THE ROLE OF THE PARISH COUNCIL

What is a Parish?
There are two sorts of parishes whose boundaries do not always coincide.  These are (i) the Ecclesiastical Parishes centred on an Anglican church with a parochial church council and (ii) Civil Parishes, which are part of local administration; some of them are called Towns.

What is a Civil Parish?
A civil parish is an independent local democratic unit for villages, for smaller towns and for the suburbs of the main government areas.  Each parish has a Parish (or Town) Meeting consisting of all its local government electors and most (where the electorate exceeds 2000 have a Parish or Town Council.  Over 13 million people live in such parishes.

What is a Parish Council?
The council is a small local authority.  Its councillors are elected for four years at a time in the same way as other councils. Hartley Wintney Parish Council was last elected in 2007. Bye elections may be held to fill vacancies occurring between elections.  The council is the corporation of its village or town.  Each year the councillors choose a chairman from amongst their number; in town councils they are usually called Town Mayor.

What Powers have Parish Councils to do things for their areas?
Parish councils have a number of formal powers.  Many provide allotments; look after playing fields, village greens and other ways of getting exercise such as swimming pools.  They have a hand in communications by maintaining or guarding such things as rights of way, bus shelters and public seats: smaller scale street lighting: a very important thing which they are concerned with is the provision of halls and meeting places.

The powers which have been vested in parish, town and community councils by Acts of Parliament are summarised here as a guide to councillors and others. Each description is brief and intended to be a general indication. Like all powers given to public bodies the powers of local councils are defined in detail in legislation and these details may include the requirements to obtain consent of another body (for example the approval of the county council for the provision of a car park). Local councils must exercise their powers also subject to the provisions of general law (for example planning consent is necessary for a sports pavilion). Information on all these details should be available from the Parish Clerk.
The powers are listed alphabetically. Where a power is marked with an asterix the council may, in addition to exercising the power itself, help another body to act by giving financial assistance.

Allotments ~ provision and maintenance of allotments for cultivation.

Arts * ~ developing and improving knowledge of arts and the crafts which serve the arts.

Baths ~ provision of baths and wash-houses (which in modern terms may mean a launderette.)

Borrowing ~ Parish, town or community councils can borrow money for up to 25 years with loan sanction consent. The council must have loan sanction before borrowing.

Cemeteries * ~ provision and maintenance of burial grounds, cemeteries or crematoria.

Churchyards ~ power to contribute to the cost of a churchyard in use and the duty to maintain any closed churchyard where the duty has been transferred by the Church of England.

Clocks * ~ provision and maintenance of public clocks, on churches or elsewhere/.

Commons ~ power to protect any finally registered common which has no registered owner.

Entertainments * ~ provision of any form of entertainment and any premises for giving entertainments. (This includes maintaining bands or orchestras and providing for dancing.)

Halls * ~provision of buildings for public meetings and functions, for indoor sports or physical recreation, or for the use of clubs or societies having recreational, social or athletic objects.

Legal Proceedings ~ power to prosecute and defend any legal proceedings in the interest of the inhabitants. Power to take part in any public local enquiry.

Lighting ~ provision and maintenance of any footway lighting which lights roads or pavements providing the columns are not above a specified height.

Litter * ~ provision of litter bins in streets and support for anti-litter campaigns.

Mortuaries ~ provision of mortuaries and post mortem rooms.

Open Spaces ~ provision and management of public open spaces, pleasure grounds and public walks.

Parking Places ~ provision and management of car and cycle parks.

Parks ~ provision and maintenance of public parks and appropriate facilities.

Planning ~ local councils have a right to be notified of any planning application affecting their area and to make comments which the planning authority must take into account.

Playing Fields * ~ provision and maintenance of land for any kind of outdoor recreation, including boating pools.

Ponds * ~ power to deal with ponds, pools, or other places containing filth or matter prejudicial to health.

Post & Telephones power to guarantee the postal or telephone authorities against a loss on a facility.

Public Lavatories ~ provision and maintenance of public lavatories.

Rights of Way ~ maintenance of public footpaths and bridleways.

Roadside Verges ~ power to plant and maintain roadside verges.

Seats * ~ provision and maintenance of public seats on the highway.

Shelters * ~ provision and maintenance of shelters for general public use and also particularly for bus passengers.

Signs ~ power to erect signs which warn of dangers or announce a place name, or indicate a bus stop.

Swimming * provision of indoor or outdoor swimming pools or bathing places.

Tourism ~ provision of facilities for conferences and encouragement of recreational and business tourism.

Village Greens * ~ powers to maintain the village or town green.

General Expenditure Power ~ in any situation not covered by one of the specific powers described above a council may spend money on any purpose which in its opinion is of direct benefit to its area or to the inhabitants. The total expenditure by the council under this general power (often referred to as Section 137 expenditure) must not exceed the sum directed by Central Government – for the 2008/09 financial year it is £5.86 – per local government elector in the parish, town or community.

How do they do it?
The parish council can do these things by actually providing them itself or by helping someone else (such as volunteers or a charity0 financially to do it for them.  Parish councils thrive on volunteers.

What else do they do?
Plenty of things.  Some provide village guides or leaflets for newcomers, or help with the Meals on Wheels system, or a local bus service.  They make village surveys.  One runs a holiday hotel.  Many provide car or cycle parks.  Others provide public conveniences, litter bins and seats and can prosecute noise makers or litter bugs.  Many appoint charitable trustees and school managers.  Very often the cemetery is managed by the parish council.  They have power to improve the quality of community life by spending sums of money on things which, in their opinion, are in the interests of the parish or its inhabitants, and many kinds of activities are aided in this way.

How much do they cost?
Parish councils are the most un-bureaucratic and cheapest kind of local authority in existence.  Their funds are a tiny part of the council tax: they get no general government grant so they have every incentive to keep expenditure low and economical.

What else is important?
Parish councils have lately become more important because the district councils have become larger and more remote.  The parish councillors know the village and can (and increasingly often do) represent its views to other authorities like the district council, the county council, health authorities, providers of services like railways and to central government departments.  They are entitled to be consulted on planning applications and are often consulted on such things as schools and roads.  They put the parish’s case at public enquiries.

Who controls the Parish Council?
You elect its members every four years and you are entitled to go to the annual parish meeting and say what you think.  The accounts are strictly audited every year.

Parish Reviews
Parish and town boundaries are reviewed by the Local Government Commission; the aim is to make existing parish and town boundaries correspond better to the social communities in which people live and to create new councils for areas which have not had them before.

How does one find out more?
The parish council’s meetings are open to the public, and an assembly of the Parish Meeting for all electors has by law to be held every year between March and June.