Role of the Parish Council

The role of the Parish Council is to represent the interests of the whole community. The Parish Council is an elected body in the first tier of local government known as Local Councils. Other tiers, known as principal councils or Local Authorities, have many legal duties to deliver services such as education, housing, town and country planning, transport, environmental health and social services. Elections take place every 4 years with the next election in May 2027.

Parish Councils provide a focus for the community to identify concerns and projects, and endeavour to solve them locally themselves. Parish Councils have the legal power to take action, but they have very few duties and greater freedom to choose what action to take. They can play a vital part in representing the interests of the communities they serve and improving the quality of life and the local environment.

Parish Council decisions are the responsibility of the whole body and are made collectively and by majority. The Parish Council has been granted powers by Parliament including the authority to raise money through taxation – the precept, and a range of powers to spend public money.

The Parish Council is a corporate body, and a legal entity, separate from that of its Members, and is accountable to the local community.

The Parish Council is an employer. The Parish Clerk works for and with the Council to action its decisions.

 

Role of a Parish Councillor

The principal role of a Parish Councillor is to take collective decisions of behalf of all residents within the Parish. Councillors must take great care to avoid taking decisions that take account of their own opinion only. They have a responsibility to be well-informed, especially about diverse local views and to listen to, and understand, the views and needs of different groups in the community. Councillors cannot assume that they represent the interests of electors without consulting them.

The role is unpaid, but Councillors are not volunteers in a legal sense. They are elected representatives and holders of a public office with statutory duties. Councillors serve for a 4-year term, unless co-opted or elected in a by-election. They must apply the law and comply with the Code of Member Conduct. Councillors contribute to the work of the Council by suggesting ideas, influencing policy, engaging in constructive debate and by responding to the needs and views of the community. Councillors comment on proposals to ensure the best outcome and vote to enable the Council to make decisions.

Individual Parish Councillors cannot make decisions on behalf of the Council, but they can actively lead and engage with local projects. Parish Councillors have no powers outside of the Council meeting.

Diversity is encouraged. Councillors from different backgrounds better represent the whole community and possess different enthusiasms, skills, attitudes and interests. Some Councillors work with ideas while others are very practical; some like accounts while others prefer reports. The Parish Council needs a wide range of skills to work as a team.

Occasionally there will be a conflict of interest requiring sensitive judgement, and the need to take difficult decisions in an open, honest and reasoned way. Councillors are also required to act in an ethical way and to declare an interest when necessary.

 

Role of the Clerk

The Clerk is the Council’s chief officer, working for a local council serving a local community is at the heart of everything a clerk does and the clerk is a vital asset to the council.

• Advises the council on legal matters
• Organises the council’s procedures
• Raises the profile of the council in the local community
• Negotiates with other organisations
• Manages the council’s projects
• Administer the council’s finances
• Gathers information to help the council make decisions
• Guides the council as it engages with its residents
• Implements the council’s decisions

It is a professional role requiring specialist knowledge and a range of skills. The clerk is employed by the council to manage its activities and provide administrative assistance and sound advice.

The clerk is normally the ‘proper officer’ – a legal tern meaning the appropriate officer for a specific function. The council must appoint the officers it needs to do its work. The council must also appoint a Responsible Financial Officer (RFO) to manage its finances. The clerk and RFO are often the same person – but not always. Even if the clerk is not the RFO, the clerk will still need to understand the council’s finances.

 

Responsible Finance Officer

The council must ensure that one of its officers has responsibility for financial matters; that officer is legally known as the Responsible Financial Officer (RFO). The RFO is usually the clerk in smaller councils, whilst in larger councils it can be a separate post and officer. The RFO ensures that the records and accounts of the council are prepared in accordance with specified ‘’proper practices” and kept up to date. Councillors continue to be accountable for ensuring that the council does not spend beyond its means, but the RFO designs and implements the accounting arrangements to assure members that finances are being properly managed. The RFO must ensure that all salary and associated payments for council employees comply with HMRC PAYE rules. The council should ensure that the RFO acts properly and efficiently to avoid the risk of loss, fraud or bad debt, whether through deliberate or careless actions.

Throughout the year the council needs to satisfy itself that expenditure is both lawful and in line with council decisions, and that proper controls are in place to prevent any possibility of fraud. No council wants to risk being the subject of adverse local media coverage relating to financial mismanagement, lack of control or poor budgeting. The RFO will be able to provide general advice on finance and should have access to advice from the sector membership organisations.