Smaller Councils Committee

Our Smaller Councils Committee represents the needs of smaller parish and town councils, defined as those with an electorate of under 6,000. Its function is to enable smaller councils to be provided with the tools and information to carry out their functions effectively, with the minimum cost and complexity and to develop, formulate and respond to the policy issues affecting smaller councils, including the ability to recommend directly to the Policy Committee.

There is no universal or widely recognised definition of the smaller council, whether based on parish population, electorate size, annual financial turnover, fixed assets, number of members, internal substructure or level of activity. It is easier to focus on some general descriptive characteristics. In the parish and town council sector, smaller councils tend to have smaller annual budgets, employ fewer (or, sometimes, no) staff, serve more rural and sparsely populated communities and operate with simple systems, basic internal structures and procedures. Few smaller councils have historically attempted to deliver a significant range of services, but times are changing rapidly. The Localism Act 2011 enabled it to deviate more powers from principal authorities. In addition to the power of wellbeing, parish and town councils have a general power of competence. This means that, regardless of size, they are not limited to activities expressly defined by legislation but are permitted to do any activity an individual can legally do, such as run a shop, a pub, or local transport.

Principal authorities whose tax-raising powers are capped deliver fewer services and maintain fewer local assets than they previously did. As a result, they are looking towards parish and town councils to take over many of these responsibilities. Smaller councils want to preserve critical local services and many-valued local buildings, parks, and open spaces. This requires a massive step up in aspirations, staff capacity, precepts, and volunteer time, all happening over a short period. Additionally, they must meet the legal requirements on various issues, from transparency to data protection, that much larger councils must meet.