A councillor’s workbook on working with town and parish councils

Some facts about parish and town councillors

The best way to find out what it is like to be a parish or town councillor is to talk to someone who is doing it now. Your parish or town council will have a website where you will be able to get the names and contact details of the current clerk and councillors, and the dates of their meetings. 

They receive no financial reward as the law forbids it (although they may receive an allowance).

While many stand for election and are voted in, some are co-opted onto their council to fill the vacant seats resulting from a shortage of candidates at election time. Most are independent of political party affiliations, but some represent a political party. The chairman of a town council can also be called the ‘Town Mayor’ the election of a town mayor distinguishes a town from a parish council. Some are also district, county, or unitary councillors – they are often referred to a dual or multi-hatted.

Getting elected

To stand for election to a parish or town council, you must:

• be a UK or Commonwealth citizen; or be a citizen of the Republic of Ireland; or be a citizen of another Member state of the European Union.
• be at least 18 years old.
• not be the subject of any bankruptcy order.

To be eligible to stand for election for a particular parish or town council you do not have to be connected to a political party but you must:

• be an elector of the parish or town or in the past 12 months have occupied land or other premises in the parish or town (as owner or tenant) or work in the parish or town (as your principal or only place of work) or live within three miles of the parish or town boundary.

Challenge 1 

The town and parish councils in your area

Using your existing knowledge or any information on council or community websites list what you know of the local councils in your area:

1. How many town and parish councils are there in my local area in total?
2. How many parish chairmen/clerks do you know by name?
3. How often do the councils meet (and what proportion of these meetings do you attend)?
4. How much do the councils spend each year (highest and lowest)?
5. What are their principal functions–what services and support do they provide?
6. What partnership arrangements (if any) are the councils included in?

Look again at your answers. While they may be diverse in nature, most town and parish councils have the potential to influence the social, economic, and environmental well- being of the communities you serve. As such, they are key partners for you to engage with as a community leader.

Legal obligations of local councils

Councillors, as democratically-elected leaders representing their communities, have a unique role to play in enabling the local engagement which will drive strong, connected communities – what is sometimes referred to as ‘neighbourhood and community engagement’.

Alongside their discretionary powers, town and parish councils have a number of legal obligations to fulfil:

• They must hold an annual meeting and at least three other meetings each year.
• They must appoint such officers as they believe necessary for the proper discharge of their functions–this may be an unpaid councillor, but in most cases will be a parish clerk and/or treasurer.

• They must make standing orders for the supply of goods and services to the council.

• They must adhere to local government legislation.

Case study - Designing a park in a day – Snitterfield Parish Council

The place

Snitterfield is a rural parish, close to Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire, which has around 1,200 residents. A mixture of commuters and village locals, the parish has a church, a primary school, and a village pub. There are eight parish councillors, three of whom are women, and their annual precept is around £39,000.

The challenge

Snitterfield Playing Fields are a popular green space, used by multiple sports teams since 1972. Located next to affordable housing, they provide green space to homes who have the least access to private gardens.

In the last 10 years, various projects to transform the playing fields failed to get off the ground. In 2018, a working group formed to bring the multiple groups together to develop plans for the site. However, their plans were going to cost an unaffordable £100,000. The fields were also owned on trust, causing concerns over the long-term protection of the parish council’s investment. As a result, the project stalled, and residents began to disengage from the plans.

The solution

The parish council sought legal advice and support from the Charity Commission to bring the fields into their sole ownership. This provided the necessary framework for action to occur.

Recognising that the parishioners had disconnected from the plans, the council held a series of engagement events, including a cleaning day and playground maintenance training to improve the current facilities, to reignite residents' interest in the playing fields. This also enabled the council to observe the patterns of behaviour and families’ use of the playing fields.

The parish council then hired a designer to work with residents to redesign the park in a day. Part-funded via a £3,500 grant from the county council, the aim of the day was to bring together local people, whose voices were often not heard, to re-imagine what their park could look like. It also provided a free activity for children during half-term.

To encourage residents’ participation, the council worked with the local nursery to identify parents who were least likely to attend. Councillors knocked on their door to speak to them, and targeted families with hand-delivered flyers. Through this engagement exercise, the council identified sensory needs among local children, which could be incorporated into the plans.

The impact

The plans produced by the designer cost £50,000 – around half the cost of the initial plans. Many existing features have been recycled and incorporated into the new design, making it more sustainable. Due to their involvement in the process, the community has not only endorsed the design, but is now excited about the redevelopment project.

How is the new approach being sustained?

The parish council is exploring grants and funding opportunities to make the design become a reality. Residents are engaged, curious, and asking what is next. The process has sparked further consideration of the environment around Snitterfield by the council following feedback from local people – for instance planting up places which have been liable to flooding. Obtaining seed funding has also inspired the parish council to seek further small funding pots to support wider environmental outcomes.

Lessons learnt

Do not be afraid to spend money or bring in help. The parish council was nervous that seeking legal advice and paying for design expertise would be considered unnecessary. However, they took the time to explain to the community why such actions were necessary and found additional small grants and funds to invest in expertise. That expertise has meant that Snitterfield is now able to act on the engagement responses, as opposed to engaging as the end in itself.

Seek out the quietest voices by going directly to the people. Councillors and officials are well connected to their local area and have the knowledge of where people are. In Snitterfield, local councillors used that knowledge to door knock and speak to people directly in their homes. Without this approach, they would not have learned about the need to include sensory features in the redesign, excluding several children from being able to use and enjoy it. Expecting people to come to the council will not pick up the breadth of voices in the community.

Have courage in your convictions. The parish council got creative when facing delay, hosting small-scale one-off events to pique interest and try to keep the community engaged. It paid for expertise which brought a more viable, and more interesting, project. Working in partnership with the local nursery provided access to people whose views may not have otherwise been heard.

Challenge 2 

Community challenges – parish council potential

Imagine as part of your role as a community leader that you are drawing up a list of ideas for providing greater support to the young people in your ward. What support do you think the parish councils in the area could provide to assist you?

Parish councils are a good first port of call for any support you might be considering. They are likely to have good contacts for the full range of public, private and third sector organisations delivering services for children and young people in your area. As providers themselves, some may already be running services in partnership with other bodies or as their agent for example managing library services or working with village hall committees to help local youngsters.

As long as they act lawfully, parish councils can fund equipment and premises to help others to provide services or give grants to organisations that run child care, arts activities or sport– in fact, almost anything that will improve the quality of parish life for example an evening bus to take young people to the nearest town, a teenagers’ drop-in club, a summer youth festival or a local playgroup.

The Localism Act

The Localism Act expands the role of local councils in representing local communities. It has repealed the power of well-being for councils in England but makes provision for local authorities, including ‘certain’ parish councils, to have a new power, wider in scope than the power of well-being. The new power is the ‘general power of competence.’

Rather than councils being limited to activities which must be expressly permitted by legislation, the new general power permits authorities to do anything that an individual can do unless specifically prohibited by statute. This should free up local authorities to do whatever they choose in responding more effectively to their communities’ needs, encouraging innovation, and assisting in shared service delivery.

Under the Act, parish and town councils lead the creation of neighbourhood plans, supported by the local planning authority. Once written, the plan will be independently examined and put to a referendum of local people for approval.

www.legislation.gov.uk

Case study Somersham Parish Council – time banking

The journey began when Somersham Parish Council indicated to Cambridgeshire County Council they wished to participate in a localism project which would help their residents.

In parallel, Cambridgeshire County Council (CCC) recognised the coalition government’s vision for the ‘Big Society’, along with pressures on resources to support adult social care, an ageing population and the transformation agenda all required action across four interrelated dimensions of prevention, protection, personalisation, and partnership.

The parish council and the county council agreed to work in partnership on a pilot scheme on a specific county priority of ‘helping people to live independent and healthy lives in their communities.’ In doing so Cambridgeshire County Council made a commitment to become a ‘genuine local council’ and work even more closely with communities than they had in the past. The outcome of the collaboration resulted in the creation of a local Time Banking Scheme.

Time banking is an exciting way for people to come together to help others and help themselves at the same time. Participants ‘deposit’ their time in the bank by giving practical help and support to others and can ‘withdraw’ their time when they need something done themselves. Time banks link people locally to share their time and skills. Everyone’s time is equal: one hour of your time earns you one time-based credit to spend when you need.

In the last year as an extension to the time bank, Somersham Parish Council successfully bid and were awarded £24,000 from the county council’s Innovate and Cultivate Fund to run a Changing Lives project which puts on fitness activities and events for those who have dementia, neurological problems, or age-related issues. In partnership with Cambridgeshire County Council the joint aim is to keep people fit, healthy and living in their homes for longer and less reliant on help from social services.

Today Somersham’s Time Bank flourishes and neighbouring Pidley Parish Council has joined the scheme with the county council to develop more time banks across Cambridgeshire.

Challenge 3 

Using parish councils to translate strategy into action

District councils are required to produce community strategies which identify the vision for their area and the priorities for action that have been agreed by members. Many of these documents contain objectives in relation to improving the environmental stewardship of the local authority and its role in tackling environmental challenges like climate change. 

Identify below any ways that you believe town or parish councils could assist in tackling the environmental agenda (and thereby helping to translate these community strategies into action:

1. Local councils can be hugely influential in mobilising local people to act in relation to environmental concerns. 
2. They can help to raise awareness of the issues at a neighbourhood level by providing information in parish magazines, on notice boards or via their websites and blogs. 
3. They can help to run or grant fund schemes which assist people in increasing recycling and home composting or insulating their homes.
4.  They can champion initiatives to support local post offices and other community facilities to reduce car use and support sustainable local businesses. 
5. They can lobby for greater investment in renewable energy at community level. Every small change can make a difference.

Hints and tips

“I do use the parish councils quite shamelessly within my wards, for consultative purposes...those consultative bits are going quite deep into the community...I do make great use of that.” District and parish councillor

Tips for building rapport

• Be clear, open, and honest.
• Acknowledge the important role that the council plays and the value to you of closer cooperation.
• Give feedback and explain any decisions taken by you or your council.
• Aim to ensure that while there may not always be agreement between you, there will always be an understanding of each other’s views.
• Always maintain mutually courteous and beneficial behaviour.
• Be careful to listen and respond accordingly – don’t assume you understand the issues.
• Don’t focus only on the issues that you consider important – make it a genuine two-way dialogue.
• Be careful to explain the limits of your authority or influence for example don’t commit to actions that you can’t deliver on.

Challenge 4 

Making the most of your parish contacts

Look back over your diary, correspondence, or emails for the past six months. Identify six major issues that you have had to deal with as a ward councillor (these should be community-related rather than any internal council business). Having identified these, consider how you could have made better use of your town or parish council contacts in resolving these matters:

1. Major issues.
2. Ways that town/parish council(s) could have helped.
3. Reflect on your answers. If the issues you identified are typical of the sorts of challenges you are likely to face again, how likely is it that you will make better use of your parish contacts in the future?

Case study Battisford Parish Council – Food Bank

Battisford is a rural Parish Council in Suffolk serving the village of Battisford and its three hundred homes. They received funding from Suffolk Community Foundation funding to support and to provide a food bank and delivery service for its elderly and vulnerable residents, who were self-isolating during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Parish Council has been contacted by families who have lost their income and are seeking help to provide food for their children, in addition to the elderly residents. Battisford is a tiny rural village with a predominantly elderly population, most of whom are over 70 years old.

There are also no public transport links. They have set up an account with Bid Food/Bid Fest, a wholesaler where they are able to buy in bulk tinned goods, dried goods, and toiletries, as well as source fresh fruit, vegetables, and meats from local suppliers. Large supermarkets are a considerable drive away from this area. The volunteer team realised the potential of being able to help more families not only in Battisford, but in other surrounding areas too. With the help of the funding, they have set up a pop-up (non-profit making) farm shop where over three hundred families have been able to access food supplies.

Penkridge Parish Council Community Café – March 2024

What started out as a warm spaces scheme at the Haling Dene Centre has blossomed into a weekly community café, with 60-80 in attendance each week. Penkridge’s weekly community café demonstrates how creating opportunities for community connectiveness can have a significant impact on local population health.

The community café has been running for over a year and originally started out as a warm spaces scheme set up by the Parish Council. Each Thursday the café is open from 11-3, managed by a dedicated group of volunteers who coordinate all the necessaries from refreshments and cleaning, to managing a level of social engagement. Promotion via social media, the website and council newsletter has helped initiate the café, however, it is predominantly word of mouth that has led to 60-80 people attending each week.

The South Staffordshire Council provided a small grant, which was used to provide refreshments. A recent grant was also used to purchase a much-needed dishwasher to help manage the increasing amount of crockery being used. Feedback from attendees and volunteers has been extremely positive. The café is a fun environment to socialise and relax in and has seen a number of people who, without the provision, would not have left their homes, further reducing isolation and creating a greater sense of community connectedness. The Haling Dene Centre in Penkridge also hosts a plethora of other activities, including a number of fitness and wellbeing groups and classes. Outside of running the centre, the Parish Council manage four local play areas and by sourcing match funding through a grant, it has enabled their renovation. These types of initiatives really go to show the level of influence Parish Councils can have on local population health and how crucial the council’s involvement, including that of the staff, councillors, and volunteers, is in ensuring their success.

Challenge 5 

Jointly tackling the challenges of your community

Imagine your council has a new, high profile, campaign to increase volunteering by older people in the community. A number of the parish councils in your ward are keen to assist on the campaign.

1. Identify a list often ideas you could present to them in discussing the scope for a collaborative approach.

Challenge 6 

Where do you go from here?

Look back over the material contained in earlier sections of this workbook and consider the following:

1. What key action points can you identify to improve the way that you work with town and parish councils, for example what three or four things might you start doing, keep doing or stop doing?
2. Have you identified any gaps in your knowledge or shortcomings in your personal skills? If so, please set these out below and identify how any further training or development might help you for example further reading/research, attending courses, coaching, mentoring, work shadowing etc.

“Empowered local people taking responsibility for their community through local councils is a tried, tested and trusted model of action at the neighbourhood level. Given this important role local councils have in their communities, they are well placed to demonstrate how best to approach and achieve localism.” Councillor Michael Chater OBE, Chairman, NALC (National Association of Local Councils) 2011