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Book review: Local Councils Explained

02 October 2013
Issue: 7578 / Categories: Features
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"A particular strength of this publication is that it is 'a book for all seasons'"

Author: Meera Tharmarajah
Publisher: National Association of Local Councils (NALC)
ISBN: 9780950243696
Price: £49.99+P&P for members of NALC & £59.99+P&P for non-members.

Local councils (often known in England as parish, town or village councils and in Wales as community councils) can be mysterious places, even to many experienced local government lawyers. 

Grassroots

But these councils are important democratic structures at grassroots level. As local government minister, Don Foster, said last month as he announced “new measures to bring parish powers back to the towns and cities of England”: “Parish councils are a fundamental part of our local democracy, giving the people who live within a community direct powers to run their local services.”

But where do you go if you’ve got a professional need to get under the constitutional and legal skins of these councils? For regrettably, most local government textbooks deal with the bigger local authority beasts ie principal councils (counties, districts, London Boroughs and county borough

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Carey Olsen—Kim Paiva

Carey Olsen—Kim Paiva

Group partner joins Guernsey banking and finance practice

Morgan Lewis—Kat Gibson

Morgan Lewis—Kat Gibson

London labour and employment team announces partner hire

Foot Anstey McKees—Chris Milligan & Michael Kelly

Foot Anstey McKees—Chris Milligan & Michael Kelly

Double partner appointment marks Belfast expansion

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Writing in NLJ this week, NLJ columnist Dominic Regan surveys a landscape marked by leapfrog appeals, costs skirmishes and notable retirements. With an appeal in Mazur due to be heard next month, Regan notes that uncertainties remain over who will intervene, and hopes for the involvement of the Lady Chief Justice and the Master of the Rolls in deciding the all-important outcome
After the Southport murders and the misinformation that followed, contempt of court law has come under intense scrutiny. In this week's NLJ, Lawrence McNamara and Lauren Schaefer of the Law Commission unpack proposals aimed at restoring clarity without sacrificing fair trial rights
The latest Home Office figures confirm that stop and search remains both controversial and diminished. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Parpworth of De Montfort University analyses data showing historically low use of s 1 PACE powers, with drugs searches dominating what remains
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