An explanation of what parish councils and neighbourhood area committees are.
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Parish councils
Parish councils are the most local tier of government that we can have. They can also be known as town councils. Currently there are about 10,000 parishes in England. Parishes vary in size from a handful of electors to more than 40,000 people.
Parish councils may be styled in various ways, including as town councils, village councils, community councils, or neighbourhood councils.
Parish councils are elected by residents and are directly accountable to their communities.
Parishes should reflect a distinctive and recognisable community of place, with its own sense of identity.
They can offer local communities with significant benefits, such as:
- Community representation
- Enhanced local services
- Hyper-local projects
- Support for community cohesion
- A greater accountability and transparency of local decision making
Powers of parish councils
Parish councils can have the legal powers to run:
- Allotments
- Cemeteries and crematoriums
- Community centres
- CCTV and community safety
- Drainage
- Entertainment and the arts
- Street maintenance, such as footpaths, lighting, litter bins, benches, tree care, and grass cutting
- Car parking
- Community lotteries
- Parks, recreation grounds, and open spaces
- Public conveniences
- Planning consultation and neighbourhood planning
- Tourism
- Taxi fare concessions and bus services grants
Parish councils have community rights to bid, challenge, and build to bring more assets and services under their control. They can comment on planning applications and can shape local development through neighbourhood plans.
Funding of parish councils
Parish councils can be funded through grants, fees and charges, and a small council tax charge called a precept. The size of precept can vary quite a bit, depending on the services offered by the council.
Neighbourhood area committees
A neighbourhood area committee is a local governance body that involves residents in decision-making processes for their community.
The committees usually have local councillors who use their knowledge of the area to make decisions on how local funds are spent and what improvements are needed.
These committees are created by a council to focus on specific places within the larger council area and to influence decision making.
Powers and funding of neighbourhood area committees
They have no formal powers other than those delegated to them by the council.
They do not have to be consulted and cannot raise funds by themselves.
Differences between parish councils and neighbourhood area committees
|
|
Parish council | Neighbourhood area committee |
|---|---|---|
| How they are created |
Set up by law, lowest tier of government, and its powers and duties are defined in Acts of Parliament. Councillors are elected to the parish council and are directly accountable to the electorate. |
Created by the new council, they are committees of the council. |
| Powers |
They have statutory powers, duties and discretionary powers. They can deliver services, own and manage assets. |
Powers depend on what the new council decides the committee can do. They are advisory bodies to the council and can set local priorities. |
| Representation |
Councillors are directly elected to represent the local community, and they focus on local issues. They can serve as the focal point for community identity. |
They are a forum for local issues, they bring stakeholders together, local insight to the council and feed into decision making. |
| Funding |
They have staff, run services, and own and maintain assets, so they do need money to run. That comes from a council tax precept, plus money they raise through grants and the income they receive from things like allotment rent, and community activities. |
They are not usually given assets and services to run, so the cost is covered by the council tax set by the council which sets them up. |
| Duties |
They have statutory duties (for instance consultations on planning), plus discretionary duties. Their meetings have legal obligations, and there are legal obligations around their financial management. |
Their duties depend on what the new council sets them as. Their role is more about influencing the decisions of the council rather than having a legal mandate. |
| Area covered |
The area covered is what the electorate decides – e.g. a large parish council could cover all of Farnborough, with another for Aldershot, or it could cover a ward or a couple of neighbouring wards. |
Covers wards or several wards |
| Responsibilities on planning |
Parishes are statutory consultees on planning applications and can produce neighbourhood plans for development. |
May have advisory input into planning applications and can be delegated small planning matters, but they do not have statutory footing. |
Please visit our Your community, your say page for more information and to take part in our survey.
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