What's in it for me and my community?

You should consider becoming a parish or town councillor if:

• You Want To Do Something Positive for Your Community
• You Want To Spend Your Time Productively
• You Can Think, Listen and Act Locally

What Parish Councils do

There are over 8,700 parish councils (some of which are called town, community or neighbourhood councils) representing around 16 million people across England. They form the most local level of government and cover many rural and urban areas. Northamptonshire has 208 parishes with councils, plus 51 parish meetings (which do not hold elections). Together they cover almost all of the county, with the exception of unparished areas in Wellingborough, Kettering, Corby and the centre of Northampton.

Your parish council has an overall responsibility for the well-being of your local neighbourhood. Their work falls into three main categories:

• representing your local community
• delivering services to meet local needs
• striving to improve quality of life in the parish

Your parish council might provide, maintain or contribute to the following services:

• allotments
• bus shelters
• car parks
• community centres
• community safety schemes
• community transport schemes
• crime reduction measures
• cycle paths
• festivals and celebrations
• leisure facilities
• litter bins
• local illuminations
• local youth projects
• parks and open spaces
• planning
• public lavatories
• street cleaning
• street lighting
• tourism activities
• traffic calming measures

They will often work with larger councils in your area called ‘principal authorities’ and cooperate to ensure the effective delivery of services to the local community.

What councillors do

Parish councillors are elected to represent a geographical area known as a ward or – mainly in smaller councils – the parish, town, community or neighbourhood council area as a whole. They are elected by people who live in the area.

If the parish council is divided into wards an election is held in each ward, the same way elections are held in district or borough wards. If the council doesn’t have wards there is just a single parish council election.

Most parish council elections are on the same cycle, with elections in 2015, 2019, 2023 and so on. However, parish council elections may instead be held together with associated principal council elections. To find out when your local parish council is holding elections, you can go to our parish search page.

Councillors have three main areas of work:

• Decision-making: through attending meetings and committees with other elected members, councillors decide which activities to support, where money should be spent, what services should be delivered and what policies should be implemented
• Monitoring: councillors make sure that their decisions lead to efficient and effective services by keeping an eye on how well things are working
• Getting involved locally: as local representatives, councillors have responsibilities towards their constituents and local organisations. This often depends on what the councillor wants to achieve and how much time is available

The day-to-day work of a parish councillor may include:

• going to meetings of local organisations such as tenants’ associations
• going to meetings of bodies that affect the wider community, such as the police, the Highways Authority, schools and colleges
• taking up issues on behalf of members of the public, such as making representations to the district or borough council
• running a surgery for residents to bring up issues
• meeting with individual residents in their own homes

Why should I become a councillor?

As a councillor you can become a voice for your community and affect real change. Councillors are community leaders and represent the aspirations of the public that they serve. Parish, town, community and neighbourhood councillors are the most local part of our democratic system and are closest to the public. By standing for your parish council you could make a real difference to your local neighbourhood.