Letter: A Town Council with Only One Significant Power is No Substitute

Published on: 13 Dec, 2025
Updated on: 13 Dec, 2025

From Bernard Quoroll

former local authority CEO

In response to: Council Agrees to Take Next Step Towards Formation of a Town Council for Guildford

The report fairly sets out the issues but a few things are worth noting. When fully up and running, the precept at Band D for a town the size of Guildford is likely to be in the range of £300 – £400 per annum.

This is a new tax on top of whatever Council Tax is charged by the new unitary authority for all of its services.

Unitary councils are incentivised to offload loss-making, very local services to town and parish councils. They regard them as non strategic and they are happy to transfer a subsidy which appears on another council’s bill. Assets which deliver a profit are much less likely to be offered up.

Such transfers have to be negotiated by the new town councils once they have come into existence. In order to take them on, they will often have to employ more people. which in turn increases the precept. Town councils will of course say that they can deliver very local services with better scrutiny and at lower cost.

New unitary councils of the size proposed, are likely to set up their own area consultation arrangements to demonstrate that they are responsive to local opinion in communities. Such arrangements rarely, if ever work well but on any basis, will compete with town councils in the representative stakes.

Whatever the outcome of this consultation, a town council will not compensate Guildford residents for the massive loss of representation that the current reorganisation plans imply. In that sense, having a town council offers modest benefits but is only weak consolation when considered against the wider democratic deficit forced upon them without proper consultation by a centralising government.

A town council with only one significant power – a right to be consulted on planning applications, is no substitute for planning decisions being taken by people who on the whole do not live in Guildford. People might enjoy retaining a bit of local pomp and circumstance but they are not getting much more than that.

Responses to Letter: A Town Council with Only One Significant Power is No Substitute

Peter Hyde Reply

December 15, 2025 at 6:23 am

I’m surprised that Bernard Quoroll considers that the only significant power of a town or parish council is to be consulted on Planning applications. A simple internet search will reveal a wide range of powers to provide and manage local amenities. But I do agree that there will be a democratic deficit following the creation of the new Unitary Council.
Bernard Quoroll Reply

December 15, 2025 at 9:02 pm

Town and parish councils typically take over the routine maintenance of only very local amenities like allotments, burial grounds, village halls, open spaces and the like.

They can and do perform a useful function in doing that and as an expression of local pride and identity. They also have a power of general competence but little or no professional strength in depth and almost no resources to initiate significant projects.

In comparison, unitary councils typically deliver (by one estimate), around 800 different services, and can call upon the expertise of many different kinds of professional. In normal times they also have substantial land assets and reserves with corresponding powers of initiation but also with many different geographical calls on their attention.

I am not suggesting that Guildford should not have its own Town Council. That is a matter for local democratic choice. Nor do I disrespect the role that it can perform. (In former days I spent many weekends as a lawyer, teaching clerks the law and conduct of meetings.) But is important not to have false expectations about what a town council can achieve. My concern is that people should understand what they are getting for an additional precept.

Post reorganisation, there will be around 50 parish or town councils within the West Surrey area and possibly many more, if the three unparished districts chose to go that route. It may help Guilford’s visibility if it has a town council of its own among the multitude but on any basis it will have been reduced to being a minor player.

The Guildford community does have an impressive number of highly skilled and articulate voices within its community. On the big issues they may well be able to organise themselves more effectively to influence single issues than a town council with a very limited remit. There is of course room for both. And a town council office might be a useful place in which to plan!