Parish Council
There are over 9,000 parish and town councils in England and they form the tier of local government closest to the people. The term town council is synonymous with parish council in that any parish council can style itself town council if it considers it appropriate so to do. Collectively, parish and town councils, and community councils in Wales, are often termed local councils. The chairman of a town council may be styled town mayor.
Parish and town councils are local authorities and have a limited number of duties. They do, however, have wide powers, should they decide to use them and they may, with agreement of the district or county council, exercise certain functions normally carried out by those councils.
Parish and town councils maintain a close relationship with the local community. They encourage the public to attend council meetings as observers and they are obliged to organise at least one town or parish meeting each year which all local electors may attend and can raise issues of local concern.
For more details on the structure and powers of a Parish Council, please follow this link