Who we are & what we do

Preston Capes Parish Council consists of a maximum of 7 elected Councillors who serve for a four year term with elections in May. All Councillors are voluntary and commit to meeting about ten times per year. Email is their usual form of communications, between Parish Council meetings.

The Parish Clerk can be contacted here.

Council Meetings are normally held in the Village Hall on the 3rd Tuesday evening of each month, except August and December - see the diary of meetings for more information. A list of this year's meeting minutes can be found here.

In May each year the Parish Council holds its Annual General Meeting (AGM) for its election of Chairman and other appointees, along with approval of their previous year's accounts, ready for audit. The villagers also have their Annual Parish Meeting (APM) for the receiving of village organisation reports. Explanatory details are available here.

Preston Capes Parish Council maintains the grass verges, bus shelter, dog waste bins, benches, noticeboards, defibrillators and the vehicle activated speed sign. It provides facilities or grants for many village organisations. The Parish Council is a consultee for all local planning applications.

The Parish Council subscribes to Northamptonshire County Association of Local Councils (N-CALC) for its local government and governance advice and training. The council continues to use a villager with audit experience, in an honorary capacity, to act as internal auditor and offer experience of local government best practice.

For further information relating to the services offered by the Parish Council please contact the Clerk who will be happy to give advice and assistance.

Our Councillors are elected or co-opted. Currently there are no vacancies but if you would like to become a Councillor or find out more about what they do, then please contact the Parish Clerk.

The Local Government Association (LGA) provides an excellent free guide for Councillors who have been newly elected or newly co-opted onto a Parish Council, or for those interested in how local government works. It is readily available by clicking here. NALC also provide a free guide All about local councils which explains the role of Parish Councillors, local elections and what to do if you would like to stand as a candidate in local council elections.

As a new Parish Councillor there is additional training available, to give you a 'flying start'. Training costs are usually covered by the Parish Council's training or contingency budget (as allowable expenses).

Any prospective Councillor should be aware of their need to complete a publicly available Register of Interests, for themself and any spouse or partner and held by West Northamptonshire unitary council. Councillors are required to declare any interests in council business advertised on its agenda and may be required to leave the room in some circumstances.

Preston Capes has no specific committees. All task are handled by the full council.

The actions of the Parish Council are within a framework of openness and accountability, which also include regular checking of its finances and its annual internal and external auditing, available elsewhere on this site.

The Parish Council is the lowest tier of local government and as such, it is the closest and most accountable to village households and ratepayers. The Parish Council operates within policies of local governance called its Standing Orders, Codes of Conduct, Financial Regulations and other policy documents. These are available elsewhere on this site.

The Parish Council has just one paid officer: the Parish Clerk, contracted to work a half day each week.

The Clerk is appointed to deal with the day to day running of the Council, in arranging and clerking meetings, maintaining records, dealing with correspondence, maintaining up to date and accurate financial records of the Parish Council and any other duties prescribed by the Parish Council.

The primary point of contact for anything regarding the Parish Council is the Parish Clerk.