Parish & Town Councils

It is a statutory local authority set up under the Local Government Act 1972.  It operates in the area of a defined civil parish or group of parishes.  Lancashire operates within three tiers of local government – Lancashire County Council, District Councils and Town/Parish Councils.  A Town Council has the same powers as a Parish Council - it is simply that the Council has decided to take on the title ‘town’ as more appropriate.  Elections to parish councils are held every four years.

Town and Parish Councils are an essential part of the structure of local democracy and have a vital role in acting on behalf of the communities they represent.  They -

• give views, on behalf of the community, on planning applications and other proposals that affect the parish;
• undertake projects and schemes that benefit local residents;
• work in partnership with other bodies to achieve benefits for the parish;
• alert relevant authorities to problems that arise or work that needs to be undertaken; and
• help the other tiers of local government keep in touch with their local communities. 

The Government introduced the Quality Parish and Town Council Scheme in 2003 with the aim of encouraging Councils, on behalf of their communities, to have a greater say in the running and improvement of local services.

They have a wide range of powers which essentially relate to local matters, such as looking after community buildings, open space, allotments, play areas, street lighting, bus shelters, car parks and much more.  The Government introduced the Quality Parish and Town Council Scheme in 2003 with the aim of encouraging Councils, on behalf of their communities, to have a greater say in the running and improvement of local services.

A full list of powers

The precept is the parish council’s share of the council tax.  The precept demand goes to the billing authority, the District Council, which collects the tax for the Parish Council. The 'Precept' is converted into an amount per Council Tax Band that is added onto the Council Tax bill.  Income and expenditure for the next financial year are calculated in the form of estimates. The net amount (the precept) is added to council tax, collected by the county, borough or district council (principal authorities) and paid to parishes in two six-monthly instalments. Parish and town councils can apply for other funding such as grant and funding awards, but they do not receive funds direct from central government, as principal authorities do. 

Parish Councils can raise revenue to help meet their spending requirements by issuing a 'Precept'. This is the total amount to be raised through the Council Tax from all the dwellings within the Parish area. The 'Precept' is converted into an amount per Council Tax Band that is added onto the Council Tax bill.

The amount is calculated on Band B properties. To calculate the additional Parish Charge amount for the other bands, multiply the amount shown for band D as follows:

Band A = Band D Charge × 6 ÷ 9
Band B = Band D Charge × 7 ÷ 9
Band C = Band D Charge × 8 ÷ 9
Band E = Band D Charge × 11 ÷ 9
Band F = Band D Charge × 13 ÷ 9
Band G = Band D Charge × 15 ÷ 9
Band H = Band D Charge × 18 ÷ 9

The district councils revenues and benefits teams collect council tax on behalf of the county council, police, fire and any parish councils in their district (as well as for themselves). They then allocate the money and send it on to the relevant organisations.

Parish councils set their own level of precept and let the district council know each year what level they would like to set it at. It is unclear as to how the levels are set but it seem that Parish & Town Council estimate the money they will need for basic running costs. Clerks’ wages etc, based on previous spend and in some cases add extra to meet the cost of specific time limited projects.

Interestingly, parish councils are the only organisations in the list above which does not have a cap in terms of how much it can increase the precept each year. Council tax revenues differ depending on the number of council tax payers in their parish and also on the level at which that parish precepts per household. Some of the parishes leave the precept at the same level each year whilst some increase it to do a particular piece of work.

Each year, the district councils issue a council tax leaflet which sets out how the money they collect in council tax is allocated and, generically, how it is spent.