Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to enable town and parish councils to recover lost income caused by the covid-19 crisis; and what discussions he has held with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the equity of compensation arrangements for such losses by town and parish councils, relative to those applying to the principal local authorities.
Answered by Simon Clarke
Government does not directly financially support parish councils. Parish councils are funded through a precept collected from within the overall council tax paid by the residents of the parish. The Government has announced a further £1.6 billion of funding to meet additional pressures arising from the pandemic and help continue to deliver frontline services, taking the total amount of support to local government to £3.2 billion. Parish and Town Councils should liaise with the relevant principal authorities on how this money is allocated in their area.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what progress he has made in implementing recommendations 20 and 21 of the Committee on Standards in Public Life review of local government ethical standards relating to misconduct by town and parish councillors; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Luke Hall
The Committee on Standards in Public Life report of their review recommends some strengthening of the local government standards and conduct system with numerous legislative changes and amendments. Of the 26 recommendations, 22 were aimed at Government and we have been considering these carefully. I will be issuing the Government response to the report in due course.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many town and parish council clerks have (a) resigned, (b) taken long-term sick leave and (c) been placed on long-term suspension as a result of (i) bullying by councillors and members of the community and (ii) refusing to implement ultra-vires decisions of the council in each of the last three years; and what recourse is available to clerks that (A) are subjected to bullying by councillors and members of the community and (B) refuse to implement ultra-vires decisions of the council.
Answered by Luke Hall
We do not hold this information. Local authorities – including parish councils - are independent employers, responsible for the management and organisation of their own workforce, including on pay, redundancy and other terms and conditions. Any employee subjected to bullying or harassment may find it helpful to speak to ACAS (the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service), who offer independent and impartial help to employees.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what sanctions are (a) available and (b) proposed for use against town and parish (i) councils that implement ultra-vires decisions and (ii) councillors that instruct clerks to implement ultra-vires decisions leading to the resignation of those clerks; and what mechanisms there are to enforce those sanctions.
Answered by Luke Hall
The Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 enables local electors to ask the auditor of a parish council to apply to the High Court for a declaration that an item of account is ultra vires or unlawful, or to issue a report on matters which are in the public interest (‘a public interest report’). The auditor may also make such a declaration or issue a public interest report without any request from a local elector. The council is required to publicly respond to any report in the public interest issued by the auditor.
Under the Localism Act 2011 parish councils are required to adopt a code of conduct for members. Parish councillors that fail to observe the highest standards of conduct in their civic role may be investigated by the principal council’s monitoring officer on receipt of a complaint. Currently, the parish council may locally determine its response, following advice from the Monitoring Officer or legal team and the involvement of an independent person to advise the council before it makes a decision.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much and what proportion of spending by town and parish councils that was found to be ultra vires was recovered in each of the last three years; and through what mechanisms that ultra-vires spending was recovered.
Answered by Luke Hall
We do not hold information relating to ultra vires spending in parish councils.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent comparative assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the reporting requirements under the system of external auditors and under the previous audit commission arrangements for town and parish councils.
Answered by Luke Hall
The Government has asked Sir Tony Redmond to undertake an independent review of the arrangements in place to support the transparency and quality of local authority financial reporting and external audit in England. The scope of the review includes the arrangements in place for town and parish councils. Sir Tony will publish his report in due course.