Frequently asked questions
Yes. A ‘retiring’ chairman must preside if present (even if they are no longer a councillor following an ordinary election), can nominate her/himself, vote for her/himself, and use her/his casting vote in their own favour.
In an emergency (e.g. to cover a temporary vacancy) a councillor may fulfil the role of clerk to the local council. However, it is not good practice for councillors to do this on anything other than a very temporary basis as it confuses officer/councillor roles.
It should be noted that councillors may not be paid employees of their council (as there is an unacceptable conflict of interest) and may not become employees of their former council until at least 12 months after ceasing to be a councillor.
No. An aggrieved parishioner should request a copy of the council’s complaints policy and follow its procedures. The final form of redress is by way of judicial review.
Yes, under the provisions of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976, which include “buildings, equipment, supplies and assistance of any kind”.
It is important to emphasise that council meetings are meetings in public and not public meetings. It is best practice for councils to have public participation time at the start of the meeting where members of the public are permitted to put questions to the council. If the subject is not on the evenings agenda, it may only be answered outside of the meeting or added as an agenda item at the next meeting.
No; there is no necessity to have a vice chairman, though many larger councils choose to do so.
By resolution of the council. There is no necessity of approval by any outside authority.
These should be kept indefinitely as archive materials. Once approved and signed as a correct record they are acceptable as evidence in a court of law, if there are difficulties in storing past minute books they can be lodged with the county record office for safe keeping.
At least four meetings per year, one of which must be the annual meeting of the council.
This can be demanded by not less than 10 or one third of the electors present at the meeting, whichever is the less.
Three clear days public notice of the time and place of a meeting of the full council and its agenda. ‘Clear days’ excludes the day on which the notice was issued and the day of the meeting. A Sunday, a day of the Christmas break, a day of the Easter break, a bank holiday or a day appointed for public thanksgiving or mourning do not count when calculating ‘clear days’.
Note: 243 of the 1972 Act, local councils may include Saturday when counting the period of three clear days’ notice for a council meeting. Please refer to your councils Standing Orders when calculating Saturday as a ‘clear day’.
No; the re-convened meeting is considered to be a continuation of the original meeting at which all members will have been made aware of the adjournment.
The Department for Communities and Local Government has confirmed that the appropriate sum for parish councils in England for the purposes of section 137(4) (a) of the Local Government Act 1972 (“the 1972 Act”) for 2024-2025 is £10.81 per elector. Remember that s137 is a power of last resort, so you should only use this when no other power is available. Expenditure must benefit some or all of your electorate. s137 payments must be recorded as a separate column within your accounts.
A minimum of three or a third of councillor seats, whichever is the greater.
A parish council may arrange to discharge any of its functions through a committee of the council (Local Government Act 1972, s.101), other than those of issuing a precept for a rate, borrowing money, and the approval of a lottery.
A Councillor is appointed either through the process of election (Town and Parish elections are held every four years) or they are co-opted at a later stage when a casual vacancy arises within the four year term when a Councillor resigns, dies, or becomes disqualified. All councillors are equal. The only difference is that co-opted councillors cannot receive a Councillor Allowance, although they may be reimbursed for expenses disbursed on behalf of the council in line with the councils usual policy.
Extract from LTN 1
- The prescribed criteria that a local council is required to fulfil in order to become an eligible parish council are set out in the Parish Councils (General Power of Competence) (Prescribed Conditions) Order 2012. It confirms that a local council is eligible to use the general power of competence if: a. it has a qualified clerk; b. a minimum of two-thirds of the total number of councillors have been elected; and c. it has resolved at a meeting of the council and each subsequent relevant annual meeting (that is, an annual meeting that takes place in a year of ordinary elections of parish councillors)that it meets these conditions. The relevant date for eligibility purposes is the annual meeting in a year of ordinary elections. As such, if a council loses a qualified clerk or does not have two-thirds of elected councillors in the intervening period between relevant annual meetings, the council will remain eligible until the next annual meeting in a year of ordinary elections.Having a qualified deputy clerk or RFO is not sufficient if the clerk is not qualified.
As a town, parish or community council, the law says if you are processing
personal data you must pay a data protection fee to the ICO.
Failure to pay the fee could result in a fine.
The Local Government Act 1972 states that when a Council Member fails to attend any meeting (whole council, a committee, sub-committee, or a joint committee) for six consecutive months from the date of his last attendance, they cease to be a member of the council, unless the Council accepts a reason for the failure to attend before the six months period expires. All councils must vote to accept or not, apologies. Those not attending and not sending apologies are marked as Did Not Attend.
85Vacation of office by failure to attend meetings.
(1)Subject to subsections (2) and (3) below, if a member of a local authority fails throughout a period of six consecutive months from the date of his last attendance to attend any meeting of the authority, he shall, unless the failure was due to some reason approved by the authority before the expiry of that period, cease to be a member of the authority.