Members only
NALC calls for stronger time-off rights for parish and town councillors
We have called on the government to strengthen and clarify employment rights for parish and town councillors, helping more working-age people balance employment with serving their communities.
In our response to the government's consultation on time off for public duties, we called for parish and town councillors to be explicitly recognised in guidance as eligible for reasonable time off from work to undertake their public duties. We also urged the government to provide clearer expectations for employers, consider paid leave or a minimum entitlement for elected councillors, and introduce measures that make it easier for working-age people to enter and remain in local government.
We highlighted the significant contribution made by around 100,000 parish and town councillors, who collectively spend more than 14 million hours each year serving their councils and communities. Our response argues that employment arrangements should better recognise this contribution and remove unnecessary barriers preventing people from combining public service with their careers.
Evidence from our recent research into time off for public duties shows that the existing arrangements are not always clear or consistently applied. Some 42% of respondents considered the current GOV.UK information on time off for public duties to be unclear. We warned that the generic term local councillor can create uncertainty over whether the entitlement covers parish and town councillors.
The research also highlighted practical barriers facing councillors in employment. Among respondents whose requests for time off had been rejected, reasons included staff shortages, difficulties finding cover and employers not recognising service as a parish or town councillor as grounds for granting time off. In some cases, councillors reported having to use their annual leave to attend council meetings.
We have therefore called for clearer and more accessible guidance setting out which roles and activities are covered, how "reasonable time off" should be assessed, whether leave should be paid or unpaid and how employers should manage requests. We warned that without greater clarity, councillors may be unaware of their rights or reluctant to exercise them. At the same time, employers may apply the rules inconsistently.
We also want legislation to allow parish and town councillors and clerks to attend recognised council training without loss of pay. This should include essential training in areas such as corporate governance, behaviour at meetings and sharing good practice. Councillors and clerks should also be able to attend relevant meetings and training provided by their representative bodies at county, regional and national level.
Our response argues that strengthening these rights would help remove barriers to participation and encourage more working-age people to stand for election. We reiterated our long-standing call for parish and town councils to have the same legal power as principal authorities to pay a Dependants' Carers' Allowance, helping people with caring responsibilities balance public service with work and family life.
Our response makes clear that modernising time-off arrangements is an important part of widening participation in local democracy and ensuring that becoming a parish or town councillor is a realistic option for people at every stage of their working lives.
