Parish, Town and Community Councils:
Parish and town councils are the first tier of Local Government. In recent years, they have been encouraged by central government to take a greater role in community democracy which has resulted in some new councils being formed. Any village, neighbourhood or town beneath district or borough level can demand its own elected parish or town council. This only applies to England outside greater London and does not apply to Wales or Scotland where different regulations apply. In Wales and Scotland they are mostly called Community councils. A parish council represents the concerns and hopes of a specific community or geographic area.
How the data is organised:
The database covers clerks and chairmen of all parish, town and community councils throughout England, Scotland & Wales. The town councils are mostly larger organisations than the parish & community councils and the contacts there are usually based at an office address. Most of the parish and community councils are very small and the contact addresses are usually home addresses of the clerks. Some clerks undertake the role for several councils. It should be noted that many clerks will hold full time jobs which are not in any way connected with their parish council duties.