Staffordshire Parish Councils' Association

Staffordshire was one of the earliest county associations to be established in the country, being founded in 1939 – prior to outbreak of World War II. Its aim was to facilitate emergency planning during the War, to enable networking, to lobby for PCs and provide legal and other advice to them. In 1947 the National Association of Parish Councils (NALC) was founded (following work done by National Council of Social Service in 1934), which has a team of specialist legal, policy and financial advisors. More than 88% of the 180 parish and town councils in Staffordshire are in membership. The members range from the smallest of parish councils with just a few hundred electors to the largest town councils with tens of thousands of electors. The Association provides training and offers courses on such varied subjects as chairmanship skills, council procedures and accounting and budgeting. It also offers the formal qualification for clerks, the Certificate in Local Council Administration (CiLCA). There are 41 County Associations of Local (parish and town) Councils in England and Wales with some 9,500 parish, town and community councils in membership.