Hertfordshire County Council’s relationship with Town and Parish Councils

Town / Parish Responses

96 parish and town council representatives responded to the questionnaire. Of these, 49 were parish / town councillors; 26 were clerks and 15 were chairman. 6 did not specify what role they had

1. How would you generally describe the nature of your relationship(s) with the County Council in your division?

45% of participants described their relationship with the County Council as “good” or “very good”, and 35% described the relationship as “neutral”.

However, 17% described the relationship as “poor” or “very poor”

2. How has this changed over the last 12 months?

80% of participants had “stayed the same” over the past 12 months. 13% said that it had “got worse”, and 7% said it had “got better”

3. If your relationship with the town / parish councils in your division has got better or worse, what has changed which makes you say that?

Got better Built officer relationships More frequent meetings Better relationships with County Councillors

Got worse Rarely see county councillor ‘The incinerator’ Officers are difficult to engage Highways officers are spread too thinly

4. Please give an example of where, how and why your relationship with the County Council works particularly well

Officers keeping in close contact and responding to requests quickly Regular meetings with Highways Approachable, helpful County Councillor County Councillors using locality budget for initiatives in town / parish council

5. Please give an example of where, how and why your relationship with the County Council may not be as good as it could be.

Poor communication with HCC departments, e.g. Highways, Libraries, County Council does not listen, does not consult, and is hard to get information from.

o “There is no mechanism by which the town council can have relations with HCC or visa versa”

o “County Council officers have little knowledge/understanding of Parish Councils.”

The relationship is not as good as it is with District Councils County Council’s attitude toward parishes:

o “There sometimes remains a patronising attitude to parishes. The Parish Charter is only given lip service.”

o “One of the major problems we find is that there is still an air of supremacy held by County Councillors within the tiers of local government. They still want to impose change upon the residents instead of entering in to consultation and negotiation. They do not feel they have to enter into discussions with Towns and Parishes on issues that greatly affect our Town and its residents.”

6. How would you describe your relationship with your local County Councillor?

82% of participants described their relationship with their local County Councillor as “good” or “very good”. 12% described their relationship as “neutral”

However, 6% described their relationship as “bad” or “very bad”

7. How has this changed over the last 12 months?

83% of recipients said that their relationship with their local County Councillor had “stayed the same” over the past 12 months.

4% said that it had “got worse”, and 13% said it had “got better”

8. If your relationship with county councillors in your division has got better or worse please say what has changed that makes you say that.

Got better Arranging to meet and improve communications Councillors involving town/parish councillors with the Highways Locality

Budget and Locality Budget Scheme County Councillor attending more meetings

Got worse County Councillor ignoring issues that town / parish councillors have raised

9. Please give an example of where, how and why your relationship with you county councillor works particularly well

County Councillor is accessible and responsive

County Councillor uses locality budgets effectively County Councillor will go out of their way to sort out problems for the parish

council and is supportive of local projects County Councillor attends local meetings County Councillor aware of local issues

10. Please give an example of where, how and why your relationship with your county councillor may not be as good as it could be

More openness and engagement needed County councillor claiming political credit for the work of the parish council. Representing different political parties County Councillors adhering to County Council policy County Councillor does not attend parish meetings Poor communication

11. Does your local County Councillor attend Town and Parish council meetings?

62% of recipients said that County Councillors attend town and parish council meetings whenever they can

12% said they attend meetings only when there is something of interest on the agenda

8% said that they keep the councillors informed, but they choose not to attend

7% said they attend meetings, but only when invited 6% said that County Councillors do not attend, as they do not let them know

when they are taking place 6% said that they notify County Councillors, but they choose not to attend.

12. If the County Councillor attends what is their normal role?

62% of recipients said that if county councillors attend town and parish council meetings, their role is that of proactive participant (involved in the discussion)

8% of recipients said that if county councillors attend town and parish council meetings, their role is that of a formal observer (people know you are there but you are not expected to do anything)

20% of recipients said that if county councillors attend town and parish council meetings, their role is that of a reactive participant (to present a report)

11% of recipients said that if county councillors attend town and parish council meetings, their role is as a member of the public (informal not publicised)

13. What do you think generally is the role of Parish / Town Councils in respect of localism?

Offering local services Great input in decisions made about Parish More information about localism needed before can comment A way to pass responsibility on to the Parishes with additional funds Opportunity to serve the community more effectively Should be greater co-operative working with Districts and County to ensure

the best outcome for all in Hertfordshire To be the voice of the village To enable local communities to be central to the decisions that affect their

community

14. How can County and Parish/Town Councillors best work together to achieve better working in communities?

Better communication and joint working There should be a service agreement that spells out what each party wants

and can give to the relationship. Better consultation and engagement on local issues Joint public meetings Parish plan Devolving services The principals and aspirations of the Parish Charter taken seriously Parishes should have key contact at County level.

15. Are there any services that your Council would be interested in having greater influence over?

Libraries Highways Public transport Planning Housing Education

16. Are there specific assets (pieces of land or buildings) that your Council would wish to manage?

No, as do not have enough resources to manage them. Nature reserves, car parks, civic buildings, flower beds, toilets, playing fields

17. What is your Council's interest in neighbourhood planning?

56% of town and parish recipients said that they were interested in neighbourhood planning and would like to know more

31% said that they were already working towards a neighbourhood plan 10% said that they were not interested

18. Top five issues affecting town / parish

1. Development2. Planning3. Traffic4. Roads5. Housing

19. Would your parish consider raising the precept if it enabled you to deliver improved local services?

48% of recipients said that they “might” consider raising the precept if it enabled them to deliver improved services

41% said “yes”, and 11% said “no”

20. How often does your County Councillor involve you on matters regarding their division?

Town / Parish councillors 31% of town/parish councillors said that their County Councillor contacted

them “more often than not” However, 31% said that their County Councillor didn’t contact them very

often 16% said that their County Councillor “never” contacted them, and 22% said

that their County Councillor “always” contacted them.

Parish Chairmen 32% of Parish Chairman said that their County Councillor “always” contacted

them 32% said that their County Councillor contacted them “more often than not” However, 30% said that their County Councillor didn’t contact them very

often, and 7% said that their County Councillor never contacted them.

Clerks 32% of Clerks said that their County Councillor contacted them “more often

than not” and 27% said that they were “always” contacted However, 30% said that that were not contacted very often by their County

Councillor, and 12% said that they were “never” contacted.

21. What were the issues?

Highways locality budget

Locality budget scheme Planning Street lighting

22. What methods did they use, and do you remember giving a response?

67% of recipients said that they had been contacted by email. Of these, 39% remembered giving a response “more often than not”, 27% said they “always” responded, 27% said they didn’t respond very often, and 8% said they “never” responded.

36% said that they had been contacted by letter. Of these, 9% said that they “always” responded, and 9% said that they responded “more often than not”. 54% said that they “never” responded to a letter, and 30% said that they didn’t respond very often.

45% said that they had been contacted via the phone. Of these, 9% said that they “always” responded, 30% said that they responded “more often than not”, 18% said that they “never” responded, and 42% said that they didn’t respond very often.

74% said that they had been contacted face to face. 25% said that they “always” responded to this means of communication, 45% said they responded “more often than not”, 7% said that they “never” responded, and 23% said that they didn’t respond very often.

23. Can you give an example of what you think has worked particularly well or where your feedback has influenced / shaped / changed any decisions your County Councillor has made?

No Yes: street lighting, money from LBS, anti social behaviour, roads, salt bins

24. Are your councillors democratically elected?

91% of recipients said that their councillors were democratically elected, 9% said that they were not.

26. Does the council have a qualified audit of accounts?

64% of recipients said that the council does have a qualified audit of accounts, 31% said that they did not, and 5% said that they did not know.

27. Does the council send out regular communications to residents?

82% of recipients said that the council did send out regular communications to residents, 18% said that they did not.

28. If so, how frequently?

67% said that communication went out quarterly. 25% said that communication went out monthly, 5% said that it went out

weekly, and 2% said that it went out annually.

29. Do you have or are you working to meet the requirements of the 'General Power of Competence' or 'Quality Council Status'?

45% of recipients said that they were working towards meeting the requirements

24% said they have met the requirements 23% said that they have yet to decide 8% said that they had decided against it.

30. Do you have any other comments you would like to make?

“Please encourage the officers to engage with us and take us seriously. We know our local community better than they do (as we should) and we are not a bunch of local yokels! Several of us have former business experience way beyond that of the officers. We are generally older and possibly wiser.”

“Perhaps your council officers would be better informed and better communicated with if they visited Council meetings - most of the problems are not with policy (councillors) but with implementation (officers).”

“Happy to work with the CC on any initiatives, just treat us as a partner that can help in delivering solutions. Not the little PC who are bumbling amateurs playing at local government.”

“We have a good relationship with our local County Councillors but not always have good access to county officers Feel some county councillors are there for the status and do not get involved enough with any issues”