Parish meetings and a long term contracts

Question

Our village was leased  in 1946 a village hall when it had a parish council and took on the responsibility long term,  for certain liabilities.

this was before the 1972 act and changes which mean,   we now only have a parish meeting.

having looked at the old lease document it would appear that in 1946 the parish with a council could enter into a contract, but I have been told that a parish meeting cannot have such a contract  and liabilities.

is it true that there are limits on a parish meeting that a parish council can agree to.

it has been suggested that due to the change in local government we should ask the original leesor to change the lease in light of these changes.

i suppose it comes down to a question:- can a parish meeting enter into long term expensive liabilities ??

rob

Answer 1

So far as I can see, a parish meeting cannot be a party to a contract.  This is because a parish meeting is not a corporate body, unlike a parish council.  It thus has no legal existence as a distinct entity.

Where a governmental corporate body ceases to exist, there is normally a successor authority.

In the case of a parish council that ceased to exist as a result of the 1972 reorganisation, I would imagine that the district council would be the successor body, and would therefore have become party to the lease.  It seems as if your best course is to discuss the matter with the district council.