Agenda item

Members gave consideration to a report which set out a draft Parish Charter for consultation purposes with the Parish and Town Councils across the District.

The old Charter was approved back in 2006 and was significantly out of date.   The introduction of a new Charter provided the opportunity to ensure it reflected the current needs and aspirations of both West Lindsey and the Parish and Town Councils.

Section 2 and 3 of the report outlined the research which had been conducted and the internal engagement which had taken place.

The draft Charter itself was attached at Appendix 2 of the report.  The draft parish Charter would include a link to a new web landing page listing all current support schemes available to the parishes.  This would allow the webpage to be kept up to date as new schemes launched or existing schemes changed without the need to keep updating the Charter.

The Charter represented core values and standards on the how District and Parishes would work together.  Consultation on this updated version was therefore essential to allow full open participation in developing and agreeing the final version for adoption.

As part of the draft Charter the Authority was seeking to renew its commitment to holding  Parish Liaison Meetings.  A key matter for the consultation will be the format and delivery of such meetings ensuring both parties see such meetings as valuable and meaningful.

Results of the consultation would be incorporated into the Charter with a final version presented to Members in May for adoption.

Debate ensued with the Committee whole-heartedly supporting the report, commenting that such a Charter was long over-due.

Members considered it would be useful if the services of the County Council could be engaged too, particularly at the Parish Liaison Meetings.

Some Members were of a view that there was frustration within the parishes and the recent flooding incident had brought these to the forefront.   One Member shared his recent experiences as an example.  The Executive Directors of Resources urged any Members who had feedback on the response to the recent flooding to send this direct to himself.  A full de-briefing was planned and such feedback would be useful to consider at that meeting.

In response to a Member’s comment, it was noted the intention was to review the Charter once every four years.  

Members considered they had a role to play in preparing Parish Councils for the consultation and promoting the Charters development and benefits.  They urged one another to raise this matter when attending Parish Council meetings within their respective wards over thecoming weeks and months.

RESOLVED that:

(a)            both the review of the new Parish Charter and the draft West Lindsey Parish Charter be welcomed;

(b)            Officers be authorised to undertake consultation on the content of the draft Parish Charter with all parish and town councils across the district; and

(c)             a report detailing the outcome of the consultation and the proposed final parish charter for approval, be submitted to the Committee in May 2020.