Speakers
Stuart Carter
Session
Local government reorganisation has created new opportunities and new pressures for parish and town councils willing to step up. In this session, hear first-hand from two of the most significant examples in England. Northampton Town Council, established in 2021, inherited a substantial portfolio of assets and services following the abolition of the former principal authority. Bridgwater Town Council has taken a different but equally ambitious route, entering into formal agreements with Somerset Council to manage and own a wide range of local services, from parks and markets to street cleaning and tackling fly-tipping. Together, these case studies will explore the reality behind the headlines. Has reorganisation genuinely strengthened town councils' status, budgets and ability to shape place? What has it taken to make these arrangements work, and what lessons can councillors and clerks take back to their own councils as reorganisation continues elsewhere?
Stuart Carter is the clerk of Northampton Town Council, the principal first‑tier local authority serving the large and historic community of Northampton, where he provides strategic leadership, governance oversight and professional support to councillors and the wider community. He has extensive experience in local government, having previously served as chief officer and clerk at Evesham Town Council and Marlow Town Council, and earlier roles including deputy town clerk and audit and risk officer, giving him a broad foundation in operational delivery, financial management, project coordination and stakeholder engagement across parish and town councils.
Cllr Brian Smedley is the leader of Bridgwater Town Council and represents the Westover Ward on the council, alongside serving as the unitary councillor for the Bridgwater South division on Somerset Council. First elected in 1990, he has more than three decades of experience in local government and is a long-standing advocate for community engagement, workers' representation and civic partnership, including active involvement with UNITE the Union and the Bridgwater Trades Union Council. Alongside his political career, Cllr Smedley has a strong creative background rooted in Bridgwater's late-1970s punk scene as a songwriter with the Dangerous Brothers and later through the Sheep Worrying arts collective, where he edited an alternative magazine and wrote, directed and performed in theatre productions.