Policies & Procedures

Parish Councils have powers to represent and support their local communities.

As a tier of local government, a Parish Council is an elected body, with discretionary powers and rights laid down by Parliament to represent their communities and provide services for them.

Parish councils in their current form were created by the Local Government Act 1894. Their governance, shape and form were consolidated in the Local Government Act 1972 (the Act). As a result of changes to the Act, brought about by the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, a parish council may be known alternatively as a “community”, “village” or “neighbourhood” council.

All councils are constituted in the same way; councillors are elected by the local government electorate and each council has a chairman, who must be one of the elected councillors. Councils vary in size and capacity.

A council is a corporate body with perpetual succession and a name. Local councillors are often referred to as “Members” – for example in codes of conduct. The number of councillors is fixed by the district council. A parish council’s lawful acts, assets and liabilities are its own and not those of its councillors or any other council.

A council must act within the law. It can only spend, raise, or use money if it has a statutory power to do so, otherwise it acts ultra vires (beyond its powers). Parish councils have a wide range of powers under different acts of Parliament. Most of these powers are discretionary, i.e. a council may do something, rather than it must do something.

However, under the Localism Act 2012 the general power of competence was extended to eligible local councils. This means they no longer need to ask if they have a specific power to do something but instead have “the power to do anything that individuals generally may do” as long as they don’t break other laws.

To be eligible at least two-thirds of the members of the Council must have been elected rather than co-opted and the Clerk must hold at least one of the sector‐specific qualifications and should have completed the relevant training designed as part of the National Training Strategy for local councils.

A parish council has the unfettered right to raise money by precept (a mandatory demand) on the higher authority. The precept required by a parish council is then collected by the Higher Authority as part of the council tax levied on taxpayers in that parish.

They protect local environments and provide local services and facilities. Many of the decisions involve public money therefore it is essential that the council’s business is conducted in a correct and transparent manner.

To achieve transparency, confidence and legal decision-making, there are rules for conducting business, established in law and good practice.

Procedures which:

help the council to act in a legal and consistent manner;
protect the council from making unlawful decisions;
support good chairmanship;
guide councillors.

Standing Orders represent agreement among councillors and help the Chairman manage the meetings and prevent disagreement over how to conduct business.

Standing Orders are regularly reviewed by the Parish Council, and updated when appropriate.

Financial Regulations govern the conduct of financial management by the council and set out how the council meets its responsibilities. Like Standing Orders they are regularly reviewed and updated.

Freedom of Information as required by the Freedom of Information Act 2000, the Parish Council has adopted a model scheme approved by the Information Commissioner.

Tysoe Parish Council may also adopt other procedures which assist in carrying out its functions