Axe Parish Councils - Submitted by 19 Mar 2008 - Source Leicester Mercury 19.03.08

Your article "Tax-payers left 'stunned' at 63 per cent parish increase" (Mercury, March 10) comes as no surprise to me.

The present local government system has its foundation in the late 19th Century and since that time there have been several reorganisations (for better or worse) that have attempted to adapt the system to a changing world.

However, parish councils seem to have avoided the full impact of these reorganisations because there always seems to be a strong lobby promoting the romantic idea that parish councils provide the "local" in local government. The reality is that they are an expensive anachronism as indicated in the Leicester Forest East situation. They should be abolished as soon as legislation can be introduced, for the following reasons:

There is little interest in their activities as evidenced by the fact that many parish council seats are uncontested at elections.

Without a parish council the voice of parishioners would still be heard in the corridors of power through their district and county council representatives.

So often parish councils provide a forum for party political rivals to "have a go" at one another, forgetting the best interests of the parish.

The parent county and district councils run most services within a parish and the few minor services provided by the parish council, could easily be undertaken by these principle councils.

The abolition of parish councils would achieve massive financial savings for the long suffering council tax payers as the parish offices along with other capital assets would be sold, raising millions of pounds nationally. Some assets would have to be transferred to the principle councils. There would have to be extra staff employed by the principle councils but much of the additional work could easily be absorbed within the existing work force.

At a time when there is much talk of "obesity" in society might it be an idea for local government to cut away itsexcessive fat - namely parish councils?

Brian C Law, (retired local government principal administration officer) Oadby.

Source Leicester Mercury 19.03.08

Reader comments

I was interested to read Brian C. Law's letter "Axe Parish Councils". I am a Parish Councillor in Thurmaston, and month after month see local people engage with the Parish Council, the Police and representatives of the County Council and District Council, as Parish Councillors and others seek to further improve Thurmaston as a great place to live, work and visit.

I do however believe that the existing three tiers of local government within Leicestershire are unnecessary and expensive. Perhaps it's time to abolish the District Councils within Leicestershire and have just a County Council with Parish Councils, in a similar way to the unitary City Council with Community Meetings operating at ward level within the city? Cllr Darren Gartside, Thurmaston

Source Leicester Mercury 25.03.08