INTERFERING GOVERNMENT NAIL IN COFFIN OF PARISH COUNCILS (12/02/02)

For over 100 years, Parish Councils have been an indispensable part of the local government in rural areas. They perform vital tasks in a village – maintaining footpaths, commenting on planning applications, providing village playing fields and are essentially the ‘eyes and ears’ in the local community.

Central government has now decided that their activities need modernising, with a register of interests and the establishment of a Standards Board. At present, if a councillor has a pecuniary interest in an item, they do not take part in the discussion. The new code goes much further than this. The Standards Board is not local. It is simply another way of Central Government tightening their nationwide control.

Alan Ham, Conservative County Councillor for Brent division, containing a total of ten parish councils, said, ‘Parish Councillors are volunteers and unpaid. In many cases their budgets amount to only a few hundred pounds and in many more cases, performing their duties, actually costs them money.

‘There is a worry that with this added pressure, many parish councillors will say “enough is enough” and step down. Their loss would be a serious disadvantage to rural areas. I do not think the Government have given this due consideration, in fact, it seems that they have given the plans no consideration at all.’

Conservative Councillor for the parish of Sedgemor, Diana Bayliss added, ‘this is of great concern to parish councillors. There is a feeling that this could be the straw that breaks the camel’s back and unless councillors are fully briefed on the implications of these changes, it is inevitable that many will stand down at the next elections.’