Parish Council
Parish Council Office:
What is the role of parish councillors and of the clerk?
Members of the Parish Council are unpaid local people, elected by the local people. Elections are every four years: the next election in Longstanton is in the spring of 2008.
Local volunteers, however, may be co-opted when there are not enough candidates for seats at an election or when the electorate does not call for an election after a seat has fallen vacant. There are 11 seats on Longstanton Parish Council.
The Parish Council forms a corporate body with a legal existence separate from that of its members. It is accountable to the electorate and it can be taken to court: as a body, it is responsible for its actions.
Residents pay the ‘precept’ that is decided by the Parish Council every year to meet its budgeted expenditure and to carry out the needs of the parish. The precept is the Parish Council’s share of the council tax collected by South Cambridgeshire District Council. A large proportion of the Parish Council’s budget is spent on administration (paying the Parish Clerk’s salary, audit fees, subscriptions, insurances, rents, etc.). The Parish Council must publish the parish budget showing how and where the precept will be spent: the decisions to approve the expenditure, before the next financial year, are made at a council’s public meeting and these resolutions are minuted.
The Parish Clerk is the Council’s Proper Officer: this means that the clerk is not similar to a secretary simply taking the minutes at meetings, dealing with correspondence and archiving documents. The clerk is a qualified officer providing both professional advice concerning the laws of governance and administrative support to the Council. Answerable only to the Parish Council as a whole, the clerk takes action to implement council decisions and acts as its finance administrator.
Delegating the power to make decisions to a committee of the council, or to the Parish Clerk whose professional independence allows her to act on behalf of the council, must be formally agreed by the full council. Council is given legal powers, under a number of Acts of parliament to carry out its functions (see main listing below). Duties are actions that the council must take by law: the Parish Council has fewer duties than County and District councils but it has a greater freedom to choose what local actions to take on behalf of the village residents.
The Parish Council’s central role is to act in the interest of the whole community. Taking corporate actions to improve its quality of life and its environment, councillors try to provide this service responsibly and openly: they are bound by a strict code of conduct.
Consulting and listening to the residents to understand their needs, their wishes and their concerns is an essential aspect of parish councillors’ work: in particular, Longstanton Parish Plan is providing the Parish Council and the Principal Authorities of the area with a strong mandate for identified actions that may be considered and revised up to 2015; community leadership is at the heart of modern local government and Principal Authorities are taking on new responsibilities for working in partnership with other organisations, including the voluntary and community sector, to improve services and the quality of life of citizens.
What is the Parish Council responsible for?
This list is not exhaustive:
|
Functions |
Powers and Duties |
Statutory provisions |
|
Allotments |
Powers to provide
allotments
Duty to consider providing allotment gardens if demand unsatisfied
|
Smallholdings & Allotments Act 1908, s.23 |
|
Burial Grounds, cemeteries and crematoria |
Power to acquire, provide and maintain Power to agree to maintain monuments and memorials
Powers to contribute towards expenses of cemeteries |
Open Spaces Act 1906, ss 9 and 10 Parish Councils and Burial Authorities (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1970, s. 1
Local Government Act 1972, s. 214 |
|
Bus shelters |
Power to provide and maintain shelters |
Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1953, s. 4 Parish Councils Act 1957, s. 1 |
|
Bye Laws |
Power to provide bye laws:
Pleasure Ground
Cycle parks
Open spaces and burial grounds |
Public health Act 1875, s.164
Road Traffic Regulation Act 1936, s. 15
Open Spaces Act 1906, s. 15 |
|
Charities |
Duties regarding parochial charities |
Charities Act 1993, s. 79 |
|
Christmas lights |
Power to provide to attract visitors |
Local Government Act 1972, s. 144 |
|
Conference facilities |
Power to provide and encourage the use of facilities |
Local Government Act 1972, s. 144 |
|
Community centres |
Power to provide and equip community buildings Power to provide buildings for use of clubs having athletic, social or educational objectives |
Local Government Act 1972, s. 133
Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976, s. 19 |
|
Crime prevention |
Power to spend money on various crime prevention measures |
Local Government and Rating Act 1997, s. 31 |
|
Drainage |
Power to deal with ponds and ditches |
Public health Act 1936, s. 260 |
|
Entertainment and the arts |
Provision of entertainment and support of the arts including festivals and celebrations |
Local Government Act 1972, s. 139 |
|
Gifts |
Power to accept |
Local Government Act 1972, s. 139 |
|
Highways |
Power to repair and maintain public footpaths and bridle-ways Power to light roads and public places Power to provide parking places for vehicles, bicycles and motor-cycles Power to enter into agreement as to dedication and widening Power to provide roadside seats and shelters Power to complain to district councils regarding protection of rights of way and roadside wastes Power to provide traffic signs and other notices
Power to plant trees etc. and to maintain roadside verges |
Highways Act 1980, ss 43, 50
Parish Councils Act 1957, s. 3
Road Traffic regulation Act 1984, s. 57
Highways Act 1980, s. 30
Parish Councils Act 1957, s. 1
Highways Act 1980, s. 130 (6)
Road Traffic regulation Act 1984, s. 72 Highways Act 1980, s. 96 |
|
Investments |
Power to participate in schemes of collective investment |
Trustee 1962, s. 11 |
|
Land |
Power to acquire by agreement, to appropriate, to dispose of land Power to accept gifts of land |
Local Government Act 1972, ss 124, 126, 127 Local Government Act 1972, s. 139 |
|
Litter |
Provision of receptacles |
Litter Act 1972, ss. 5, 6 |
|
Lotteries |
Power to promote |
Lotteries and Amusement Act 1976, s. 7 |
|
Newsletters |
Power to provide information relating to matters affecting local government |
Local Government Act 1972, s. 142 |
|
Nuisances |
Power to deal with offensive ditches |
Public health Act 1936, s. 260 Public health Act 1875, s. 164 |
|
Open spaces |
Power to acquire and maintain |
Open Spaces Act 1906, s. 164 |
|
Parish property and documents |
Power to direct as to their custody |
Local Government Act 1972, s. 226 |
|
Public buildings and Village hall |
Power to provide building for offices and for public meetings and assemblies |
Local Government Act 1972, s. 133 |
|
Parks, pleasure grounds |
Power to acquire land or to provide recreation grounds, public walks, pleasure grounds and open spaces and to manage and control them |
Public health Act 1875, s. 164 (Local Government Act 1972 Sched. 14, para. 27) Public health Acts Amendment Act 1890, s. 44 Open Spaces Act 1906, ss. 9 and 10 |
|
Recreation |
Power to provide a wide range of recreational facilities |
Local Government Act 1976, s. 19 |
|
Town and Country Planning |
Right to be notified of planning applications |
Town and Country Planning Act 1990, Sched. 1,para. 8 |
|
Transport |
Powers to spend money on community transport schemes |
Local Government and Rating Act 1997, s. 26 - 29 |
|
Village signs |
Power to use decorative signs to inform visitors |
Local Government Act 1972, s. 144 |
|
War memorials |
Power to maintain, repair, protect and adapt war memorials |
War Memorials (Local Authorities’ Powers) Act 1923, s. 1; as extended by Local Government Act 1948, s. 133 |