Does your Parish Council Deliver ‘Value for Money?’

 Auditors say Northumberland County Council Doesn’t

Parish Council’s have a prime role to play in the democracy of the Country being able to pick up the ‘soundings’ from local people and pass them up in reports and minutes to their Unitary or two tier (District and County in some cases) bringing them into full public view for debate. Making Town and Parish Councils an essential part of the structure of local democracy as have a vital role in acting on behalf of the communities they represent.
They:

       give views, on behalf of the community, on planning applications and other proposals that affect the parish

       undertake projects and schemes that benefit local residents

       work in partnership with other bodies to achieve benefits for the parish

       alert relevant authorities to problems that arise or work that needs to be undertaken

       help the other tiers of local government keep in touch with their local communities.

Across the County of Northumberland since 2017 a minority Tory administration runs the Unitary all purpose Council hiding behind the County Council badge to confuse people into thinking they do not have to deliver statutory services and its all somebody else’s fault.

The Unitary County Council has failed over the last three years to deliver ‘Best Value’ on behalf of residents as its accounts have been ‘qualified’ by its external auditors (Qualified means failed in accountancy parlance) due to in the main the lack of good governance and the secrecy which prevails, cutting out the base layer of local government in the Country, the Town and Parish Councils.

According to their auditors, most of Northumberland’s Town and Parish Councils who run clear and precise web sites on behalf of residents do deliver best value and good and honest Governance. In many cases they also support the delivery of services which their residents like to have enhanced to ensure people are proud of the Towns and Parishes they live in.

We here at Murky thought we would take a look at one of the largest Parish Councils in the Country, the Labour led Blyth Town Council who on behalf of its residents deliver masses of enhanced services to keep their Town neat and tidy, well above some of the Unitary Metropolitan and City councils nearby.

Here’s the services Blyth Town Council delivers and the similar services delivered by the County Council, listed to stop future mix ups.