Parish Council - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition parish-council

Definition :

Parish Council. Established by the Local Govern-ment Act, 1894, s. 1 (see now Local Government Act, 1933 (23 & 24 Geo. 5, c. 51), ss. 43-55), for every rural parish i.e., (every parish in a rural sanitary district) having a population of 300 or upwards, the county council having also power to group parishes under a common parish council, and being bound to establish a parish council if the parish meeting of a parish having a population of 100 or upwards so resolve, and having power to establish one with the consent of the parish meeting if the population be less than 100.

The parish council is elected from among the parochial electors, or persons who have resided for twelve months in the parish or within three miles of it. The number of councillors is fixed by each county council within the limits of five and fifteen members. The term of office, which was by the Act of 1894 one year, was altered to three years by the Parish Councillors (Tenure of Office) Act, 1899, by which the councillors go out of office on the 15th of April in every third year, after the 15th of April, 1901, and by the 1933 Act, likewise.

The main duty of parish councils is to manage parish property. They are bodies corporate, having power to hold land without any license in mortmain, and to acquire by agreement land for recreation grounds and other parish purposes, and to acquire land compulsorily for allotments. They may also utilize wells, cover ponds, acquire rights of way, and accept and hold any gifts of property, real or personal, for the benefit of the inhabitants of the parish or any part thereof; see the 1933 Act, Sch. III, Part IV.

The Local Government (Scotland) Act, 1929 (19 & 20 Geo. 5, c. 25), transferred the duties of the parish council in Scotland to various other local bodies, and the parish council as such is now non-existent .