What parish and town councils and councillors do
Parish and town councils and councillors make a massive difference to local people's quality of life. They are passionate about their communities and seek to make a change to help improve their residents' lives.
What parish and town councils do
Parish and town councils run numerous services, depending on the council size. You will see many day-to-day, but some have yet to be discovered. These include delivering services (such as allotments, car parks, celebrations and festivals, community buses, community and leisure centres, litter bins, parks and open spaces, public toilets and street lights), improving the quality of life (such as community hubs, neighbourhood plans, funding community projects and services, suitable housing, setting up dementia-friendly groups, solar panels, tackling loneliness and youth projects), and giving the community a voice on planning matters with principal authorities and developers, local police and health services, and the government.
What parish and town councillors do
Councillors are elected to represent the local community, so you must live or work in the parish or town council area. Becoming a councillor is a rewarding experience as you can make a change in your community to help improve residents' lives. A councillor’s role can include developing strategies and plans for the area, helping with problems and ideas, representing the community, working with other local community groups, making decisions, and talking to the community about their needs and what the council is doing.
A councillor's role has three main areas:
- Decision-making — Councillors decide which activities to support, where money should be spent, what services should be delivered, and what policies should be implemented by attending meetings and committees.
- Monitoring — Councillors ensure that their decisions lead to efficient and effective services by monitoring how well things work.
- Getting involved locally — As local representatives, councillors have responsibilities towards their constituents and local organisations. These responsibilities often depend on what a given councillor wants to achieve and how much time is available.
What a day as a councillor may look like
The day-to-day work of a councillor may include the following:
- Attending council meetings.
- Joining meetings of local organisations and bodies that affect the wider community, such as the police, the Highways Authority, schools and colleges.
- Taking up issues on behalf of residents, such as making representations to the principal authority.
- Running surgeries for residents to bring up issues.