What happens if a parish council is abolished?

Question

Our local parish council has been audited by a monitoring officer just recently and was found to be "not fit for purpose" with 29 points of reference where it needs to improve and sort itself out. Our PC has had infighting political point scoring and general "dodgyness" since before the last election getting worse after that due to the "bad" councillors bullying 2 other councillors into resigning. Its got that bad that alot of parishioners are considering getting a petition together to abolish the council altogether but since we live in a rural village we need to ensure that whatever the Parish council does in respect of maintaining the village continues to be done by whichever local body takes over. What assurances do we get that our local district and county council aren't just going to forget about this little village and we end up with overgrown open spaces and rundown local facilities?
Is there anyone out there that has abolished their parish council that can tell us what happens and whether our village would be left to die?

Answer 1

I don't have experience of this happening, but would expect you to be very much at risk of neglect and/or overcharging. It is unlikely that a District Council could manage parish affairs efficiently or with the same degree of care one might expect of local people. At one time you might have expected more of a goodwill effort, but with financial pressures and staff cuts, most councils now struggle to meet their own commitments.

Keeping up pressure on the parish council would be my preferred route. Force parish meetings and pass critical motions, seek press publicity, line up some alternative candidates for the council. Circulate a newsletter identifying the problems. With continuing efforts and public disapproval it is quite possible that the unsatisfactory councillors will eventually throw in the towel and resign. Good luck!

Comments

I continue to be flabbergasted by the lack of accountability that Parish Councils/Councillors now have and the absence of power of the monitoring officer. In this case, unlike many other examples, the monitoring officer has issued a damning indictment of the Council but seems to have no power to enforce change. On the plus side you seem to have overcome one of the main barriers to change - apathy on the part of the residents. Like Counterpoint, I predict a favourable outcome if a significant number of residents are prepared to make a fuss.

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If a PC is abolished you save money by not paying the precept.  If the DC won't maintain the verges etc, the money you would have paid as precept could be used to hire a horticultural company to do the work. Alternatively, If an abolished PC owned lawn mowers etc you could ask the DC to pass them on as former PC assets to a nominated volunteer group in the village.

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Agree. We do  not need parish councils if we have decent people prepared to volunteer their time and efforts to doing what excessively bureaucratic parish councils do so slowly and ponderously. Just get out there and pick up litter, mow the green and get your local highways authority to carry out their statutory duties. Increased human longevity means there are plenty of people who fall into this category but are so accustomed to having it done for them, and to them, they do not believe they can actually do it themselves. It is not illegal to clear a grip, drain a puddle, cut some offensive undergrowth or wash a road sign. Just do it.

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Maybe. But in my experience, the local council repeatedly picks up the pieces from failed voluntary organisations. Of course it pays to utilise volunteer labour where feasible, but there is something to be said for an organisation that exists in perpetuity provided it seeks to run itself efficiently.

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Big proviso.