Please read on for the update from NALC’s legal team:
Does attendance at a parish meeting count as attendance?
We were asked if a councillor could count on attendance at the annual meeting of electors as attendance for Section 85 of the Local Government Act 1972. Our view is that it would not count. Attendance at a parish meeting is not attendance as a representative of the authority
Allotment tenancy clause – terminating tenancies and banning tenants from future tenancies
Parish and town councils have asked if they could add a sentence to an allotment policy to manage scenarios where the council wishes to terminate a tenancy for a breach of the allotment agreement terms (e.g. the allotment has not been kept in good condition). The suggested sentence said that the council chair would appoint a committee to consider an appeal and reply to the tenant within 14 days of receipt of the appeal. The decision of the committee would be final, and the tenant would not be allowed to join the allotment waiting list again. Allotment legislation gives parish and town councils the power to make rules for the use of the allotments and set the terms under which the allotments are rented out. It follows that the parish council can include the type of term suggested. However, we do not advise having such a strict liability blanket approach. The first issue we highlighted is that failures of allotment tenants will not all be of the same severity, and a council may wish to apply the ban on reapplying for an allotment only in the worst cases. These could be detailed in the policy. Even when the ban is applied, a council may wish to give a time limit to the ban rather than making it for life. Any sanction applied by a parish or town council must be reasonable, and having a more nuanced approach would assist in making it reasonable.
Death of an allotment tenant during their tenancy
We want to confirm the point of what happens to an allotment tenancy if the tenant dies during the tenancy. The basis position is that death does not automatically end the tenancy. A parish or town council in such a position should work with the next of kin to sensitively resolve issues. For example, returning property or agreeing about handing back the plot.
The Data (Use and Access) Act 2025
This Act, passed into law in June this year, aims to reform data management. The Act is not entirely in force, and the relevant dates are over the next year. In our view, the main application to the sector is in respect of a response to a subject access request being limited to a reasonable and proportionate search. We will provide further information at the relevant time. Some provisions in respect of law enforcement come into force this month, but these are not relevant to parish and town councils.
Parish trustees
We have been dealing with several parish meeting questions recently. We decided to emphasise the point that where there is a parish meeting but no separate parish council, it is the parish trustees who are the body corporate (Section 13 (3) of the Local Government Act 1972). Our advice notes contain guidance on parish meetings.
Recent team activity
The last few months have been an unusual period. Our senior solicitor and legal manager, Jane Moore, was unexpectedly off for some weeks following an injury and then returned on a phased basis. The team managed effectively in her absence and worked additional days, so there was no drop in service delivery. Last month, the team saw the departure of Gurvynda Paddan-White after nearly 10 years. The legal team is going through a period of change, and we appreciate your patience whilst we put plans into place for the future.
If you have any queries relating to the legal update, please do reach out to us.