Power to the people

Welcome to the LGC local councils special report, in partnership with the National Association of Local Councils. The purpose of this supplement is to shine a spotlight on the work of local (parish and town) councils and to highlight once again how they are a vital part of local government and communities.

Ken Browse, chairman, National Association of Local Councils

In this report, we have demonstrated the value that local councils can add to an area’s prosperity. In an era where decentralisation is the driving force, NALC believes that only ‘double devolution’ – where power is moved from Westminister to principal authorities, and from there spread to local councils – truly brings services closer to the public we serve.

The features within this report make an undeniable case for greater parish involvement in services delivery. Our exclusive survey with LGC shows , not surprisingly, that one of the main challenges to progress for local councils centres around capacity and resources. But maybe surprisingly to some, the survey reflects the transformative nature of these councils,with more and more of them than previously thought engaging in health, boosting the local economy, housing and social care issues.

Sevenoaks Town Council, for instance, is transforming the town with a new focus on local economic development: now operating a theatre, cinema, orbital bus service, four markets and even regenerating a railway station.

Many councils are becoming innovative in supporting business, community resilience and wellbeing. You can delve into this supplement to find out more about: Feock Parish Council’s local volunteer transport scheme; Oswestry Town Council’s largest volunteer CCTV system in the country; Stone Town Council’s use of digital communications and neighbourhood planning; and Frome Town Council’s rethink of local democracy, which has rejuvenated neighbourhood governance in the area. More and more councils are being set up, as shown in this special edition in features on Sutton Coldfield and Queen’s Park.

To support these initiatives, the workforce within local councils is radically improving for the better. Interestingly, devolution has not just led to services moving between tiers of local government but people more and more moving from principal (county, district, unitary and borough) councils to local councils.

A huge amount of development and progress with local councils would not be possible without the support of their principal council partners. We encourage all principal councils to look at their local councils as providing solutions to local community problems.

We would be delighted to discuss the issues featured in this report with delegates at the Local Government Association annual conference from 5-7 July, where we will be on exhibition stand W4. We are also hosting a fringe meeting at the conference on 6 July in the Purbeck Bar, at the Bournemouth International Centre, from 6pm onwards.

For more information on the value of parish and local councils visit www.nalc.gov.uk/our-work/devolution

LOCAL EMPOWERMENT

By its very nature, devolution should be localist. This extends well beyond pulling down powers and budgets from central government control, to ensuring they are meaningfully embedded in communities, delivering more effective and efficient use of public resources.

The localism agenda, and now the devolution agenda, have helped form new ways of working between counties, town and parish councils, bringing decisions closer to residents. There are countless new examples of how this collaboration and innovation is delivering for communities (see the case studies below). Many counties have set up locality governance arrangements, featuring key representatives from parish and town councils.

This has empowered them to help provide highways support, health and wellbeing, skills and community services, and oversee important community assets.

Partners in Suffolk, for example, have come together to increase apprenticeship numbers and attract investment in the town of Haverhill. In Shropshire, local communities are supported to produce Place Plans, which form a fundamental part of the local plan and planning applications, giving them the ability to directly influence future development and infrastructure in their areas.

Counties are also providing training and support to local councils to build capacity and ensure the smooth transition of services. Cornwall Council has a team dedicated to designing this devolution with parishes and towns, and provides legal, financial and operational advice to make services sustainable.

We must also take into account the stark reality of increasing demand set against decreasing budgets. Counties have the largest and fastest-growing elderly population and look after two thirds of England’s maintained roads, and yet receive less funding than other parts of the country. These robust partnerships between counties, parishes and towns offer real of hope in finding innovative ways to continue services that are otherwise at risk.

A DEVELOPING ROLE

To work in a town or parish (local) council has always been an incredible juggling act.

In many cases the clerk is the only member of office staff in the council so they will be involved in every part of the council’s activities. They must be up to speed on the council’s legal responsibilities, financial management, managing services, communicating with the public, working with volunteers, updating the website, commenting on planning applications, producing a local newsletter, supporting meetings of the council, managing any other staff – the list goes on.

And all to be delivered on a tight budget; the majority of councils in England have turnover of less than £25,000.

While the clerk’s role is rich in history, it is modernising and professionalising at a very fast rate. Local councils are growing fast and delivering a wider range of services than they ever have done before. This has affected all parts of the workforce. Anecdotal evidence suggests the workforce is growing (though there is no national data on which we can draw) and the demands are growing too.

We should remember that this affects more than just office staff. Even managing facilities and outside spaces is moving from the ‘village handyman’ approach to managing a portfolio of assets held by the council, organising a calendar of events, advising the council on opportunities to improve community relations through how outside spaces are managed.

But it is the role of clerk that has changed the most dramatically in the past few years. Linda Roberts is clerk at Calne Town Council and has worked there for 18 years.

“When I first started at the council there was still quite an old fashioned approach to working, very ‘municipal’,” says Ms Roberts.

“It was very small, with outdated technology, using old equipment that was well passed its sell-by date. The town council was almost invisible to the community.”

But since then Calne Town Council has grown, due in part to the growth of the town through a surge in housebuilding in the 1990s and 2000s. The council now raises a total annual precept of £1.1m. As an indication of its changing role, the council is considering how it could use a plot of land it owns to run a low-cost housing scheme to include part-buy, part-rent, affordable rent and first time buyer properties.

Ms Roberts explains: “From six staff previously, we are now at the grand total of 29. We have grown a series of huge events, and really get down and involved with the community. We use a collaborative approach, working with the public, private and voluntary sectors to bring about a very exciting transformation of the town centre. I am negotiating on land and buildings with potential and interested developers; it’s very exciting.”

It is not just large town councils where these changes are seen. Sarah Jeffries is the clerk to three small parish councils in Wiltshire. “The role has become more diverse. The council has more powers to act and there is more opportunity to better the local community. I see smaller parish councils taking on more and more services, such as street lighting and volunteer-led initiatives. If you look at other countries around the world, parishes can do much more and better,” she says.

Interestingly, devolution has not just led to services moving between the tiers of local government. More and more people moving from principal councils, some through TUPE as services are transferred, but also more and more vacancies are being filled from officers from across local government. For example, Hester Hunt, the new clerk at Penzance Town Council, brings 35 years of experience from district and county councils.

“Penzance Town Council is taking on an ambitious programme of devolved services from Cornwall Council,” says Mr Hunt.

“My experience in this area helps me see the opportunities and pitfalls. The biggest challenge has been to learn the ‘clerking’ side of the job while dealing with the first phase of a devolution programme and making the town council fit for purpose with a governance and staff review.”

Does Mr Hunt think there will be increased interest in town and parish roles from officers in other tiers of local government? “I think principal council officers will want to move into parish or town council roles,” he says.

“The job is full of variety and you get real enjoyment seeing a project move forward because of community involvement and partnership working. But they mustn’t expect an easy ride! The work is challenging with new responsibilities being added to existing responsibilities on a regular basis. Plus you don’t have all of the back-room services such as legal or HR, which are a phone call away in a big organisation like a county council.”

This is a view that chimes with many other clerks’ opinions.

As Ms Roberts says: “The parish or town clerk role, as a career, is treated like a closely guarded secret. I love it and thoroughly recommend it, but we need to get the message out there that that it is a challenging and rewarding career option.”

Charlotte Eisenhart is improvement and development manager, NALC

THE NEW BREED OF PARISH COUNCIL

Once essentially a rural phenomenon, town, parish and community councils have now truly arrived as a component of the local government solution in metropolitan areas. This follows the creation in May of Sutton Coldfield Town Council. It was born on a wave of fervour following a community governance review and local referendum in which almost 70% of those voting supported the creation of a town council and were prepared to pay for it. Sutton Coldfield has become at a stroke the largest town council, by population served, within England and Wales.

This council is the latest expression of an evolution of local councils that accelerated following the 2011 Localism Act. The true potential in the provisions of the act are still being explored across the sector but Sutton Coldfield could provide a testbed for innovation and new ways of doing things.

The fact there is no strong tradition of town and parish councils within Birmingham has meant the city council, which had initial responsibility for setting up the town council, was rather feeling its way in the run-up to election day. Some preparations were made but, one would hope, if other local councils are created here in future, there will be more detailed business planning in the run-up and some earlier investments made for putting infrastructure in place. To the city council’s credit however, and despite being initially opposed to the town council’s creation, once a decision was made to do so it showed itself keen to see the initiative succeed. This was symbolised in a touching ceremony before the election where the city council formally returned the town mayor’s regalia put into storage when Sutton Coldfield BC was abolished in 1974.

Local councils at this level have a range of powers but very few duties, which means no two are identical. Generally each council exercises the powers relevant for its area, often filling the gaps in principal council provision. The current pressure on funding within principal councils means, however, the gaps are widening and the quantity and quality of the required filler is increasing. A number of services such as libraries, which were not operated before at this level, are now falling within their potential remit. Sutton Coldfield Town Council is undertaking a series of council-wide workshops during the summer to train new councillors, to consider the posture the council should adopt and particularly to decide how and where it should dance with the city council to shape and improve services.

While politics is not a particular feature of the town and parish council sector, Sutton Coldfield has been immediately buffeted by strong political crosscurrents. Birmingham City Council, with which co-operation will be key for the fledgling town council’s success, is Labour-controlled. There is a vibrant independent voice within the town that drove the creation of the town council. Following the election in May, however, the town council reflected the predominantly Conservative leanings of Sutton Coldfield and 18 of the 24 new councillors are Conservative. There has been considerable discussion about how those realities must be managed so that they do not impede the council in delivering its potential. This was even expressed by the local MP Andrew Mitchell (Con), who in addressing the council’s first meeting of electors, called on it to find a collaborative way of working on behalf of the community.

Sutton Coldfield Town Council arrives at a time when local government is changing and there are new powers that have yet to be fully explored. If this council does not have the will, ability and environment in which to innovate then none does.

The first two years will be crucial. There will be further elections in 2018, at which time the community will have an opportunity to judge the new council’s performance. By then there will need to be some tangible outcomes that demonstrate the quality of life in Sutton Coldfield has and will be improved as a result of the council’s creation and the improvements are worth the additional council tax. In order to get to that position, the councillors will need to work collaboratively, sort out the working relationship with the city council and have a clear, proactive and focused strategy to engender the changes that the community has called for.

Time will tell whether these challenges can be met but there is no lack of will or enthusiasm to embrace the task.

Nick Randle is interim town clerk, Sutton Coldfield Town Council

SUCCESSFUL SUBSIDIARITY

The principles of localism and devolution are the cornerstones of Cornwall Council’s strategy and council plan.

We believe devolution, at its most worthwhile, is about finding the best long-term local custodians of an asset or service valued by the local community. This vision is shared by the Cornwall Association of Local Councils, which represents more than 80% of the 213 town and parish councils in the county.

Cornwall’s ambitious local devolution programme gives communities the opportunity to shape their areas, safeguard services and assets, and make improvements that sometimes only local knowledge can provide. Communities across Cornwall have different needs and they can often deliver services that are more flexible to meet local need, more efficiently and economically.

In 2013, budget pressures grew and we had to tighten our spending even more. We recognised that funding for community-based services would reduce or could even end. To mitigate the impact this would have, we established a concentrated devolution programme. Added to this, the devolution deal for Cornwall, signed in July 2015, was underpinned by the principle of double devolution. As John Pollard (Ind), leader of Cornwall Council, says: “As greater powers are passed from Whitehall to Cornwall Council then it is only right that further powers and influence are passed from Cornwall Council to local communities.”

In 2014, the council adopted a devolution framework that offers local communities the opportunity to take on services where they can deliver them better or safeguard them.

Communities can choose their level of involvement, from influencing how services are delivered by the council or its contractor, to taking on full responsibility for managing assets or delivering a service.

This framework sets out the options for the appropriate level of community involvement in services:

Option 1:

Influencing and monitoring local service delivery – communities can influence services such as street cleansing

Option 2:

Joint delivery/service enhancement – communities can enhance services supplied by Cornwall Council, eg parking enforcement, environmental maintenance

Option 3:

Agency agreements, management agreements, licenses and sponsorship – communities can undertake (and enhance if they wish) mandatory services provided by the council , eg verge cutting, maintenance of public rights of way

Option 4:

Delegation of service delivery – communities can take on responsibility for delivery of local services and shape delivery to meet local need, eg environmental maintenance, public real, maritime facilities

Option 5:

Transfer of a service – communities can take on assets and delivery of non-mandatory services that would otherwise cease or be reduced, eg public conveniences, public open spaces

Option 6:

Exclusions – strategic services that cannot be devolved for a variety of reasons – eg winter maintenance

As the programme developed it became clear that in addition to developing the devolution framework, with more than 50 separate projects being worked on at any particular time, clear project management and governance processes needed to be established. This included putting in place:

A devolution board comprising corporate directors and cabinet members who meet monthly to give strategic direction, set policy and oversee the programme. In the first 12 months, polices were set on a wide variety of topics including property valuations and whole-life financial modelling

Dedicated devolution team and wider virtual team of officers to provide technical and professional support, eg legal, HR and property. The team meets fortnightly as the strategic devolution group

• Four-stage development/approval process
• Philosophy of total place packages
• Monthly reporting framework
• Dedicated website giving summary progress, brief details of all projects and technical guidance and checklists on operational matters, eg operating a car park, together with management topics, eg health and safety
• Training and support programme for local council clerks and councillors, and community groups.

In addition to the framework we have established a number of key principles:

• Local solution – where possible looking for simple solutions, considering agency agreements/licenses or a ‘total place’ option for larger projects
• Ownership – presumption that freehold is the starting point for transfer to a local council, but leasehold is preferred for other types of ‘semi-commercial’ organisations; we have recognised that sports grounds need careful consideration
• Car park – once transferred, car parks are removed from Cornwall Council’s order and need local orders; a local levy can be introduced, which is an agreed increase in charges above what the council plans, to raise local income to support a local service
• Waste – our current waste contract runs until 2020, making it difficult to remove collection sites, and we seek to recharge as part of negotiations
• Site valuations – leasehold/freehold transfers require valuations and some packages have 40-plus sites to be considered.

As our work programme is progressing, we are working together to develop and clarify policies and procedure including TUPE and pensions, insurance, VAT and the general power of competence.

To date, more than 60 new devolution projects have been successfully established, on top of the 165 agency agreements that are in place with town and parish councils. In addition to securing services that may have ceased or been significantly reduced, many have been enhanced, and they are being delivered with great effectiveness and local pride.

As Jeremy Rowe (Lib Dem), the cabinet member for localism, puts it: “Our ambition is to ensure that by 2018, every one of the 213 local councils in Cornwall that wants to be involved in taking on a greater role in future service delivery is able to do so. We recognise that many local councils are prioritising developing a neighbourhood plan; however, if they want to embrace devolution, we will enable them.”

We also want to expand the traditional community-based services that might be considered to include youth work and services for elderly and isolated people. We recognise the work we are doing – in particular the scope and value of some of the bigger projects – is breaking new ground in the UK and we are committed to sharing our work.

Rob Andrew is assistant head of communities and devolution, Cornwall Council

Case study: St Day clock and war memorial

In 2015-16, Cornwall Council transferred the freehold of the St Day clock and war memorial, a much-loved local heritage asset, to the parish council.

The asset needed a significant injection of resources to improve its structural condition.

The parish led works that amounted to £100,000 of investment to restore the site. This was partly funded by Cornwall Council and the parish, together with external grant sources.

This has led to an ongoing community project with local events, the local school creating animations and parishioners forming a choir that is now being sustained, with the clock once again performing its role as the heart of the village.

The project won second place in the national Love Where You Live competition run by Locality.

View a short video of the project’s story

AT YOUR SERVICE

LGC’s research on the services town and parish councils currently provide, and the services they aspire to deliver, provides a comprehensive picture of local councils’ role – and some surprising results.

The chart (click on graphic) shows the sheer breadth of services that local councils deliver and the extent to which their provision is widespread among towns and parishes.

The results of the survey, which attracted responses from 414 clerks and deputy clerks, show that the top 10 services local councils provide (or help the principal authority to provide) were: recreation grounds; public seating; litter bins; grant funding for community activities; bus shelters; public buildings; allotments; war memorial maintenance; footpath and bridle path maintenance; and maintenance of burial grounds, cemeteries, churchyards and crematoria.

The survey hinted at strong ambition among parish and town councils to take on more and greater provision

However, significant minorities of town and parish councils were involved in providing ‘big ticket’ services that are usually within the remit of their principal authorities. Just under 15% said they deliver or help to deliver health and wellbeing services, while around 12% said they are involved in economic growth. Around four in 10 said they provided housing services while just under 1% were involved in social care provision.

The survey also hinted at strong ambition among parish and town councils to take on more and greater provision. When asked which services they would like to deliver that they did not currently provide, 70% of respondents named at least one additional service that their council would like to add to its remit.

Notably, again, there were small but significant pockets of enthusiasm for becoming involved in aspects of some of the biggest services provided by principal authorities. Just under one fifth wanted a role in economic growth; around 15% wanted to provide health and wellbeing and housing services; and just over 10% wanted to take part in social care provision.

The top 10 services the respondents would like to add to their remit were: traffic calming measures; activities for older people; economic growth; youth services; highways; housing; health and wellbeing; community safety; tourism support and footpath and bridle path maintenance.

Constraints

Desire to provide more services than they did was clear among 70% of respondents, but capacity and resources were large barriers to them doing so. Four in 10 respondents said they did not have the capacity to provide or help to provide any more services at all. Almost 70% said lack of funding was a barrier to service delivery and 66% cited lack of capacity, including time and experience within the council, as a block to more provision.

For some, staffing was an issue. Of the councils represented in the survey, 80% had no more than five members of staff and 37% employed less than one full-time equivalent employee.

One respondent to the survey said: “Parish council members are volunteers, and do not have the capacity, experience or more importantly funding to carry out more services than they currently do.”

However, it is not just a question of time and money. One third of respondents said their principal authority was reluctant to devolve services to local level, and about one fifth of respondents said government legislation prevents them from delivering the services they would like to. Aside from this, respondents cited “resistance from twin-hatted councillors” and “lack of interest from councillors” as barriers.

Business rates

Given the funding pressures many parish council clerks said they felt, it comes as no surprise that three quarters of respondents said town and parish councils should receive a proportion of business rates.

“If we have to put up with businesses in the village and the disruption they cause, then we should be allowed to benefit from some of the funds raised through business rates,” said one respondent.

However, not everyone was convinced. Another participant said: “The assumption is that we could make better use of the money than the principal authorities. Possibly yes but the answer for many councils would be certainly not.”

A further respondent did not believe any tiers of local government would benefit from full business rate retention, least not town and parish councils. They said: “The retention of business rates is irrelevant in most areas because very few parts of the country have sufficient income from business rates to make up for the loss of the revenue support grant; this includes the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and the Liverpool City Region.

“It is therefore a fallacy to be under the impression that local areas would be better off by keeping their business rates. Most would be worse off.”

Devolution

Although LGC’s survey did not ask specific questions about the wider devolution agenda and how it may affect town and parish councils, the issue was clearly on participants’ minds; several used the survey to make their views on the topic known.

Many saw the devolution of services from their principal authorities to parish and town councils as an opportunity.

However, some were frustrated by the lack of consistency in approaches in different areas.

“One district in our area is actively trying to devolve services and is engaging with the parish and town councils to do so. My district council is ‘circling the wagons’ and does not want to consider devolving anything. They treat us like they are the ‘grown-ups’,” said one participant.

Others were keen to take on powers and responsibilities devolved from principal authorities as the latter took on powers from central government, but stressed that the process must be managed properly so that ‘double devolution’ did not become ‘double dumping’.

“We need an effective dialogue with principal authorities and must make our position known at an early stage of devolution,” said one respondent.

“Parishes will not be able to pick up the pieces from further budget and service cuts. Parishes are left trying to assist the communities they serve when cuts are made as we are closest to the community.

“We need to make a stand and say we will only be able to plug the gaps with multi-level, true devolution of powers and budgets.”

Some feared the wide-ranging powers of metro-mayors would damage town and parish councils’ ability to influence policy-making in their communities’ best interests.

“With metropolitan mayors, the ability for the grassroots-level [government] to influence and assist in maintaining the needs of the community would be lost,” they said.

“Devolved powers to parish and town councils will help to offset the remote decision-making but funding and resources need to follow the service.”

As with any discussions of devolution, some comments veered onto the topic of reorganisation.

One commenter proposed radical change to the town and parish tier: “In order for the sector to be truly valuable it needs to be restructured through a programme of consolidation,” they said.

“It could be possible to create a local government environment where the strategic and statutory services are delivered by new unitaries and discretionary and quality-of-life services are delivered by a new, consolidated town and parish sector that would benefit from increases capacity and economies of scale.”

Neighbourhood planning

While 39% of respondents said their parish or town council had led a neighbourhood plan, 59% said they had not.

Recent, separate LGC research revealed that fewer than one in 10 neighbourhood plans that had been approved were from places in the most deprived third of areas classified under the government’s Indices of Deprivation.

Clive Betts (Lab), chair of the Commons’ communities and local government committee, has suggested that the process of a neighbourhood plan is prohibitively expensive for some places.

This tallies with some of the comments LGC’s survey respondents made.

One said: “We have yet to be convinced of the benefit and cost of a neighbourhood plan, which is not really relevant to an up-to-date parish for an area with little development opportunity.”

Another added: “We are looking into a neighbourhood plan at the moment but believe for them to be effective we will need to spend quite a bit of money as well as finding a body of volunteers to lead it; this will prove very difficult.”

Several said that they had developed parish plans, which will feed into a neighbourhood plan eventually, but that this work was in its infancy.

Jonathan Owen, chief executive of the National Association of Local Councils, said parish and town councils were leading the uptake of neighbourhood planning and that this would increase in time.

“There are about 1,600 plans being developed, 90% of those by parishes,” said Mr Owen. “My experience is that as people see the benefits and appreciate how easy it is, there will be a lot more.

Comment: Parishes offer a crucial tier of local democracy

So much of the current devolution debate has centred on councils grouping together or indeed merging to form ever larger units of ‘local’ government. Only by doing this will councils be offered extra powers.

Greater Manchester, the poster boy of devolution, has a total population of nearly three million, for instance. There is some irony that in many cases services are being centralised further from people’s homes in order for devolution to occur.

The devolution of power from principal authorities to more localised but nevertheless representative and democratic bodies has been the dog that has not barked so far in the current debate. While there are many good reasons why large scale is required to tackle elements of service improvement or economic growth, there are conversely reasons why only a small scale will tackle the feelings of alienation and marginalisation that devolution is supposed to remedy.

LGC’s survey into the attitudes of local and parish councils reveals the extent to which the more localised bodies are already delivering a large array of services. And they also reveal a desire among local councils to increase their role in order to provide a tailored and localised means of meeting the needs of their local population.

Local or parish councils offer a small-scale, localised means of running services which stays true to the principles of representative democracy

Principal authorities have frequently passed powers down to service users, for instance in the case of users taking on the running of libraries or community centres that would otherwise have fallen victim to budget cuts. Alternatively, the government says it has been seeking a more tailored provision of education by encouraging schools to become academies, while free schools, are set up by parents and bypass councils which formerly took a leading role over the sector’s governance.

There is a place for users, or the families of users or self-governing bodies taking on responsibility for services. However, it can be hard to prove that services are not being put into the hands of an unrepresentative clique.

Local or parish councils offer a small-scale, localised means of running services which stays true to the principles of representative democracy. They see easily identifiable local people, generally heavily steeped in their communities, winning a mandate to govern.

Our survey shows that the parishes are generally up for the challenge of extending their role. We know that principal authorities need radical new solutions to provide high-quality services more cheaply. And we know that significant segments of the population feel alienated by existing political structures. We may just find that the coming years are characterised by a growing boldness and extension of this crucial lower tier of local democracy.