Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of financial oversight and scrutiny arrangements in parish and town councils.

Parish and town councils are independent of central government. Decisions on precept levels are taken locally by individual councils, in line with the relevant legislative framework. The Government continues to monitor the precept increases set by town and parish councils, and considers whether to set referendum principles for the sector as part of the annual local government finance settlement process. Issues about parish council expenditure can be raised at the annual parish meeting.

The Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015 require parish councils to complete and publish an Annual Governance and Accountability Return (AGAR) to support scrutiny of council spending and enable the local electorate to hold them to account. To strengthen public confidence in the oversight of parish council finances, the government committed to reviewing the AGAR process in its response to the Local Audit Strategy consultation published in April 2025.

The government has no plans to assess the merits of developing mechanisms to hold former councillors to account.