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Elected corporate bodies responsible for local government in English civil parishes

A parish council is a civil local authority found in England, which is the lowest tier of local government. They are elected corporate bodies, with variable tax raising powers, and they carry out beneficial public activities in geographical areas known as civil parishes. There are about 10,480 parish and town councils in England. Parish councils may be known by different styles, they may resolve to call themselves a town council, village council, community council, neighbourhood council, or if the parish has city status, it may call itself a city council. However their powers and duties are the same whatever name they carry. Parish councils receive the majority of their funding by levying a precept upon the council tax paid by the residents of the parish (or parishes) covered by the council. In 2021 22 the amount raised by precept was £616 million. Other funding may be obtained by local fund raising or grants for specific activities. They can vary enormously in size, activities and circumstances; representing populations ranging from fewer than 100 (small rural hamlets) to up to 130,000 (Northampton Town Council). Most of them are small: around 80% represent populations of less than 2,500; Parish councils are made up of unpaid councillors who are elected to serve for four years: there are about 70,000 parish councillors country wide. Civil parish councils were formed in England under the reforming Local Government Act 1894 (56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) to take over local oversight of civic duties in rural towns and villages from the vestry committee. Parish councils are generically referred to as "local councils" to distinguish them from "principal councils" (e. g. district councils, county councils, unitary authorities or London borough councils) and most are affiliated via County Associations to the National Association of Local Councils (NALC), which represents their interests at a national level. Parish councils have the power to tax their residents to support their operations and to carry out local projects, and this is done through the council tax system. Although there is no limit to the amount that can be raised, the money can only be raised for a limited number of purposes, listed below, as defined in the 1894 Act and subsequent legislation. Compared to higher tiers of English local government, parish councils have very few statutory duties (i. e. things they are required to do by law) but have a much more extensive range of discretionary powers which they may exercise voluntarily. For this reason, there are large variations in the activities of parish councils, depending on their size, resources and abilities. The "General Power of Competence" is a power awarded in 2012 to eligible councils, which further broadens the scope of activities that councils can be involved in.

Under the Localism Act 2011 eligible parish councils can be granted a "general power of competence" (GPC) which allows them within certain limits the freedom to do anything an individual can do provided it is not prohibited by other legislation, as opposed to being limited to the powers explicitly granted to them by law. To be eligible for this a parish council must meet certain conditions, such as at least two thirds of the councillors being elected as opposed to being co opted or appointed, and having a clerk with suitable qualifications. However, such activities cannot use precept funding, and specific funding must be obtained from other sources. In principle the GPC can allow councils to engage in a range of activities such as setting up a trading company or co operative to operate commercial activities, such as lending or investing money, or running a local shop, post office or energy company. Or allow it to contribute towards the provision of a service by another authority.

The administration of the Council is managed by its Clerk, a paid employee appointed by the council, who acts in a combined statutory role of Proper Officer (secretary or chief executive) and Responsible Financial Officer (treasurer). They may be full time or part time, depending on the amount of council business, and large parish councils may require more than one official for these tasks, in which case they are a group led by the Clerk. The Clerk as the Proper Officer "enacts" (cause to happen) the decisions of the Council, and they receive official correspondence and issue correspondence on the instructions of the Council. The clerk also prepares agendas for meetings of the Council and its committees, gives notice of these to the Council members and the public, and records and publishes the minutes of these meetings. The Clerk is the formal point of contact with the public, and a source of information for the public about the Council's activities. The necessary financial monitoring and reporting are the clerk's responsibility, and in this role the clerk is known as the "Responsible Financial Officer" (RFO) of the Council. The clerk also provides procedural guidance for the Council itself, and ensures that statutory and other provisions governing or affecting the running of the Council are observed. Clerks are encouraged to have a formal qualification, such as the Certificate in Local Council Administration (CiLCA). A councillor cannot become the paid clerk of their council, due to conflict of interest, but they can be appointed on an unpaid basis; preferably temporarily. A councillor cannot become a paid clerk until 12 months after leaving office.

Where there are an equal number or fewer candidates than there are vacancies, all candidates are elected unopposed, and no poll is taken. The government chose the civil parish as the basic unit of local government in rural areas. Each parish council's area of responsibility was a geographical area known as a civil parish. The civil parishes were also grouped to form rural districts, which became the geographical areas of rural district councils. Civil geographical parishes continued to exist in urban districts, but did not have parish councils. Whilst the bulk of the rationalised activities went to district councils, parish councils took over a number of lesser powers including all the secular activities of the parish Vestry committee; a system of local government based on ecclesiastical parishes that originated in the feudal system.

Two principal Acts of Parliament have increased the general powers of parish councils, and removed onerous constraints.

The Redcliffe Maud Report led to the Local Government Act 1972, which dramatically re organised local government with amalgamation of district councils, large scale changes to county boundaries and creation of metropolitan areas. However, the parish council was retained as the "grass roots" tier of local democracy for rural areas. In addition, many small towns which had previously formed municipal boroughs or urban districts became "successor parishes" within larger districts. The Act also recognised the role of parish councils in development planning in their parish, and gave them the right to be informed and consulted on applications for such development. However, the original proposal to grant a general power of competence to councils was not carried through, and the doctrine of ultra vires remained. This meant that parish councils could not do anything outside their statutory powers.

It was not until the Localism Act 2011 that parish councils were freed of the constraints of ultra vires which had limited the activities of parish councils to only those things for which they had been given statutory powers. They were given a radical new power: to "do anything that individuals generally may do" as long as that is not limited by some other Act. This is known as the General Power of Competence (GPC), and is available to "eligible" parish councils. An eligible council is one which has resolved to adopt the GPC, with at least two thirds of its members being declared elected, rather than co opted, and the Clerk must hold an appropriate qualification. However the precept may not be raised specifically for activities which rely only on the power of the GPC, and such funding must be obtained from other sources. The Localism Act also introduced new rights and powers to allow local communities to shape new development by coming together to prepare neighbourhood plans. Neighbourhood planning can be taken forward by two types of body: town and parish councils or "neighbourhood forums". Neighbourhood forums are community groups that are designated to take forward neighbourhood planning in areas without parishes. It is the role of the local planning authority to agree who should be the neighbourhood forum for the neighbourhood area. Neighbourhood forums and parish councils can use new neighbourhood planning powers to establish general planning policies for the development and use of land in a neighbourhood. These are described legally as "neighbourhood development plans". In an important change to the planning system, communities can use neighbourhood planning to permit the development they want to see in full or in outline – without the need for planning applications. These are called "neighbourhood development orders".