The North Somercotes Parish Council is made up of eleven elected members - comprising the Chair, Vice-Chair and nine members - all unpaid volunteers who work for the benefit of the community and all local residents. The Parish Council is fully accountable and subject to detailed audit.
The Clerk and Responsible Financial Officer to the Parish Council is the Proper Officer of the Council and is a paid, part-time employee.
Residents may attend full council meetings and can speak briefly on Agenda items or other village matters at the commencement of the meeting during the Public Session.
All enquiries about this website or content, please contact the Parish Clerk.
LINCOLNSHIRE ASSOCIATION OF LOCAL COUNCILS
How your local council works
Who is this Guidance Note for?
This Note has been prepared in response to queries from members of the public, who from time to time request information on, or advice about, their local town or parish council.
As a membership organisation funded by its members (which are the town and parish councils of the county) the Association cannot become involved in cases where individuals may have a complaint about their local council. Firstly, the vast majority of these councils are our clients, and secondly, with only a very small staff we are just not able to deal with such matters. However, the Association is keen to promote a greater understanding and awareness of the important role of local councils and we therefore hope that this Note will be helpful for members of the public.
Note: for the sake of simplicity, town and parish councils will be referred to in this Note as ‘local councils’. In legal terms, there are virtually no differences between a town and parish council apart from that of size – other than an option to use the title of ‘Mayor’ rather than ‘Chairman’ if a town council so wishes.
The Note will also refer to county/district councils as ‘principal authorities’. Lincolnshire has a 3-tier system of county, district and parish. In some counties, county/district councils have been replaced by a single, unitary authority.
What do Local Councils do?
• Local councils are small local authorities whose electorate comprises just a single town or village (or a group of villages). A parish with an electorate below 200 does not have to have a Parish Council – it may just have a Parish Meeting (see below).
• They are in nearly all respects independent of principal authorities, though district councils provide the administration of the parish’s council tax (precept) and of elections.
• Councillors are elected, by the electorate of the town or village, every 4 years. Casual vacancies – where a seat becomes vacant mid-way through the 4-year period - are firstly offered as an opportunity for a bye-election, if a minimum of 10 electors request one in writing. If not, they are filled by the council at a meeting, by vote, and by choosing from any candidates who put themselves forward for consideration for ‘co-option’.
• Local Councils have a choice as to whether or not they provide a wide range of services for the benefit of their local communities. Unlike principal authorities, there is little by way of service provision that they must undertake. Many local councils provide playing fields, provide or support the village hall, undertake burials, provide allotments, look after footpaths, children’s play areas, environmental areas, help keep the town or village attractive, undertake surveys on transport, housing and other matters, support local community and voluntary transport schemes – the list is almost endless. It is however important to understand that local councils cannot be forced to do any of these things, even though you may feel that they should.
• Local council meetings are normally open to the press and public, though meetings can be closed to the press and public if in the council’s opinion “publicity would be prejudicial to the public interest”. That might be because the council wants to discuss named employees, or tenders for the purchase of goods and services, for example. You need to be aware that, even though the meeting is open to the public, you have no right, unless you are a councillor, actually to speak at the meeting. However, many local councils nowadays hold an open session, for a limited period before, during, or at the end of the council meeting, at which members of the public can raise matters of concern to them. See also “Annual Parish Meeting” later in this Note.
• Some 75% of local councils in Lincolnshire serve electorates smaller than 1500. Most local councils therefore employ only one person, usually part-time. That employee is usually called the Clerk to the Council. In some of the very smallest councils he or she may do the work on a voluntary basis, though these days nearly all clerks receive a salary. The work is demanding and ever-increasing in volume. The role of the Clerk is to put into effect the decisions of the council and to provide the council with advice to help it in its decision-making. Larger local councils will of course tend to have more employees, depending on the range of services provided.
• Council minutes are open to inspection by local electors, and the accounts of the local council are audited annually, and the public has a right to inspect the accounts prior to the audit. The dates when you can do this will be publicised in your community by an official notice placed wherever your council normally advertises its meetings. Again, you need to remember that, especially in the smaller parishes, the council will not operate from a council Office but from the Clerk’s home. The council may well not have ready access to a photocopier. If the Clerk is only employed part-time, he or she may have other employment during the day, and you will need to negotiate a convenient time and place if you wish to inspect the council’s minutes. You have the right to ‘take copies’, but this does not extend to being allowed to take the Minute Book away for photocopying. The council’s Publication Scheme will also detail how copies may be obtained of these and other documents, and what costs, if any, are involved.
• Even though local councils are in law local authorities, many of them operate quite informally. Especially in smaller communities, councillors will often expect to “roll their sleeves up” and do tasks themselves, voluntarily. You need to bear this in mind in your dealings with your local council – usually there will not be a large staff to carry out the work. However, local councils do have to operate within the law, as explained later in this Note.
Surely Local Councils must have to follow rules and regulations?
Yes, they do. Like all other local authorities, they must follow local government law. This is contained in a whole series of Acts of Parliament, from 1894 onwards. Not every piece of local government legislation applies to local councils, and some Acts of Parliament only apply to them in part, but they must obey those Acts, or parts of Acts, that do apply to them. You can find most of these Acts of Parliament in a good reference library, and since 1996 new Acts of Parliament have been made available via the internet.
The main governing principles for local councils are set out in the Local Government Act 1972, and in particular in Schedule 12 of that Act. This Act sets out some of the minimum requirements for councils in relation to meetings, conduct and documentation, for example:
• Councils must meet a minimum of 4 times per year
• They must keep minutes of their meetings
• They must elect a Chairman from among their number
• They must have their accounts audited in accordance with this and subsequent legislation
• Meetings must be publicly advertised in advance within the area served by the Council.
• Councillors must, on taking up office, sign a Declaration of Acceptance of Office
Other sources of information:
• “Local Council Administration” by Charles Arnold Baker
• “The Parish Councillor’s Guide” by John Prophet
Both of these should be available via the public library service.
How can I get my local council to consider something which concerns me?
There is no single “right way” to go about this. As an elector, you do not have the right to force the council to put a matter on its agenda. The purpose of elections is to choose representatives to work on behalf of the electorate, and if you don’t like the way your representatives do this, you will presumably not vote them in at the next election.
Perhaps the best way of approach is to raise your concern with the Clerk to the Council. If you do not know who the Clerk is, your district council will be able to tell you. You should be able to contact the Clerk in person, by phone or in writing. Many Clerks nowadays are available via e-mail. Ask him or her whether the council will consider the subject, and, if so, when. Sometimes you may be asked, or you may prefer, to put this in writing.
Alternatively, ask one of the local councillors to raise your concern. If you don’t know who your Local Councillors are, the Clerk to the Council will be able to tell you.
Is there any other way that I can raise matters with the Local Council?
There is a public meeting of all the electors, which should be held in each town or village annually, between March 1st and June 1st. It is usually called the Annual Parish (or Town) Meeting, though sometimes it gets called the Annual General Meeting.
In legal terms this meeting is quite separate to the town or parish council’s business, and its decisions are not binding upon the council. It is a relic of the Middle Ages when decisions were taken by all the villagers at a meeting in the vestry of the church.
The Annual Parish (or Town) Meeting is usually arranged by the local council, and the council Chairman must, if he or she is present, chair the meeting. All electors have a right to attend and to speak, and a wise local council will normally want to take heed of what electors raise at this meeting, and consider them at a future council meeting. It can be a very good opportunity to raise matters of concern, and maybe discover that they affect other local residents too. There is no legally laid down agenda, but the meeting will usually get a report from the council on its activities. Often the council’s accounts are presented, there may be reports from other local organisations, and sometimes a speaker on a subject of local interest. The Meeting must be advertised locally – on the notice board is sufficient – giving seven days’ notice.
Councils often complain that this meeting is poorly attended by the public, and they are likely to be pleased to have a good turnout, especially if those attending take a constructive interest in local matters.
If I am still not satisfied, can I go to the Ombudsman?
No. Local councils are not included in the Ombudsman scheme.
If you have a serious complaint about a financial matter, you can complain to the Auditors at the time of the annual audit (see above).
If you feel that an individual councillor has breached their council’s Code of Conduct, you can complain to the district council, via the Monitoring Officer of that authority, who then decide whether to investigate.
A complaint to your Council is more likely to be dealt with effectively if:
• you approach the Council in a reasonable, non-aggressive manner
• your complaint is not a purely private one but has some implications for other residents
• your complaint is not simply one which can be seen as a personal vendetta against another resident (or residents), or the council, its Clerk or its councillors
• you have a clear, concise account, along with any supporting papers, of what has happened - bombarding the council with masses of wordy documentation will not usually help your cause.