Parish councils’ code - mass resignations threatened

Members of parish councils across the country have threatened to resign rather than sign the government’s new code of conduct. Councillors in Oxfordshire and Worcestershire have condemned the code as too intrusive, and fear the new rules will deter people from standing for local councils. They argue that they perform an important but often mundane function despite receiving no salary and few expenses.

When announcing the code, Local Government Minister Nick Raynsford said:

‘The code… will help safeguard and raise standards of conduct in local government - ensuring that the highest professional standards are met by those who run our councils and represent our communities.

‘The new framework - which will be fully operational by early 2002 - includes a new independent body, Standards Board, set up to investigate breaches of the code and a new independent adjudication panel to ensure fair hearings.’

The Parish Councils (Model Code of Conduct) Order requires councillors to:

declare any share holdings of over £25,000 in a business which has dealings with the parish

promote equality by not discriminating unlawfully against any person

declare whether any matter under discussion might advance the well-being or financial position of the councillor, a relative, or friend

declare hospitality or gifts over £25

Members of Broadway Parish Council near Evesham, Worcestershire and Salwarpe Parish Council near Droitwich have been reported as saying that they will stand down rather than sign the new code. Ipsden Parish councillors in Oxfordshire have also decided unanimously not to sign up to the code and so will have to resign. By the end of March, it was reported that only 600 of England’s 10,000 councils had signed the agreement. The deadline is 5 May 2002.

If councillors refuse to agree to the new rules it appears that many parish councils will be forced to fold, as it is proving hard to attract people to stand for the positions. This will result in the loss of the country’s most localised form of democracy, as for many people parish councils provide the first point of contact. This can lead up to county level and is often a rallying point for local issues. It will be for district councils to decide the future of parish councils’ responsibilities if they do collapse.

Salwarpe parish council chairman, Cllr Jon Mellor, writing to Wychavon DC’s monitoring officer, said:

‘It is a matter of great sadness to all of us on Salwarpe Parish Council that this situation should have come about.

‘We recognise the importance of the most local form of democracy, the years of voluntary and unpaid service we have given are evidence of this.

‘We also recognise local councils must operate to the highest standards of integrity.

‘However the provisions of the new code of conduct are such as to create a wholly unacceptable basis for our continued involvement as parish councillors.’

The government has been accused of wanting to destroy the parish council system so it can be replaced with more widely spread local authorities. This would appear to fly in the face of the planning Green Paper, which emphasises more input for local communities. The parish council has often been seen as the hub of small villages and towns, but as its powers have diminished and as the work is voluntary, proposals such as the code of conduct may see interest wane further, and result in parish councils merging or disappearing altogether.

But with moves towards centralisation through regional planning, the question is: does the government care about the loss of an extra tier of government? As parish councils look for help, it appears that their calls are remaining unanswered, and are likely to stay that way, leaving a hole at the base of local politics that no Green Paper can fill.

E-voting introduction for local elections

Keen to see voter turnout for elections increased, there are elections across the country which will be introducing electronic voting for the first time. Councils were invited in 2001 to trial various methods based around three strands:

Electronic counting; votes are counted electronically rather than by hand,

Electronic voting; using a polling station and machine such as a touch screen

Online voting: use of public access Internet sites such as libraries and UK Online centres, or from remote locations such as computers, digital TV, mobile phones from home, work or elsewhere.

The scheme will be tested in St Albans, which will be holding elections before 2 May. The trials continue on 2 May in Liverpool and Sheffield among others, who will be introducing voting by text message and local digital television. Authorities are hoping that the results reflect the effort, as illustrated in Arizona where the introduction of electronic voting saw turnout increase by 676%.

The move is in keeping with the government's aim to improve local government's use of electronic information, part of the e-government scheme. There are concerns about whether the technology for e-voting is secure and workable, and such worries have thwarted attempts to see this introduced nation-wide by the 2006 general elections, although an electronic general election seems inevitable. The government will be keen to see the outcome of the local elections, and if the concerns about fraud materialise.

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