Parish and town councillors serve a four-year term, with the last elections held in 2023 and the next elections planned for 2027. It is expected that the elections for the new shadow unitaries will also take place in 2027, and will serve an initial five-year term. This would mean parish and town council elections would fall out of alignment with principal authorities in Devon, with our next elections taking place in 2031 and unitary elections taking place in 2032.

The district councils reached out to DALC to discuss this matter, and we were in agreement that parish and town councils would ideally remain in alignment with the unitary authorities to avoid significant increases in election costs. Currently, the district councils shoulder much of the financial burden of elections since they are also holding elections. If elections fell out of alignment, then parish and town councils may need to shoulder all, or almost all, of that financial burden. Our sector also benefits from the increased visibility that comes from elections being held at the same time as principal authority elections.

We are delighted that the districts will be making representation to the government for a five-year term for parish and town councillors in Devon from 2027, to ensure that our elections remain in alignment. We will keep our members informed on the outcome of that.

There is no suggestion that the 2027 elections will not take place, and as they approach, please rest assured that we will be providing training on preparing for elections and of course will have post-election training available for new councillors. There is some guidance available on our website.