As a tier of local government Town Councils are elected bodies with discretionary powers and rights laid down by Parliament to represent their communities and provide services for them.
All councils are constituted in the same way; Councillors (or “Members”) are elected by the local government electorate and each council has a Chair, who must be one of the elected Councillors.
A council is a corporate body. A council’s lawful acts, assets and liabilities are its own and not those of its Councillors or any other council. A council must act within the law: it can spend, raise or use money only if it has a statutory power to do so, otherwise it acts ultra vires (beyond its powers).
Councils have a wide range of powers under different acts of Parliament. Most of these powers are discretionary, i.e. a council may do something, rather than it must do something.
| List of Town Council Powers & Duties (this is not an exhaustive list) |
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| Function | Powers & Duties |
| Allotments | Duty to provide allotments Power to improve and adapt land for allotments, and to let grazing rights |
| Baths and washhouses | Power to provide public baths and washhouses |
| Burial Grounds, cemeteries and crematoria | Power to acquire and maintain Power to provide Power to agree to maintain monuments and memorials Power to contribute towards expenses of cemeteries |
| Bus shelters | Power to provide and maintain shelters |
| Bye-laws | Power to make Bye-laws in regard to pleasure grounds Power to provide Cycle parks Power to provide Baths and washhouses Power to provide Open spaces and burial grounds Power to provide Mortuaries and post-mortem rooms |
| Clocks | Power to provide public clocks |
| Closed churchyards | Powers as to maintenance |
| Common pastures | Powers in relation to providing common pasture |
| Conference facilities | Power to provide and encourage the use of facilities |
| Community centres | Power to provide and equip buildings for use of clubs having athletic, social or recreational objectives |
| Crime prevention | Powers to install and maintain equipment and establish and maintain a scheme for detection or prevention of crime Power to contribute to police services e.g. PCSOs Duty on Parish Councils to consider crime reduction in every policy and action |
| Drainage | Power to deal with ponds and ditches |
| Dogs | Power to make a Dog Control Order Power to take enforcement action against those who commit an offence against a Dog Control Order |
| Entertainment and the arts | Power to provide provision of entertainment and support of the arts |
| Flyposting and Graffiti | Power to take enforcement action against those that flypost or graffiti |
| Gifts | Power to accept |
| Highways | Power to maintain footpaths and bridle-ways Power to light roads and public places Provision of litter bins Powers to provide parking places for bicycles and motor-cycles, and other vehicles Power to enter into agreement as to dedication and widening Power to provide roadside seats and shelters Power to Consent to ending of maintenance of highway at public expense, or for stopping up or diversion of highway Power to complain to highway authority as to unlawful stopping up or obstruction of highway or unlawful encroachment on roadside wastes Power to provide traffic signs and other objects or devices warning of danger Power to plant trees and lay out grass verges etc. and to maintain them |
| Investments | Power to participate in schemes of collective investment |
| Land | Power to acquire by agreement, to appropriate, to dispose of Power to accept gifts of land |
| Litter | Power to provide receptacles Power to take enforcement action against those that litter |
| Lotteries | Powers to promote |
| Mortuaries and post mortem rooms | Powers to provide mortuaries and post mortem rooms |
| Open spaces | Power to acquire land and maintain |
| Parish documents | Powers to direct as to their custody |
| Telecommunications facilities | Power to pay public telecommunications operators any loss sustained providing telecommunication facilities |
| Public buildings and village hall | Power to provide buildings for public meetings and assemblies |
| Public conveniences | Power to provide |
| Sustainable communities | Power to provide representative on panel to be consulted on proposals that would contribute to sustainable communities |
| Town and country planning | Right to be notified of planning applications |
| Tourism | Power to encourage visitors and provide conference and other facilities |
| Traffic calming | Powers to contribute financially to traffic calming schemes |
| Transport | Powers in relation to car-sharing schemes, taxi fare concessions and information about transport Powers to make grants for bus services |
| War memorials | Power to maintain, repair, protect and alter war memorials |
| Water supply | Power to utilise well, spring or stream and to provide facilities for obtaining water from them |
The next tier of local government in Shropshire is the Unitary Council, in our case Shropshire Council. For enquiries relating to the responsibilities of Shropshire Council, please ring their Customer Service Helpline on 0345 678 9000.