About the Parish Council
First, some basic facts:
Parish Counclls are the lowest tier in the local government
structure. Councillors are elected for 4 years (though at the
2007 election Slaley was one of only four parishes in Tynedale
Ward that had a contested election, due to the shortage of
candidates in most other places). The PC’s work is governed by a
set of “Standing Orders” based on the laws governing all local
authorities. Parish Councillors are not paid and have to abide by
a local government code of conduct and declare their financial
interests in the parish. Councillors must also declare any
personal or prejudicial interest in a matter under discussion at
a parish council meeting.
The Precept
The Parish Council’s money comes from what is known as the Parish
Precept. Each December the PC estimates its likely expenditure
for the coming year, and the County Council collects this for us
from the people of Slaley parish with the Council Tax (this is
shown in the annual council tax statement). This is the PC’s
precept and it must fund all the PC’s activities, including the
salary of the Parish Clerk. In calculating its precept the PC has
to bear in mind that excluding the clerk’s salary it is only
allowed to spend a sum amounting to a maximum of £6.15 for every
person on the electoral roll of the parish. For Slaley, this
amounts to about £3800 this year. For more expensive projects the
PC must apply for competitive grants.
The job and powers of the Parish Council
An important role of the Parish Council is to represent the needs
of the community to the County Council, and to be consulted on
planning applications and County Council strategy. Moreover a PC
can in theory do anything within its powers for the benefit of
the community. In practice, a PC like Slaley’s, with only a small
electorate and precept, doesn’t have enough money to undertake
big projects unless it can obtain outside grants to pay for them.
Nevertheless, Parliament has given PCs a wide range of Rowers and
County Councils are currently being encouraged to delegate some
of their vowers and duties to PCs. Some of the main powers of PCs
relate to roads and footpaths, public buildings, public open
spaces and playgrounds, village greens, allotments and civic
cemeteries and redundant churchyards.
Roads and Footpaths.
The general construction and maintenance of
roads and paths is the job of the County Council. However, the PC
is allowed to provide additional street lighting, car and cycle
parking, verge maintenance and planting, village signs, roadside
seats and shelters and litterbins.
Public buildings, open spaces and playgrounds. Although not
relevant to Slaley, PCs are often responsible for village greens
and village halls. Until recently, children’s playgrounds and
sports fields have been provided and managed by the District
Council or County Council. However, Northumberland County Council
is now transferring the management of these to PCs. PCs are also
responsible for providing allotments. A PC has the right to
purchase or lease land for these purposes, if it has the money
and land is available.
The County Council
The Parish Council is a direct route of communication between local
people and the County Council. The PC has direct contact with
relevant County Council officers which means it can ensure that
problems are directly reported to the right people, explained in detail
and followed up. This has proved particularly valuable for road
problems. The PC’s annual review of the parish roads is acknowledged
by the Highways department as a vital contribution to their annual
road maintenance programme. For reports of emergencies such as
potholes, blocked drains, floods and verge damage the PC has been
able to call out the road team for site visits to ensure that the
problems are properly understood and to continue to issue reminders
when required.
The PC’s direct contact with our County Councillor is
equally important. Successive CCs have regularly attended PC
meetings and have provided substantial financial help from their
councillor’s allowances for projects too expensive for the Parish
Precept. Recently, these have included the provision of roadside
parking bays and resurfacing the school hard play area.
