Can a Parish Councillor give notice of a resignation in the future

Question

I have just come across your interesting website for the first time, despite having been Chairman of our Parish Council for over 10 years!

We have recently come across a strange ruling and wondered whether other Parish Councils had experienced similar?  One of our Parish Councillors, who was pregnant with twins, very reasonably told us that she would be retiring from the Parish Council in 3 months time. This enabled us to seek her successor so there were no gaps in coverage.  However, when advertising the vacancy, we were told we had to accept the resignation as being effective the date the letter was written, which seems crazy.  I checked this with our local MP, and through him received a response from Rishi Sunak MP, Minister for Local Government.  In this response, the Minister confirmed this was correct, quoting Part lV of the Local Government Act 1985.  Can anyone explain to me why we impose this restriction, when the alternative of giving notice of resignation seems so much more practical?

I also have a bee in my bonnet about the shortcomings of CIL compared to the old S106 system, but I'll save that for another day1

Answer 1

This seems a bit of a muddle. The LGA 1985 appears to be about the abolition of the Greater London Council and the metropolitan county councils, and Part IV about Police, Fire, Civil Defence and Transport.

There are, however, limitations on what can be done in advance of a resignation. The process of co-option cannot begin until there is a casual vacancy. The vacancy occurs at the point the resignation is effective. When it occurs, the council cannot proceed to co-option without first giving notice of the vacancy to the public, and waiting the statutory period to allow members of the public to demand a poll. Only if no poll is demanded can co-option proceed.

So although it may be helpful to know of a councillor's intentions, and it must be possible for them to be communicated to the council without actually constituting a resignation, the council is constrained from acting. It may be possible to encourage people to be prepared to be co-opted, but no formal invitation can be issued before time.

Comments

The original legislation is contained in Section 84 of the Local Government Act 1972.