Brill Parish Council : What we do

Duties (what we must do…)

The statutory obligations of parish councils are surprisingly few:

• Publish annual accounts, notice of meetings, agendas and meeting notes (minutes)

• Comply with obligations under Freedom of Information Act 2000, Data Protection Act 1998, and the Equality Act 2012

• Comply with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 in respect of parochial charities

• Comply with employment law and the Local Government Transparency Code

• Consider the impact of our decisions on reducing crime and disorder in the parish

• Have regard to the protection of biodiversity in all our activities

• Provide allotments (if appropriate) and look after closed churchyards (if asked to do so)

We also have to follow various rules for the administration of the council; things like: appoint a chairperson, a responsible financial officer (usually the clerk at our level) and an auditor, adopt a code of conduct - and hold a minimum of four meetings a year.

Parish councils are the first tier of local government. The next tier up - the ‘principal council’; in our case, Buckinghamshire Council - are charged with delivering services such as education, housing, planning, transport, environmental health and social services. All the important stuff - so (you might ask) what’s the point of parish councils?

powers (what we do…)

Provision of holiday camps and bathing huts, management of wells, springs, and public toilets; parish council powers are many and wide-ranging. Here’s a complete list of powers (and duties) with the associated Acts of Parliament. In Brill, it can be summarised like this:

Finance: like all parish councils, we can raise money through taxation - the precept; the parish share of the council tax - and spend this money; on services (as below), to acquire land and open spaces, and to make grants for bus services (like the Bernwode Bus Oakley/Brill/Bicester run)

Roads & Traffic: car parking and traffic calming; grass cutting; street lights; bus shelters

Environment & Amenities: footpaths and bridleways; common land, open spaces, and allotments; litter control (including dog dirt); seats and benches; support of tourism (windmill and pubs)

Community & Recreation: care of the war memorial; community safety (liaison with the Police); playgrounds, playing fields and other leisure facilities; over-sight of Brill Memorial Hall

Planning: again like all parish councils, we have the right to be notified of planning applications affecting Brill and to express our views. The planning authority (who has the final say) doesn’t have to agree, but it must consider our views - provided they fit with local development plans and are based on material considerations.

There is, of course, another layer to the impact of parish councils; community leadership. According to the National Association of Local Councils (NALC), councils that are engaged with their communities, are able to:

• bring people together to make things happen

• help local services link up and become more effective

• create a vision for the local area

We believe that the things we do as a parish council generally have a positive impact on the lives of local people; there’s certainly enough here to keep us all busy! Yet the real potential for good lies in the gap between Duties and Powers; with so few of the former and so many of the latter, parish councils have the freedom to choose what to do; to explore the needs and priorities of the community, and respond in bold and sustainable ways.