NALC urges right of appeal where principal authorities reject new local councils

The proposal is one of a number made by NALC in its response to a recent Ministry of Communities, Housing and Local Government (MHCLG) consultation on updating the statutory guidance around community governance reviews.

NALC wants the government to make it easier for communities to set up new local (parish and town) councils in England.

Other requests it has made to the government include:

• Mandatory community referenda result where residents vote in favour of a new council – to be binding on principal authorities
• Principal authorities to be required to enforce strict internal reviews of their processes during a Community Governance Review
• Local councils to be created across principal local authority boundaries, for example, Neighbourhood Plan areas.

Cllr Sue Baxter, chairman of NALC, said: "NALC welcomes the chance to comment on the MHCLG long-awaited update of the statutory guidance. The guidance urgently needs to reflect the regulatory changes from 2015, which were introduced to make it easier to set up new councils. NALC look forward to working with the government and the Local Government Boundary Commission for England during 2018 to promote the new guidance."