Most parish and town councils know they should "have a website". Fewer know exactly what the law expects to be on it, and it usually falls to a part-time clerk to work it out. This guide pulls the requirements together in one place, with a checklist at the end you can work through.
It's written for councils in England. The rules in Wales differ in places, and your county association or NALC can advise on anything specific to your council.
1. Accessibility: the regulations every council is covered by
Parish and town councils are public sector bodies, so their websites are covered by the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018. In practice that means two things:
- The website should meet WCAG 2.2 level AA. That covers things like readable text and colour contrast, working without a mouse, images with text descriptions, and forms that screen readers can use.
- You must publish an accessibility statement. It explains how accessible the site is, anything that isn't yet accessible and why, and how someone can ask for information in another format. GOV.UK publishes a sample statement you can follow.
Documents count too. PDFs and Word files published since 23 September 2018 should be accessible, which is where many council sites fall down: scanned minutes saved as an image are unreadable to a screen reader. Older documents are generally exempt unless people still need them to use a council service.
2. The Transparency Code
If your council's annual turnover is £25,000 or less, the Transparency Code for Smaller Authorities applies. It requires you to publish:
- all items of expenditure above £100
- end-of-year accounts
- the annual governance statement
- the internal audit report
- a list of councillor or member responsibilities
- details of public land and building assets
- minutes, agendas and meeting papers of formal meetings
Councils with a larger turnover aren't covered by the smaller authorities code, but publishing the same information is widely treated as good practice, and the largest councils are expected to follow the full Local Government Transparency Code.
3. Annual accounts and the AGAR
Under the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015, smaller authorities have to publish their Annual Governance and Accountability Return (AGAR) and related documents on a website. That includes:
- the approved annual governance statement and accounting statements
- the notice of the period for the exercise of public rights
- the external auditor's report and the notice of conclusion of audit, once the audit is complete
- the certificate of exemption, if your council claims exemption from a limited assurance review
These have to stay published for five years. A year-by-year documents page is the simplest way to keep track of this and to show your auditor that it has been done.
4. Meetings: agendas and minutes
The summons and agenda for a council meeting must be issued at least three clear days beforehand. Publishing the agenda online at the same time is now what residents expect, and approved minutes should follow. File them by year and by committee so anyone can find a past meeting quickly. The Transparency Code already expects formal meeting papers to be published if your council falls under it.
5. Councillors and registers of interests
List every councillor with the ward they represent and how to contact them, along with the clerk's contact details. Under the Localism Act 2011, if the parish council has a website, each councillor's register of interests must be published on it. Keep this up to date after elections, co-options and resignations. It's one of the most commonly out-of-date pages on council websites.
6. Privacy and cookies
Your council handles personal data, so the website needs a privacy notice explaining what you collect and why. If the site uses any non-essential cookies, such as some analytics tools or embedded videos, visitors need to be asked before they're set. The easiest option is a site that doesn't need them at all.
7. What residents actually look for
Meeting the rules is the minimum. The council websites residents actually use also cover:
- the date of the next meeting, on the homepage
- how to report a problem, and which issues belong to the district or county council instead
- current planning applications and consultations
- the neighbourhood plan, if you have one
- grants the council offers to local groups
- community emergency plan information
- local facilities: the village hall, allotments, play areas and burial ground
It's also worth considering a .gov.uk address. Parish and town councils are eligible, and it makes it much easier for residents to tell that a website or email genuinely comes from the council.
The checklist
- Website tested against WCAG 2.2 AA
- Accessibility statement published and up to date
- New PDFs and documents are accessible, not scanned images
- Transparency Code items published (spending over £100, accounts, governance statement, internal audit, councillor responsibilities, assets)
- AGAR, notice of public rights and audit conclusion published, and kept for five years
- Agendas published ahead of every meeting; approved minutes filed by year
- Councillors, wards, contact details and registers of interests current
- Clerk's contact details
- Privacy notice, and no cookies set without consent
- Next meeting, planning and consultations easy to find
This guide is general information, not legal advice. Your county association of local councils, NALC and SLCC publish detailed guidance for clerks.