20/01/2020

A new town council is to be created as part of local government reorganisation in Northamptonshire.

20/01/2020

The Government has awarded £1.2m to refurbish village halls in the past year.

05/11/2019

Clare Hardy explores how parish councils and local authorities can tackle and prevent the abuse of councillors.

25/10/2019

A mass walk-out at a parish council may be a good example of local democracy at work, says Mark Whitehead

11/10/2019

A parish council in Greater Manchester has been dissolved after councillors reported experiencing intolerable levels of abuse.

26/06/2019

With figures showing parish precepts have risen by 4.9% this year, Neil Merrick explores how parish councils are using the extra revenue to deliver increased and better services.

13/06/2019

An assistant town clerk has been jailed for four years for stealing more than £200,000 from Rugeley Town Council.

29/03/2019

The body representing local councils has urged the Government to abolish charter trustees by the end of the next parliament.

20/12/2018

A group of parish councils have protested at plans to expand Bristol Airport on the grounds that it will increase traffic and damage the environment.

25/09/2018

Neil Merrick outlines the five key areas that parish and town councillors should be trained in.

06/09/2018

Four community councils in Wales have been criticised for ‘failures’ in governance and financial management.

30/08/2018

Local councils in Wales have been accused of being 'secretive' and anti-democratic after research revealed not all provide electronic access to minutes and meetings.

06/06/2018

Neil Merrick finds out why some parish councils are doubling or trebling council tax precepts after taking on services from higher tier authorities.

01/05/2018

Community council leaders have announced they will be starting a ‘big, radical conversation’ on the role of parish councils in the post-Brexit local government landscape.

13/04/2018

The Government has written to billing authorities urging then to reconsider passing local council tax support on to parish and town councils.

19/03/2018

Town and parish councils are calling for new powers to be handed to them following Brexit in what they see as the next stage in local government devolution.

16/03/2018

A new partnership will soon equip councillors with ‘community organising’ skills to help them engage more effectively with their local communities.

15/03/2018

Mark Whitehead finds out why smaller councils are taking on bigger roles in terms of responsibilities and delivering services.

05/03/2018

It will cost parish councils over £3.5m a year to implement new data rules, the National Association of Local Councils (NALC) has warned.

21/09/2017

A new parish council is to be created for Durham City after councillors voted in favour of the proposal.

11/08/2017

Up to five million new homes could be built if people in individual streets were given control over planning permission, according to the Adam Smith Institute.

06/06/2017

Neil Merrick explores how parish and town councils are throwing off their 'Nimby' image through the use of neighbourhood planning.

02/05/2017

Neil Merrick explores the expansion of parish council duties – and the subsequent rise in precepts.

20/03/2017

Residents in Durham have voted in favour of creating a new parish council for the city.

13/06/2016

Local residents have passed a vote of no confidence in Desborough Town Council, after their council tax precept was increased by 422%.

02/03/2016

A campaign has been launched to establish London’s second parish council under the Localism Act.

19/10/2015

The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) has demanded that the Government puts a halt to its plan to close and integrate local courts and tribunals across England and Wales.

10/09/2015

Plans to create a new town council in Sutton Coldfield have moved a step closer, following Birmingham City Council’s recommendation to set up a new parish council.

28/08/2015

Councillors in Thurrock have narrowly decided against establishing a new parish council for a housing estate in the Essex borough despite two consultations coming out in favour of the proposal.

17/07/2015

Residents have voted in favour of scrapping a town council in south Yorkshire, after its town clerk was jailed for fraud and theft in 2013.

13/01/2015

Councils will now be allowed to send agendas and meeting papers electronically, ending an out-dated ‘budgetary burden’.

08/01/2015

From today it will be easier for communities to set up new town and parish councils, under measures intended to remove ‘bureaucratic burdens’.

11/12/2014

Only 11% of parish councils - 1,015 in total - had their accounts qualified in 2013/14 - according to a new report from the Audit Commission.

27/10/2014

Parish councils are demanding urgent action to ensure that local authorities pass on £9m of government funding they say is earmarked for them.

27/10/2014

Cheshire West and Chester Council has announced 123 civil parishes will be changed following a major review.

24/10/2014

A Government minister has criticised some local authorities for ‘failing to pass sufficient money down to parish councils’.

03/10/2014

The Cumbrian town of Whitehaven is the latest community in England to get the go ahead for a new town council following a campaign to give local people more power.

02/09/2014

The Government has rejected proposals to hand town and parish councils a share of business rates to boost their role in economic development.

14/08/2014

Parish and town councils should receive at least £20,000 from fracking companies, according to the National Association of Local Councils (NALC).

18/07/2014

Auditors have slammed plans to reform how parish councils are held to account, branding Government proposals overly ‘complex’.

25/06/2014

Local councils will soon be able to send agendas electronically rather than by post thanks to a change triggered by a parish in Somerset.

29/04/2014

Local campaigners looking to set up England’s biggest parish council have been given a cash boost from the National Association of Local Councils (NALC).

07/04/2014

Seventeen local authorities have been accused of refusing to pass down £4.8m government funding to local councils, according to the National Association of Local Councils (NALC).

09/01/2014

A Hertfordshire village is changing its name to celebrate the third series of HBO’s fantasy tv series Game of Thrones.

20/12/2013

Why local councils can no longer be masters of their own destiny.

06/12/2013

What are parish councils?

12/11/2013

The requirement for every cheque payment made by a parish council to be signed by two members is finally expected to be lifted.

05/11/2013

What powers and duties do parish councils have?

09/09/2013

It will be easier to create a new parish council in the future, under new measures announced by local government minister, Don Foster.

01/05/2013

Kirby Muxloe Parish Council failed to have effective arrangements for corporate government in place, according to a report from the Audit Commission.

30/11/2012

Communities secretary Eric Pickles has told parish councils to rethink average 3% hikes to their council tax precept - which he said are outstripping levies raised by the rest of local government.

29/11/2012

Local government secretary Eric Pickles has rejected pleas from parish councils to end an anomaly in which they stand to lose as much as a third of their precept income due to council tax benefit changes.