schemes	Yes.5
Contribution of money towards traffic calming schemes	Yes.5
Cleaning and drainage of ponds, watercourses and ditches	Yes.5
Power to obtain water from any well, spring or stream	Yes.5
Creation of a neighbourhood plan	Yes.5
Power to acquire or dispose of land	Yes.5
Withholding of consent to stop up unclassified highways and footpaths	Yes.5
Appointing trustees of local charities	Yes.5
Power to make byelaws in regard to pleasure grounds, cycle parks, baths and washhouses, open spaces and burial grounds, and mortuaries and post-mortem rooms.	Yes.5
Under the 2021 Environment Act,  must consider what they can do to conserve and enhance biodiversity.	Yes.5

 

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”.

• work in progress