Templates
Parish council agenda template
A free parish and town council agenda template, with every standing item explained, the three clear days notice rule, and how to handle confidential business.
Parish council minutes template
A free parish and town council minutes template, with worked examples of resolutions, attendance, confidential items and draft status. Word and PDF.
Agendas and notice
Can a parish council decide something that isn't on the agenda?
No. A parish council can only transact business specified in the summons - which is why "any other business" can raise matters but cannot decide them.
Planning applications and your parish council agenda
How parish councils get notified of planning applications, the 21-day deadline, what weight your comments carry, and what changes on 31 October 2026.
Minutes
How to write parish council minutes
How to take and write up parish council minutes: what to note during the meeting, what to leave out, how much detail to give, and getting them approved.
Approving and adopting parish council minutes
Who approves parish council minutes, what can be changed at the approval item, who signs, and how to correct an error found after the minutes were signed.
Minute references and numbering
There is no legal minute numbering system for parish councils. Here are the three that work, what breaks them, and how to reference a past decision.
Confidentiality and transparency
Who can see parish council minutes?
Electors, councillors, journalists and everyone else have different rights to see parish council minutes. The routes, and what each one actually gets you.
Accessible agendas and minutes
Parish councils have no size exemption from the accessibility regulations. What they require for agendas and minutes, and where scanned PDFs stand.
Doing all of this in one place
Every guide here describes work CouncilPapers was built to take off a clerk's desk: agendas built from a committee template, numbering that looks after itself, confidential items handled once rather than twice, and minutes published to the web the moment they are approved.
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