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Just reading some of the responses here…can the electors not organise their own Parish Meeting? Does the LGA prescribe that only the PC can organise?
by (500 points)

1 Answer

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The question and discussion was regarding the Annual Parish Meeting and its requirements under law. Communities can hold whatever meetings the wish. Holding a Parish Meeting through the PC invokes the requirement for the council to take on the organising and financing the meeting on behalf of the community. All that the requisite number of persons wish it then the council has to set it up. Matters of what goes on the agenda etc is for the community to decide NOT the council because it is NOT a PC meeting ( even though some councils think it is and try to impose their agenda on it.
by (28.8k points)
Great thanks. So the Parish can organise its own Parish Meeting as li g as well t meets the requirements (6 electors etc..).
Sorry I think there is some confusion. Members of the community can hold a meeting of people of the parish any time they want and it is up to them to organise etc and finance it. It has no legal standing and decisions made are not binding on anyone. In essence it is a meeting to discuss and decide whatever is wanted by the community. Whether those actions can be implemented is another matter.
A Parish Meeting is a legally defined meeting which if called by the requisite number of the electorate has to be held and notified to the PC who have a legal responsibility to advertise, organise, chair and finance the event. By law the PC must hold one annual Parish Meeting per year between the specified dates. There is no limit to the number of Parish Meetings that can be called by the electorate other than the annual one. A Parish Meeting is a specific defined meeting and always the best way to go because it records the requirements of the electorate and sometimes their displeasure with the PC even though there is no obligation ( other than bad publicity in the public domain) for a PC to act on whatever is highlighted at a Parish Meeting. Hope this helps illuminate the differnce
Ok I think…so in order for formal recording of the views of the electorate, the requisite number of electors can ask the PC to convene a Parish Meeting? The PC has never held an annual Parish Meeting.
Yes otherwise it is just a community meeting. It is a legal requirement for the PC to hold an annual parish meeting

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