North Cockerington village is one of sixty-five parishes in East Lindsey that do not fulfil the criteria required for establishing a Parish Council; however in such circumstances legislation allows the formation of a Parish Meeting. So what's the difference? you might ask; the paragraphs below will help to explain.
The first recorded meeting in North Cockerington took place on December 4 1894 when it is noted that there is "...no Parish Council for this parish of North Cockerington". This particular meeting appears to be a response to the 1894 Local Government Act designed to give electors a voice by establishing Parish Councils and transferring non-ecclesiastical business from Church Councils. One reason for the Act is clearly obvious from a speech by the President of the Local Government Board, HH Fowler, delivered during a debate for the 1894 Act:
"62 counties, 302 Municipal Boroughs, 31 Improvement Act Districts, 688 Local Government Districts, 574 Rural Sanitary Districts, 58 Port Sanitary Districts, 2,302 School Board Districts ... 1,052 Burial Board Districts, 648 Poor Law Unions, 13,775 Ecclesiastical Parishes, and nearly 15,000 Civil Parishes. The total number of Authorities which tax the English ratepayers is between 28,000 and 29,000. Not only are we exposed to this multiplicity of authority and this confusion of rating power, but the qualification, tenure, and mode of election of members of these Authorities differ in different cases."
Bringing the story up to date, the Local Government Act 1972 states that ‘for every parish there shall be a parish meeting for the purpose of discussing parish affairs and exercising any functions conferred on such meetings by any enactment …’ with a low number of electors in the parish we become a form of direct democracy (instead of representative democracy). So to finally answer the question posed in the first paragraph:
- A Parish Meeting is a meeting of the people of the parish whereas a Parish Council is a meeting of elected parish councillors.
- Any person on the parish electoral register is entitled to speak at a Parish Meeting; members of the public may speak at a Parish Council meeting only at the Chair’s discretion.
- Agendas for a Parish Meeting may be outlined ahead of the meeting, but items may be added up to and during the meeting; Parish Council agendas must be published three days ahead of the meeting.
- Any member of the parish electorate may ask for items to be placed on the agenda; only councillors may request Parish Council agenda items.
- Any matter pertinent to to the parish may be discussed by a Parish Meeting; Parish Council discussions are limited to those on which the council has power to act.
The Press and members of the public have a right to attend a Parish Meeting, but only people on the electoral register have the right to vote.
The parish became a legal entity with the granting of a Parish Order on the 28 March 2001: click the link below to see the Order.
https://north-cockerington.parish.lincolnshire.gov.uk/parish-information/parish-order-2001/1