Frequently asked questions

06/04/10 — published by m.thomas Share

1.  Which church are you part of?

Parish councils are secular (civil local government) bodies. They are not ecclesiastical (church) bodies and have no formal legal connections with the church. Such links were done away with a long time ago.

2.  Parish councils appear to be acquiring more powers - why is this?

Central government has decided that certain services are best operated at a local (or parish/town council) level. Campbell Park Parish Council has so far only taken up a few of these options but is considering taking on more responsibility.

3.  What is the difference between a parish and a town council?

A parish council, at one of its meetings, can decide that it wishes to become a town council, from a given date. From that date the Chairman becomes the Mayor and the Parish Clerk becomes the Town Clerk. There are no differences in powers or funding.

4.  What is a Parish meeting?

There is one further type of council in England - the parish meeting. This consists of a solitary councillor. At meetings the councillor is of course Chairman. Voting is carried out by local electors attending who hold up their hands to indicate that they are for or against a particular motion. Whether an area is covered by a parish/town council or a parish meeting is not a matter of choice for electors. This is decided by the Boundary Committee on behalf of the relevant Secretary of State.

5.  What is an On-line Parish Clerk?

This is a relatively new idea. Volunteers collate information regarding family genealogies in a given parish. They then publish this information on the internet for the use of individuals chasing their family trees, it is also of great value to social historians. These collators of information have no connection with either local government or ecclesiastical parishes.

6.  I have heard that some councils are starting to use what they call the "Buddy" system. What is that?

Parish meetings and small parish councils in some parts of the country are starting to work together. The smaller body enters into an informal agreement with the larger so that there are economies of scale in work and finance. There is also a sharing of knowledge and experience. Say for the sake of argument that a such a small parish council or meeting wants a landscaping issue dealt with or a new bus shelter, and the district council for some reason cannot or will not deal with it. Under the Buddy system the parish meeting could work with a larger parish. The two councils together can obtain a better deal on a contract than they would individually.

This should not be confused with a "joint" body. Joint bodies are those by which a specific function is carried out by two or more authorities. These are more commonly found at a district or county level and may cover services such as recycling or education transport. But again, this is done to save money and resources. There are some joint operations carried out by Campbell Park Parish and Milton Keynes Council. An example of this is the Oldbrook multi-use games area.

 7.  How do you get the money to pay for your projects etc?

The answer to this question is on the Precept page.