Town (and Parish) Councils are the first tier of local government and are statutory bodies. They serve electorates, are independently elected and raise their own precept (a form of council tax). There are 10,000 local councils in England with over 30% of the country parished and 100,000 councillors who serve in these local councils, with over £1b being invested into these communities every year.
Parish and Town councils work towards improving community well-being and providing better services. Their activities fall into three main categories: representing the local community; delivering services to meet local needs; striving to improve quality of life and community well-being.
Through an extensive range of discretionary powers local councils provide and maintain a variety of important and visible local services including allotments, bridleways, burial grounds, bus shelters, car parks, commons and open spaces, community transport schemes, community safety and crime reduction measures, events and festivals, footpaths, leisure and sports facilities, litter bins, public toilets, planning, street cleaning and lighting, tourism activities, traffic calming measures, village greens and youth projects.
Bexhill-on-Sea Town Council is committed to being an open and accountable public body. To promote transparency and easy to understand engagement with our residents we have agreed to adopt a policy that we use clear plain English in all our communications.