CHAPTER 1 - Introduction
Purpose of Consultation
1.1 This consultation paper follows up the commitment made in the Rural White Paper to consult on how a QUALITY parish or town council might work. Its purpose is to seek views on our detailed proposals for putting the QUALITY Parish and Town Council 1 concept into practice.
1.2 This consultation paper concerns England only. It is aimed particularly at local councils, their principal authorities and other partners at all levels in England. However, we are keen to receive comments from any organisations or individuals with an interest in the work of parish and town councils. A list of those we are consulting is at Annex A.
The Rural White Paper
1.3 The Rural White Paper 'Our countryside: the future, a fair deal for rural England', was published in November 2000. This White Paper gave details of our initial ideas for a strengthened role for local councils in England. The White Paper set out a number of measures to give people the opportunity to be more involved in the development of their community. We want local councils, as the tier of local government closest to their communities, to have a central role in achieving this.
1.4 The most prominent measure in the White Paper with respect to local governance was the introduction of the new concept of QUALITY local councils. QUALITY status would enable parish and town councils to take on a stronger role in their communities and would be achievable by any council, regardless of its size, location or current activities.
1.5 Although it was the Rural White Paper that introduced the "QUALITY" concept, such a status would be open to all councils.
Development of the Consultation Paper
1.6 This consultation paper details our more developed proposals for QUALITY local councils following formal discussions with the Local Government Association, National Association of Local Councils and Countryside Agency. The proposals in this consultation paper are issued jointly by DEFRA, DTLR and the above organisations, in consultation with the Audit Commission.
The QUALITY Parish or Town Council Proposal
1.7 QUALITY local councils will work closely in partnership with their principal authorities and others to give their communities a better deal on local services and a stronger voice in the decisions that affect people's lives. Local councils are the democratic bodies with the closest direct links to their communities. They can make a vital contribution to establishing the long-term vision and the priorities contained in the community strategies which principal authorities are responsible for preparing. They can also help to implement community strategies although their individual capacity to do so will vary. The role of parish and town councils should be a matter for discussion between those councils and the relevant Local Strategic Partnership 2 .
1.8 We want a QUALITY local council to:
- be representative of, and actively engage, all parts of its community, providing vision, identity and a sense of belonging;
- be effectively and properly managed;
- articulate the needs and wishes of its community;
- work in partnership with principal authorities and other public service agencies;
- in proportion to size and skills, deliver local services on behalf of principal authorities when this represents the best deal for the local community;
- in proportion to size and skills, undertake more service delivery and other responsibilities themselves;
- work closely with voluntary groups in their communities;
- give leadership to work by the community on town or village plans; and
- act as an information point for local services.
1.9 Chapter 2 sets out the benefits that achieving QUALITY status will bring and our proposals for a charter setting out how principal authorities and parish and town councils will work together. Chapter 3 describes how the benefits will be delivered through guidance to authorities and further guidance on Best Value arrangements. Chapter 4 sets out the proposed tests for achieving QUALITY status and how these will be assessed and accredited.
1.10 We recognise that there are many parish meetings across the country, which do not have full council status, but do much good work for their communities. The QUALITY proposals outlined here, however, relate to an enhanced role for local councils, and are not intended to apply to parish meetings.
Helping Local Councils meet the QUALITY Tests
1.11 The "QUALITY" proposal is just one of a variety of measures which aim to modernise the way local government - including local councils - is managed and financed. There are a number of complementary measures either currently in force, or about to be implemented, which will help local councils to take on extra responsibilities and, hence, assist in their move towards QUALITY status.
1.12 The Local Government Finance Green Paper 'Modernising Local Government Finance', issued last year, raised a number of issues relating to the successful operation of local councils, including the issues of Section 137 expenditure, "double-taxation" and Council Tax Benefit Subsidy Limitation. DTLR is now looking in detail at these issues in tandem with the continued development of our "QUALITY" proposals. The Government will be publishing a White Paper on Local Government, amongst other things taking forward Government action on the above issues.
1.13 To establish an accounting and financial reporting framework that is more proportionate to the amounts of public money involved, action is being taken to revise the accounting thresholds for local councils, as set out in the Accounts and Audit Regulations 1996. The Audit Commission recommended, following responses to its "think piece" discussion paper on the future of parish audit 3 , that the threshold, above which a parish or town council is required to prepare income and expenditure accounts, be increased to £50,000 from £5,000. A Statutory Instrument taking forward this and some other minor technical amendments has been laid before Parliament. Meanwhile, the DTLR have indicated that they are content for all local councils that genuinely fall below the new threshold to be able to make the changes in the type of accounts kept from 1 April 2001.
1.14 The Audit Commission has published its formal proposals for changes to the external audit regime for local councils 4 , in the light of the responses it has received to its "think-piece" published last July. The paper sets out the Commission's proposals for a new "lighter touch", lower cost audit regime for local councils in England and Wales, tailored to the size of the councils concerned, which is broadly similar to the Charity Commission's regime of independent examination that applies to charities with a turnover of less than £250,000. The approach would be underpinned by strengthened governance and accountability arrangements within councils themselves. The Audit Commission aims to roll out the new audit arrangements in time for the audit of 2001/02 accounts in the summer of 2002.
1.15 The Best Value regime, which sets a framework for public service delivery targets, represents another important advance in modernising our local government system. The duty of Best Value already applies to 41 parish or town councils, which have taken on the sort of roles we envisage for all QUALITY local councils. DTLR has commissioned a study on the effect of Best Value on local councils and the impact of extending the duty of Best Value if the threshold were to be lowered.
1.16 The Rural White Paper announced various new funds and assistance schemes, which are now operational. They offer support to rural councils who wish to improve the levels of service provision for their local communities, either through their own direct action or by articulating the community's needs to other service providers. The schemes, with the 3 year funding allocated to them, are:
- a £15 million Parish Transport Fund established to provide grants of up to £10,000 towards the cost of local transport projects, open exclusively to parish and town councils;
- £15 million for Community Services Grants, offering help to re-establish or strengthen local services;
- £5 million to help around 1000 rural communities prepare their own Parish Plan - a key tool in identifying the wishes and needs of local people and to help local councils tackle them or get others to address them; and
- £2 million to help establish a national training and support strategy for local councils, a process being steered by the Countryside Agency, National Association of Local Councils, the Local Government Association, the Society of Local Council Clerks and training experts. The strategy is expected to be launched this autumn.
These schemes should all help local councils to attain QUALITY status. More details of the first three schemes are available from the Countryside Agency.
Next Steps
1.17 In the light of the responses to this consultation and following further discussions with the Local Government Association, National Association of Local Councils, Countryside Agency and Audit Commission, the Government will issue detailed guidance to principal authorities and local councils on the operation of the QUALITY local council scheme. We aim to issue the guidance in Spring 2002 and to open the QUALITY scheme to applications thereafter.
1 The proposals in this consultation paper should be read as applying equally to parish and town councils.
2 See statutory guidance on community strategies and non-statutory guidance on Local Strategic Partnerships.
3 Think Piece - The audit of parish, town and community councils: issues for stakeholders (July 2000)
4 A new approach to local council audit (August 2001)
Page last modified:
19 May, 2005
Page published: 7 November 2001