Local Councils: The Power to Deliver?

2 October 2006

NALC lunch fringe at the Conservative Party Conference

NALC (National Association of Local Councils) welcomes moves from the Conservative Party indicating that it will place community, parish and town councils at the traditional heart of local community democracy.

NALC believes that the oldest form of local governance has an important future role to play in service delivery at the centre of local communities.

Speaking at the fringe event hosted by NALC, Lord Hanningfield MP, shadow minister for communities and local government, said: "I hope that the Conservative party policy will continue to develop ideas that will be supportive of the first tier." He then spoke about the pioneering work with town and parish councils carried out by Essex County Council.

Cllr David Murkett, vice president for NALC, said: "I would like to praise the work of Essex County Council in embracing town and parish councils and look forward to the Conservatives backing proposals for the power of wellbeing."

Chair, Michael Green, head of policy and parliamentary affairs at NALC, thanked all the speakers for their contributions to such a successful event. He added that: "We are going to continue working with all the political parties and partner organisations to ensure a positive future for local communities."

Notes for Editors:

The National Association of Local Councils is the national representative body for 10,000 community, parish and town councils throughout England and Wales. In all, there are over 100,000 community, parish and town councillors throughout England and Wales.

These councillors, who serve electorates ranging from small rural communities to major cities, are all independently elected. The councils have powers to raise their own funds through council tax. Community, parish and town councils provide employment for over 25,000 staff while their annual expenditure exceeds £400 million.

Together, they can be identified as the nation's single most influential grouping of grassroots opinion-formers.

Over 15 million people live in communities served by 10,000 community, parish and town councils nationally - this represents up to 30% of the population. Over 150 new community, parish and town councils have been created since 1997.

For more information contact Alan Jones on 020 7290 0316 or alan.jones@nalc.gov.uk