Parish Charter for Allerdale

Introduction

The Government is pursuing a number of policies and initiatives that aim to empower local communities and give citizens the opportunity to help shape decisions about the way public services are designed and delivered to them.  As part of this agenda the Government recognises that democratically elected town and parish councils - the most local tier of local government - can play a key role in meeting this aim.  The Government therefore launched the "Quality Parish and Town Council Scheme" in 2003 to raise the standard of governance at the parish level and provide a framework within which Principal Authorities and town and parish can work in partnership to respond to community aspiration and priorities.

The national Quality Parish Scheme recommends the agreement of "charters" between Principal Authorities and parish councils in order to promote partnership working and enhance the opportunities for citizen engagement in the design and delivery of local services.  This charter sets down the respective roles and obligations of Principal Authorities and Local Councils and to include any special arrangements for those Parish or Town councils that have been awarded "Quality Parish Status".

The publication of the Local Government White Paper ('Strong and prosperous communities') on 27 October 2006 has reinforced this approach.  Principal Authorities and Local Councils will explore the future opportunities laid out in that document.  The main principles of this Charter - better joint working, better communication and better consultations - remain unchanged and apply equally to council structures now and any possible changes in the future.

This Parish Charter for Allerdale has been agreed between Cumbria County Council, Allerdale Borough Council and the Local Councils in Allerdale.

For more information about this Charter please contact:

Cumbria County Council - 01768 242365 

Allerdale Borough Council - Democratic Services on 01900 702550 or democratic.services@allerdale.gov.uk

Cumbria Association of Local Councils - Chief Officer on 01768 242141 or office@calc.org.uk

The Parish Charter for Allerdale, and minutes from the joint meeting between Allerdale Borough Council and Cumbria Association of Local Councils (which are subject to ratification at the next meeting) can be downloaded further down this page.

Launch

The Launch of the Parish Charter for Allerdale was held in the Greenhills Hotel, Wigton on Thursday 26 July 2007.

Over a hundred guests toasted the Charters success.

Next Steps

We wrote out to all parish and town councils and parish meetings and encouraged everyone to sign up to the Charter.  To date, the parishes listed below have signed up to the charter.

We will keep you posted on our progress.

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