Forum Topic

Parish Councils

Very interesting article in the Guardian regarding a Parish Council starting up in the Queens Park Ward in the Borough of Westminster and I am surprised that this idea has not expanded furtherhttp://www.theguardian.com/local-government-network/2014/feb/02/queens-park-london-first-parish-council-pickles

Paul Fisher ● 4204d8 Comments

Link is here:http://www.nalc.gov.uk/Publications/POWER_TO_THE_PEOPLE.aspxIn case you couldn't find it.

Guy Lambert ● 4201d

I will persist with that, so if the link remains broken I'll be looking elsewhere for the info.Your analysis in my view is spot on.  Like you say, parish councils have very little power and a "big" council which was not insecure and obsessed with controlling everything would welcome their creation, if only as an alternative focus for public anger when things go wrong.But unfortunately a shallow and narrow-minded entity like Hounslow would (rightly) see them as a threat to its absolute authority because of their potential to give the average ideas above their station.

Phil Andrews ● 4201d

"Can you seriously imagine either the officers or the political administration at LBH devolving any authority whatsoever to a community-led parish council if they are not legally obligated to do so?"I can see they would resist and in truth the parish councils that sis and friend served on were hardly the Ottoman Empire - it was more like they got a £10K budget to spend on improving playgrounds or planting shrubs. That in turn would (I would have thought) make it not much threat and something that 'big' council actually ought to welcome.And yes, I spotted the 'community governance review': either this change is pure spin (which I wouldn't rule out) or some provisions have been made for rules/criteria for such a review. One of the few policies this government has avowed which I welcome is supporting localism. There is very little evidence that they actually mean it about policy areas that matter to them (things like the education and NHS reforms are the direct opposite) but I could imagine that devolving powers that they view as unimportant, and irritating local authorities into the bargain, might represent a sweet spot!That's why it took my interest and why I tried to research on the NALC website, only to find a broken link. I think it might be repaired now.

Guy Lambert ● 4201d

It is indeed, many thanks Guy.  And apologies for the clumsy use of terminology - parish councils are not new, of course, but they are certainly a novelty in Greater London.It is this bit..."If the petition is valid, your local authority will carry out a ‘community governance review’ to see if a local council should be created"...which doesn't fill me with confidence.  Can you seriously imagine either the officers or the political administration at LBH devolving any authority whatsoever to a community-led parish council if they are not legally obligated to do so?

Phil Andrews ● 4201d

PhilI don't think they are 'new' but they seem to be being 'encouraged'. A friend of mine was chair (independent) of a parish council in Cambridge and my sister was a (Tory) PC in Norfolk, though both have stopped now.From 'gov.uk'"To set up your own town or parish council, you’ll need to first give your local authority a petition containing the signatures of at least 10% of the local population.The petition must:state exactly what it proposes, ie creating a parish or town council for a defined areacontain the signatures of at least 10% of local electors, based on the most recent electoral register - you’ll need more signatures for areas with fewer than 2,500 electorsIf the petition is valid, your local authority will carry out a ‘community governance review’ to see if a local council should be created.You can get more information and advice about what you need to do from the National Association of Local Councils’ (NALC) Create a Council site or you can contact your County Association of Local Councils. Each county has its own association. You can find contact details on the NALC website. For London, contact NALC direct. You may be able to get funding from them to help with this."I tried to get more info from NALC but the link to 'how to do it' was broken :pMay be interesting to you, given your views

Guy Lambert ● 4201d

It's not clear what powers the new parish councils will have but it is a foot in the door for real democracy and once people begin to get used to the idea that they can influence things and that they do not need to consign themselves to the straitjacket of a national political organisation in order to do so it will be a difficult notion to extinguish.Expect the usual suspects to be on here complaining about the cost and whining that all most "ordinary" people want is tidy streets and somebody more clever to do their thinking for them.  They are well overdue on this thread already.

Phil Andrews ● 4202d

The last thing the political classes want is local people involved who may not have party political affiliations.I think it would be a very good idea and not a bad thing to push party politics to the back of the room and let local concensus without 'policy' and career politicians riding roughshod over local concerns and issues. Something that happens way too often irrespective of political party.

Anthony Waller ● 4204d

Interesting Paul - I wasn't aware of this 'option' (if that's what it is!) Surprising that we're not hearing more of it.

Guy Lambert ● 4204d