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In all the discussion about Big Society, the role of parish and town councils has been often been ignored. Michael Chater says they have a major role to play because of their closeness to their localities. The Big Society idea was first brought up during the 6 May general election campaign, and was not met with universal approval, according to surveys of voters. Critics claimed it was too vague and nothing more than a cover for cutting public services. "Throughout England, parish, town, community, neighbourhood and village councils work towards improving community life and providing more focused services at a local level. They are the most local tier of government, closest to people and places." At the time of the initial announcement, the National Association of Local Councils (NALC), which represents parish and town councils, said there were apparent contradictions in the idea, in that it was supposed to be about local communities and people, but it did not seem to include all interested parties. Indeed, NALC said: ‘When considering how we renew our neighbourhood and communities, it is vital to recognise the role that local – parish and town – councils and their army of community leaders play. ‘We are the closest layer of representation to people and we are already demonstrating real localism in action. We want to work with all those in power to ensure that the needs and contribution of grass-roots, community-led local government are fully understood and addressed.' Wind the clock forwards a couple of months and prime minister, David Cameron, is back with the Big Society in a grand way. This time, it kicked off in a speech in Liverpool, with plans to redistribute responsibility from ‘the elite in Whitehall to the man and woman in the street'. He anointed four ‘big society communities' in his speech – Liverpool, Eden Valley in Cumbria, Sutton in London and Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire. He said these four locations would be eligible to apply for funding from a new society bank. The bank's funds would be made up of monies from unclaimed bank accounts, and leveraged in private sector investment. The four locations will now be asked to get residents involved in projects which, for example, include a buyout of a pub, the speeding-up of broadband supply, and renewable energy. Local people are also to be given more power over council spending on parks and other amenities, and local – parish and town – councils will see more powers coming their way, too. One of the problems about Big Society is that it is currently very light on details and plans, so it is very hard to judge its potential. I think this is something we are just going to have to get used to as the Big Society is not an ideology or philosophy in the traditional sense, such as socialism or capitalism. Those in the know say it is just a framework for a vision of what could happen in the future relationship between people, third sector, private and public sectors. It is up to individuals and communities to fill that vacuum and not the Government, according to Big Society advocates. It is here where NALC believes that local – parish and town – councils can play their part in filling the vacuum created in these ideas. It is no coincidence that half of the Big Society ‘test bed' communities involve local councils of this tier. And this is quite right. After all, throughout England, parish, town, community, neighbourhood and village councils work towards improving community life and providing more focused services at a local level. They are the most local tier of government, closest to people and places. Local councils provide a voice for communities, helping people feel more involved in the decisions that affect them. In Windsor and Maidenhead, the council leader, Cllr David Burbage, listed an idea to devolve power over services such as verge-trimming and pothole mending to local councils. Cllr Burbage said he had talked to chairs of local councils about what kind of services they were interested in taking over. However, Big Society funding has yet to be agreed with central government. It cannot be long delayed for the imaginative spark of goodwill, which has been kindled, will extinguish. In Eden Valley in Cumbria, one of the most sparsely-populated areas in England, local councils of all tiers and community groups are hoping to save post offices and pubs, and expand broadband services, using Big Society support. One of the first national initiatives to come out of the Big Society was the CLG's ‘community right to build' initiative, which gives a new right to communities across England to come together and create new homes, shops, businesses and facilities. NALC welcomes the Government's commitment and acknowledgement that local councils and communities have already come together to build new homes, or have been thwarted by the current planning system. However, the proposals do not define community groups, nor do they explain how local referendums – which are needed to block or green light development projects – will work. NALC argues that all development schemes should be considered by a local community via the local – parish and town – council, with its statutory responsibilities and auditing powers. If you do not have a local council in your community, then you should consider having one, if you want Big Society to happen. In a way, this highlights one of the key problems with Big Society. It is likely to be most successful where there are the existing building blocks of parish and town councils, community assets already under local ownership and, importantly, a culture of self-reliance. But as we know, this does not exist everywhere in the country, yet. Let us complete the local council vision of a nationwide local community voice. This voice to be enshrined in a neighbourhood body with statutory powers which can enable close working with resident and voluntary community groups, so they can together grasp the opportunities from the Big Society debate. Cllr Michael Chater is chairman of the National Association of Local Councils

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WHITEHALL

Why parishes and town councils should be key to Big Society

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