Hertfordshire County Council’s relationship with Town and Parish Councils

1. Hertfordshire County Council’s relationship with Town and Parish Councils

3. Town / Parish Responses

5. 96 parish and town council representatives responded to the questionnaire. Of these, 49 were parish / town councillors; 26 were clerks and 15 were chairman. 6 did not specify what role they had

7. How would you generally describe the nature of your relationship(s) with the County Council in your division?

9. 45% of participants described their relationship with the County Council as “good” or “very good”, and 35% described the relationship as “neutral”.

10. However, 17% described the relationship as “poor” or “very poor”

11. How has this changed over the last 12 months?

12. 80% of participants had “stayed the same” over the past 12 months.

13. 13% said that it had “got worse”, and 7% said it had “got better”

15. 3. If your relationship with the town / parish councils in your division has got better or worse, what has changed which makes you say that?

17. Got better • Built officer relationships

18. More frequent meetings

19. Better relationships with County Councillors

21. Got worse • Rarely see county councillor

22. ‘The incinerator’

23. Officers are difficult to engage

24. Highways officers are spread too thinly

26. 4. Please give an example of where, how and why your relationship with the County Council works particularly well

27. Officers keeping in close contact and responding to requests quickly

28. Regular meetings with Highways

29. Approachable, helpful County Councillor

30. County Councillors using locality budget for initiatives in town / parish council

32. 5. Please give an example of where, how and why your relationship with the County Council may not be as good as it could be.

33. Poor communication with HCC departments, e.g. Highways, Libraries, County Council does not listen, does not consult, and is hard to get information from. • “There is no mechanism by which the town council can have relations with HCC or visa versa”

34. “County Council officers have little knowledge/understanding of Parish Councils.” • The relationship is not as good as it is with District Councils

35. County Council’s attitude toward parishes: • “There sometimes remains a patronising attitude to parishes. The Parish Charter is only given lip service.”

36. “One of the major problems we find is that there is still an air of supremacy held by County Councillors within the tiers of local government. They still want to impose change upon the residents instead of entering in to consultation and negotiation. They do not feel they have to enter into discussions with Towns and Parishes on issues that greatly affect our Town and its residents.”

38. 6. How would you describe your relationship with your local County Councillor?

39. 82% of participants described their relationship with their local County Councillor as “good” or “very good”. 12% described their relationship as “neutral”

40. However, 6% described their relationship as “bad” or “very bad”

42. 7. How has this changed over the last 12 months?

43. 83% of recipients said that their relationship with their local County Councillor had “stayed the same” over the past 12 months.

44. 4% said that it had “got worse”, and 13% said it had “got better”

46. 8. If your relationship with county councillors in your division has got better or worse please say what has changed that makes you say that.

48. Got better • Arranging to meet and improve communications

49. Councillors involving town/parish councillors with the Highways Locality Budget and Locality Budget Scheme

50. County Councillor attending more meetings