The first tier of local government is the Parish Council. The number of Councillors will depend on the size of the Parish - in Sible Hedingham we have 13 councillors, whereas our neighbouring Parishes of Gosfield, Castle Hedingham, and Yeldham have 9 each.  Villages are served by Parish Councils; towns by Town Councils, but essentially the rights, duties and responsibilities of each are the same.
Councillors are elected every 4 years, at the same time as Councillors for the District and County Councils, but not at the same time as a General Election for members of Parliament, or for unitary authorities such as London and the major cities. Elections are held in May - the latest one being May 2007 and the next one due in May 2011. If a Councillor resigns mid-term, there may or may not be an election for a replacement. The Council will advertise the vacancy and accept applications from any interested party. It is up to the Parishioners to decide whether they want an election - if 10 individuals request, in writing, that an election be held, then the Parish Council must hold an election. If, however, less than 10 people request an election, the Council will, itself, choose who it would like to appoint from the available applicants. Such Councillors are known as "co-opted" members. They may, of course, become elected members at the next election.
Sometimes, even at election time, there may not be enough people who are interested in becoming a Councillor to fill the available vacancies.  In that event, there would be no point in holding an election, so the people who have been nominated to stand for election will be deemed to have been elected and will then co-opt additional members to fill the vacancies. Actually, there was no election for Parish Councillors in May 2007 because there were only 12 nominations for 13 vacancies. Therefore, the 12 nominness were deemed to have been elected and the 13th was co-opted.
The leader of the Parish Council is the Chairman, who is elected every year by the Parish Councillors. In towns the leader of the Council is known as the Mayor. The business of the Council is conducted through regular Parish Council Meetings.  In Sible Hedingham we hold our meetings once a month, normally on the second Monday of the month, and normally in the Village Hall. In addition, the Parish Council will set up a number of committees to look after specific areas such as Planning, Youth Issues, Transport, etc. and report back to the full Council who will vote on the recommendations of the Committee  (some councils empower their committees to make decisions and act upon them). You will find a list of Councillors if you click here, together with committee membership and chairmen (click here). Members of the public are entitled to attend any council meeting. They are not entitled to take an active part in the meeting, but In Sible Hedingham we allow a 15 minute period at the start of the meeting where members of the public can voice their concerns.
Although the Parish Council is a tier of government, it is not really political.  Candidates for Parish Councils are not normally backed by the major political parties. Only at the next tier of local government - District Council - do party politics enter into the equation.
Parish Councillors are not paid for their services, but they do appoint a paid officer known as the Clerk. The clerk will sit in at every Council Meeting and take notes, but is not allowed to participate in the discussion.  The Clerk is responsible for arranging the Council Meetings, preparing and publishing the minutes  and provides advice and administrative support in a variety of ways.
The Parish Council is responsible for handling a sum of money for the benefit of the Parish. This money comes mainly from a portion of your council tax known as the "local precept".  Each year the council decides how much money it will need for the coming year and asks Braintree District Council to provide it. The District Council is obliged to provide the sum asked for - it cannot reduce it. The precept for Sible Hedingham for the year 2008/2009 is £83,745 which is paid in two instalments. Your Parish Council must use this money responsibly - Sible Hedingham Parish Council spend your money on the following;
Street Lighting
Grass cutting
Recreation Ground
Bus Shelters
Street Cleaning and Grass Cutting
Public Toilets
Plus general administration and special "one off" projects.
There are many checks to ensure financial accountability. The Parish Council appoints a "Responsible Financial Officer"  to keep track of the money spent and to prepare annual accounts which are then audited by someone not connected with the Council. In the majority of cases, and indeed in Sible Hedingham, the Clerk is also the Responsible Financial Officer.
In addition to the monthly Parish Council Meetings there will be an Annual General Meeting which is similar to the AGM of a large company.  This should not be confused with the Annual Parish Meeting, which is not a council meeting, but a meeting of the parish or town electors, where the events of the past year can be reviewed and local organisations such as the Police, Schools, Youth Groups, Clubs and Societies can give a report on their activities and receive feedback from the public.  The Annual Parish Meeting is also held in May - why not come along next year and find out more about the village that you live in. 
The next tier of local government is the District Council.  In our case this is Braintree District Council, which is the District Council for 67 separate Parish and 2 Town Councils.  The Town Councils are Halstead and Witham and because they are larger than villages they are divide into "wards" so that a certain number of councillors will represent one area of the town. Some of the larger villages, such as Coggeshall are also divided into wards. Braintree District Council has its own website at www.braintree.gov.uk
The third tier of local government is Essex County Council. There are 12 District Councils and Unitary Authorities in Essex. Details can be found at www.essexcc.gov.uk

Print this Page

Local Government