The Local Government Act 1972 states that ‘for every parish there shall be a Parish Meeting for the purpose of discussing parish affairs and exercising any functions conferred on such meetings by any enactment…’.
A Simple Guide to Parish Meetings:
Parish Meetings are quite distinct from meetings of the Parish Council, although the two are often confused.
The confusion arises for several reasons
- If present, the Chairman of the Parish Council must chair the Parish Meeting;
- The Clerk to the Parish Council organises and takes the minutes of the Parish Meeting;
- The Annual Parish Meeting often takes place on the same evening as the AGM of the Parish Council.
Some of the differences are as follows
- Any person on the electoral register of the parish is entitled to speak at a Parish Meeting, at a meeting of the Parish Council members of the public may speak only at the Chairman’s discretion.
- With the exception of the Chairman, councillors rank the same as other members of the electorate.
- Agendas for Parish Council meetings must be published three days ahead of the meeting, for Parish Meetings a skeleton agenda is usually published ahead of the meeting, but often items are added up to and even during the meeting.
- Only Councillors may request items to be placed on the agenda of a Parish Council meeting whereas any member of the electorate may do so at a Parish Meeting.
- Any matter pertinent to the parish may be discussed at a Parish Meeting, whereas at a Parish Council meeting subjects for discussion should be limited to those matter on which the council has the power to act (conferred by various Acts of Parliament).
- The press and general public have a right to attend Parish Meetings, but anyone not on the electoral register of the parish is ‘stranger’ and does not have the right to vote.
In a summary
A Parish Meeting is a meeting of the people of the parish.
A Parish Council Meeting is a meeting of the parish councillors.
Milborne Port Annual Parish Meeting
The next Annual Parish Meeting will take place on Thursday 1st May 2025 at the Reborne Community Church on North Street. Refreshments will be served from 6.30pm, and then the meeting will begin at 7pm with a presentation by our local Member of Parliament, Sarah Dyke; she will run through recent parliamentary activity and the campaigns that she is working on in the constituency.
This is a meeting that is open to all Milborne Port residents and is an opportunity to review the achievements of local groups and organisations over the past year.
Parking available at the school on the night. Click here to view the agenda.
Agenda & Minutes:
2025
2024
2023
2022
2021
There was no Parish Meeting in 2020 due to the Covid pandemic