NALC urges the government to simplify council creation

The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) is urging the government to make it easier for communities to set up new local (parish and town) councils in England.

This follows NALC’s response to the recent Ministry of Communities, Housing and Local Government (MHCLG) consultation on updating the statutory guidance around Community Governance Reviews.

NALC’s requests to the government are:

• A right of appeal direct to the secretary of state to be introduced where a principal authority has unfairly rejected a campaign for a new local council

• Mandatory community referenda result where residents vote in favour of a new council – to be binding on principal authorities

• Principal authorities to be required to enforce strict internal reviews of their processes during a Community Governance Review

• Local councils to be created across principal local authority boundaries, for example, Neighbourhood Plan areas

Cllr Sue Baxter, chairman of NALC, says: “NALC want to work with the government to make the process of creating new local councils easier for communities and thinks the government to reinforce its 2007 agenda, that principal authorities create local councils and make it easier for communities to set them up.

"NALC welcomes the chance to comment on the MHCLG long-awaited update of the statutory guidance. The guidance urgently needs to reflect the regulatory changes from 2015, which were introduced to make it easier to set up new councils. NALC look forward to working with the government and the Local Government Boundary Commission for England during 2018 to promote the new guidance".