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Calls to reform ‘outdated’ parish polls
- By Claire Starr
- Political Reporter, BBC Oxford
A parish poll was held in Kidlington over proposals for a new football stadium in the village
There have been calls to reform the legal rules around parish and town polls.
Only 10 people are required to spark local polls, with councils then having to hold them and meet the costs.
The National Association of Local Councils wants at least 60 people or 10% of electors at a meeting to agree for a poll to be called.
It also wants the questions to be limited to those that councils have a direct influence over.
Residents voted against the plans, though the poll is not legally binding. Cherwell District Council, the planning authority, will have the final say.
Keith Stevens, chair of the association, which is the national body for 10,000 parish and town councils, described the current poll rules as “archaic and out of date”.
He added: “It should be something that’s relevant to the council, and something the council can actually do, rather than just support.”
More than 3,000 people voted in the Kidlington poll. The village previously held a ballot on whether to become a town
The polls are a legal right for electors and have to be held if the criteria is met, even if the local authority holding it disagrees with it.
They are held like other elections, with residents going to a polling station in person to cast their ballot.
David Robey, the chair of Kidlington Parish Council, estimated the latest poll cost about £7,000.
He described the polls as a “potential check on parish councils” but said the threshold was “set far too low”.
‘Not referendums’
Stan Scott, from nearby Woodstock, called a poll in May last year on whether parking in the town should be kept free.
“They just want to make it harder for us to do it, which I think is entirely wrong,” he said.
“I think people ought to be more aware that they can call a town poll on controversial local issues.”
Those who turned out for his poll voted against the charges, though they were later brought in by Oxfordshire County Council.
It said it treated such views “very seriously” but they were “advisory only” and “not referendums”.
In 2014 the government held a consultation on reforming parish polls. It said officials were looking into options on how to take this forward, and updates would be given in due course.
