The main players in all Parish and Town Council affairs are the Clerks and Councillors. We explore their developing roles in this section.

Your Parish Council has the statutory right to be consulted on planning applications and will also be consulted on many community and planning strategies.

In addition, Chapter 12 of the Rural White Paper in 2000 conceived four new initiatives for the development of the first tier of government:

• County Training Partnerships and a bespoke Clerks' qualification
• Parish Plans
• Parish Charters
• Quality Parish/Town Status

Each is mutually exclusive of the other but are linked as illustrated in the file "routes to influence and choice".

Together with the new Code of Conduct and lighter touch audit regime, they form a comprehensive vision for the modernisation of the first tier of government.

Further information can be obtained by visiting the National Association of Local Councils' website at www.nalc.gov.uk