Can a lower tier council carry out the role of an upper tier council?

Question

Can a parish or town council carry out a function which is normally/should be performed by a district, city or borough council or even a county council? Say for example pruning a tree over a pavement, weeding, gritting or even fixing a payment? If the upper tier council is willing for the lower tier council to do so? I'm thinking there is an issue with double taxation perhaps?

Answer 1

If there were fewer tiers there’d be less chance of double taxation
Your question highlights the complete mess that some local government is in.

My village has a population of 12000 we have 20 Parish Councillors, 4 Borough Councillor and 1 County Councillor but they never act in coordination and never meet

We border onto a City of 368,000 with 54 Councillors
Personally I’d prefer to pay towards one local authority as the amount of money wasted by having three tiers is ridiculous especially at at the larger Parish level with it’s individual empire building

Answer 2

The “double taxation” issue is a valid concern but with higher tiers inevitably retracting to mandatory service provision, it is likely to become ever more common.
It is already a well established principle of higher tiers off loading toilets, car parks etc to town and parishes many of which naively, greedily empire build without the skills, forethought or capacity to actually manage these new liabilities.
As to fixing pavements and cutting back trees - there are 2 distinct issues here but both relate to ownership. Example a PC arranging the cutting of a tree that it doesn’t own is criminal damage - just as if one neighbour cuts another’s tree.
Highways are even more complex and I can’t remember off the top

Of my head but there are specific statutory obligations (and restrictions) upon work to and on the highway.
Are you asking the question from the perspective of a council that wants to be proactive where a higher tier won’t or are you asking if your councils proposals / actions are appropriate?

Comments

Yes, where a Town Council wants to be proactive...and in fact is...but want to know the rules and regulations governing.

Answer 3

I think that your question is better served by being re-phrased to SHOULD rather than CAN. If it was then a more honest answer would emerge. The insidious blackmailing operations by local  authorities to balance THEIR books by trotting out the standard answer to requests by lower authorities for action on matters clearly the statutory obligations of the LA " there is no money" but "we can do it if you contribute towards the cost."

This attitude hits at the fundamental basis of PC ethos in working for their communities needs.

In my opinion it is indicative of the corrupt system we now have in place throughout local government where failures at LA level are passed by any means whatsoever to the next level down.

Parish councils must start giving a resounding NO! to such attempts and start forcing LA,s to meet their obligations in full through the courts if necessary

Answer 4

Thank you for all your answers below. I must admit I'm surprised that the rules seem so casual or unwritten and there's no actual legislation or protection in this area to prevent council taxpayers being essentially charged for the same service twice, (except as rightly pointed out in the Highways area). So a Parish/Town council can unilateraly decide it's going to grit the high street or weed the pavements?

Comments

"So a Parish/Town council can unilateraly decide it's going to grit the high street or weed the pavements?".  No ... that is not correct.

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Can you expand on that please?