Rural Affairs

The QUALITY Parish and Town Council Scheme

The Rural White Paper, ‘Our Countryside: The Future. A Fair Deal For Rural England’, published in November 2000, set out a number of measures to give local people the opportunity to become more involved in the development of their communities. The Government believes that parish and town councils, as the tier of government that is closest to local communities, have a central role to play in improving local quality of life.

The White Paper proposed a number of initiatives designed to enhance the role of parish and town councils; to develop a framework for partnership working; and to equip parish and town councils to take on a stronger role for the benefit of the local community. A central proposal was the introduction of the new concept of a Quality Parish Council.

On the 18 March 2003, Alun Michael, Minister for Rural Affairs launched the Quality scheme initiative; ‘The Quality Parish and Town Council Scheme’ and announced the guidance to the scheme on 4 June. From the 1 July 2003, all town and parish councils could apply for Quality status.

The consultation and the Summary of responses - Responses to the consultation have been placed in the Defra library.

Letter from Alun Michael to Town and Parish councils [Click to download Adobe Acrobat Reader] [364Kb]

The Quality Parish and Town Council Scheme Explained: Guidance

Other Useful information on the Quality Parish scheme can be found at:

Rural Factsheet - Community

Electronic copies of the Good Councillor’s Guide and other useful information is available at:

For further details of the scheme or for any enquires please e-mail quality.parish@defra.gsi.gov.uk. Alternatively contact the Defra helpline on 08459 335577. Or contact the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) at: www.odpm.gov.uk

Page last modified: 19 May, 2005
Page published: 12 January, 2004

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs