The smallest councils are the biggest culprits of inefficiency, and have the least oversight of any tier of English government
Local councils that are too costly to keep running should be grouped with neighbouring councils to share costs
Earlier this month, the Government announced it would pause its wide-ranging plans for Local Government Reorganisation (LGR), which would have redrawn local council and parish boundaries and overhauled a system that has been in place for centuries. As focus shifts to Andy Burnham’s less wordy – but no less ambitious – plans for devolution, England’s local governments are still on the brink of monumental change.
Devolution will succeed if it is done well – which must start with acknowledging the faults of the current parish and town council system. A paper by the Adam Smith Institute released last week found that parish taxes across England doubled since 2013 and had their second-highest increase ever this year, growing by 8.2%.
Local parish councils are the only tier of local government able to raise a council tax precept with no statutory ceiling
Worst of all, there seems to be no end in sight: local parish councils are the only tier of local government able to raise a council tax precept with no statutory ceiling.
Some of the increases can be attributed to rising costs, especially for the smallest councils of the tier, which spend a large share of their income on paying for necessary costs like administration and training. When the cost of these rise, this eats into the bulk of funds, forcing parishes to ask residents for more and more money.
The solution to this, however, is not to continually raise precepts and shift the burden onto the taxpayers, it is to make councils more efficient, especially the smallest. Creating mega-councils isn’t the answer: the largest parish councils also spend a large proportion of income on administrative costs. Instead, the most efficient parish councils are medium-sized ones which serve 500 to 2,000 people.
The smallest councils are not only the biggest culprits of inefficiency, they also have the least oversight of any tier of English government. Councils with an income of under £25,000 – often those with disproportionate administrative spending – can declare themselves exempt from the external audits that would expose their inefficiency. Some, like Coulston Parish Council in Wiltshire, bring in just enough tax to pay for an administrator to keep tabs on their council meetings, with little left over to supply services to local people.
This should not be read as an attack on parish councillors, a group of unpaid, committed locals, often unaffiliated with a major political party, who mostly serve their communities conscientiously. Instead, it reflects the inadequate structure encasing them.
This structure is also strikingly undemocratic. In the 2026 elections, 67% of parish council seats were won uncontested and 19% of seats had no candidates at all. When this happens, councils usually co-opt members, a process designed for extraordinary circumstances when a council has unelected vacancies – such as from a lack of sufficient candidates or a resignation. The paper found that 24% of councils have a majority of unelected co-optees.
Taxes cannot be allowed to keep growing at current rates, especially in councils ruled by unelected majorities. Placing a cap on precept rises would bring this tier of government closer to county and city councils and protect residents from unjust taxation. To make sure genuinely democratic parishes remain free to serve their residents, this cap should be waived in parishes where the majority of councillors were elected, placing a strong incentive for local politics to become democratic and vibrant once again.
However, this is still not enough to fix the eye-watering tax rates and inefficient spending. The councils that are simply too costly to keep running must be helped – which might mean grouping them with neighbours to share costs and administrative burdens.
Grouping local councils is a rare example of a no-lose policy, an easy saving for taxpayers and councils alike. It would immediately remove some of the duplicate costs that burden the smallest councils, such as clerks, statutory audits, insurance, training and subscriptions.
Best of all, the legislation for local council restructure already exists: it could be incorporated in Community Governance Reviews, so parishes which fall below a minimum viable operating scale can be grouped under a common council. This doesn’t necessarily mean losing local character or independence, either: smaller parishes would be grouped, not merged, and kept in distinct wards which reflect the original parish’s identity.
Devolution has enormous potential, but it also risks giving more responsibilities and more income to a tier of government woefully inadequate for the job. Reforming the parish council system will let us keep the benefits of local government without any of its skyrocketing costs or appalling inefficiencies – giving residents a committed, accountable government at an affordable price.
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