Role of Parish Councils

Role of Parish Councils
The 1965 Royal Commission on Local Government (The Redcliffe-Maude Commission) recommended that local councils should be empowered to do what they pleased for the benefit of their people, and a consequence of this was the very important 1972 Local Government Act which removed many of the restrictions on the activities of parish councils. For example, before the 1972 Act, parish councils couldn’t save money from one year to the next in order to fund a major project. Something all councils have to do these days to avoid having a massive council tax for each year that anything new is attempted. Subsequent legislation has added to parish council powers and now local councils can undertake any of the following things:-

The provision of allotments.
Developing and improving knowledge of the arts and crafts.
Provision of bars and laundrettes.
Cemeteries, crematoria, maintenance of churchyards and the provision of mortuaries.
Provision and maintenance of public clocks.
Provision of any form of public entertainment and of any premises for giving entertainments; this includes maintaining bands or orchestras and providing for dancing.
The provision of buildings for public meetings and functions, indoor sports, physical recreation, for clubs having recreation, social or athletic objectives.
The provision and maintenance of footway lighting, which lights roads and pavements.
The provision of litter bins and the support of anti-litter campaigns.
The provision and maintenance of public open spaces, pleasure grounds and public walks, public lavatories, car parks, cycle parks, public parks and associated facilities.
Maintenance of public footpaths and bridleways, planting and maintaining road side verges.
Maintenance of public seats, shelters for general public use and particularly for bus passengers, erection of signs which warn of dangers, renounce a place name or indicate a bus stop.
Provision of indoor or outdoor swimming pools or bathing places.
Provision of facilities for conferences, the encouragement of recreation and business tourism.
Powers to maintain a village or town green.

In addition to all those things, a parish council can do anything, provided it is for the general benefit of the community, and that the expenditure in any one year does not exceed £5.30 per local government elector in that particular parish or community. In Whetstone, at the present time, that would limit expenditure to somewhere a little over £21,000 in any one year. But indeed, most things that the parish council might wish to do or hope to do could be covered by other legislation for which expenditure is unlimited. The only limit being imposed is that of the reluctance of parishioners to pay.

What of the future?
There are serious moves afoot for parishes to undertake work formerly the responsibility of the larger councils. Whetstone has managed all its public open spaces from 1st April, 1995 and negotiations with the County Council for the delegation of other functions is underway. This will involve parishes in greater financial responsibility but residents should benefit through having a much higher quality of service. Residents should also be able to look for a reduction in the Council Tax Charge by District and County Councils.

History of Parish Councils