Parish Charters

Definitions   'Principal Authorities' are Cumbria County Council and the six District Councils.  'Local Councils' are Town and Parish Councils and Parish Meetings.

The Government is pursuing a number of policies and initiatives that aim to empower local communities and give citizens the opportunity to help shape decisions about the way public services are designed and delivered to them. As part of this agenda the Government recognises that democratically elected town and parish councils, the most local tier of local government, can play a key role in meeting this aim. The Government therefore launched the "Quality Council Scheme" in 2003 to raise the standard of governance at the parish level and provide a framework within which Principal Authorities and town and parish councils can work in partnership to respond to community aspirations and priorities.

The national Quality Council Scheme recommends the agreement of "charters" between Principal Authorities and Local Councils in order to promote partnership working and enhance the opportunities for citizen engagement in the design and delivery of local services.

These charters set down the respective roles and obligations of Principal Authorities and Local Councils and includes any special arrangements for those parish or town councils that have been awarded Quality Council Status.

Charters have been produced for five district areas.  Each are joint documents between the relevant district council, Cumbria County Council and the town and parish councils, and parish meetings, in that area.  The charter for Copeland also includes the Lake District National Park Authority, and a national park area-wide charter should be agreed by Spring 2009.

Charters for each of the areas can be downloaded below: