About Local Councils

Funding for local councils is provided through Council Tax, a proportion of which will be dedicated to your local council in the form of a ‘precept’. Every local council produces a budget of what it will spend in the next financial year and that budget, minus income and any grants, will define the precept.

By law, each parish and town council are required to have what are called ‘proper officers’. These are employees of councils and are the clerk and the responsible finance officer (RFO) – in many cases both roles are performed by the same person. Clerks are responsible for the legal running of councils and RFOs for legal financial management of public money which is checked every year by an audit.

Parish and town councillors are volunteers who want to represent and work for their communities. Elections are usually held every four years and potential councillors stand, like an MP or principal authority councillor, to be voted for by the electors – people eligible to vote – in each council area. If all seats of a council are not filled by election, then eligible people can join a council through a process called co-option. A seat which becomes vacant between elections is known as a casual vacancy and can be filled by a process similar to co-option. Local councils advertise empty seats on their websites and within their communities.

Local councillors attend council meetings, listen to and engage with residents and represent their views, speak to local groups and bodies on behalf of council and work with other councillors and officers to deliver services and activities.

In Dorset there are just under 1,500 seats on parish and town councils. To be a local councillor you need to meet the eligibility criteria below but most importantly have a passion for your community. A major role of DAPTC is to provide training and support to all councillors, whether new to the role or not, so there’s no need to worry that you won’t know what to do or how to do it.

Watch the videos at the bottom of this page for a better understanding of how rewarding being a councillor can be. There could be vacant seats on your local council now and the best way to investigate is to contact the parish or town clerk through your local council’s website.

Eligibility criteria
To be a parish or town councillor, you must:

• Be a British citizen, an eligible Commonwealth citizen, a citizen of the Republic of Ireland, a qualifying EU citizen or an EU citizen with retained rights.
• Be 18 years of age or older (unless standing for a Youth Council).
• Meet at least one of the following four qualifications:
  • You are, and will continue to be, registered as a local government elector for the parish/town in which you wish to stand from the day of your nomination onwards.
  • You have occupied as owner or tenant any land or other premises in the parish/town area during the whole of the 12 months before the day of your nomination and the day of election.
  • Your main or only place of work during the 12 months prior to the day of your nomination and the day of election has been in the parish/town area.
  • You have lived in the parish/town area or within three miles of it during the whole of the 12 months before the day of your nomination and the day of election.

For explanations of the criteria visit The Electoral Commission website USING THIS LINK.