Councillors are elected to represent an individual geographic unit on the Council, known as a ward or - mainly in smaller parishes - the entire parish or town council area. They are generally elected by the public every four years.

Councillors have three main components to their work:-

Decision Making - through meetings and attending committees with other elected members, councillors decide which activities to support, where money should be spent, what services should be delivered and what policies should be implemented..

Getting involved locally - as local representatives, councillors have responsibilities towards their constituents and local organisations. These responsibilities and duties often depend on what the councillor wants to achieve and how much time is available, and may include:-

• going to meetings of local organisations such as tenants' associations
• going to meetings of bodies affecting the wider community
• taking up issues on behalf of members of the public
• running a surgery for residents to bring up issues

Visiting your council is the best way to find out what happens there. Give the council a call and find out when its next public meeting happens. by law, ordinary people are allowed to be present at most council business.

A Parish Council might provide and/or maintain some or all of the following services:-

• allotments
• burial grounds
• community transport schemes
• bus shelters
• crime reduction measures
• leisure facilities
• bridleways

A Parish Council can also work with North Yorkshire Council to provide the following services (list not exhaustive):-

• litter bins
• street cleaning
• local youth projects
• street lighting
• open spaces
• tourism activities
• planning
• village greens
• traffic calming measures

Most people are; however there are a few rules:-

You have to be:-

• a British subject, or a citizen of the Commonwealth or the European Union and
• On a "relevant date" be 18 years or over (ie the day of which you are nominated if there is a poll the day of the election)
• on the "relevant day" a local government elector for the council area for which you want to stand or
• having during the whole of the 12 months preceding that day, occupied as owner or tenant, any land or other premises in the council area or
• having during that same period had your principle or only place of work in the council area or
• during that 12 month period, resided in the local area

In the case of a sitting member of a parish or community council, you can also satisfy the criteria to be elected if you have lived in the council area or within 3 miles of it for the whole of the 12 months preceding the "relevant day".

You cannot stand for election if you:-

• are subject of a bankruptcy restriction order or interim order
• have within 5 years before the day of the election, been convicted in the United Kingdom of any offence and have had a sentence of imprisonment (whether suspended or not) for a period of over three months without the option of a fine
• you work for the council you want to become a councillor for (but you can work for other local authorities, including the principal authorities that represent the area)

Ordinary elections of local councillors take place on the first Thursday in May usually every four years. For most parish councils, election years are 2027/2031/2035 etc.

A prospective candidate must deliver or send by post to the Returning Office a valid nomination paper. This form is obtained from the NYC  Officer. The candidate's surname, forename, residence and description (if required) must be entered and his or her number and prefix letter from the current register of electors. The Returning Officer has a copy of this register, and the clerk of the local council normally has one.

The nomination paper must also contain similar particulars of a proposer and a seconder. They must be electors for the area for which the candidate seeks election (ie the parish, community or town or the ward if it is divided into wards); they must sign it.

The Returning Officer appointed by the principal authority (North Yorkshire Council) is the person responsible for the conduct and arrangement for community, parish and town council elections. If you are considering becoming a candidate for election it would be wise to contact the Returning Officer to obtain information/details. 

If a seat becomes vacant mid-term (or if there are not enough candidates to fill all council seats at election time) the council will hold a by-election.

In certain circumstances, the council may then co-opt members to the council.

Some of this information has been taken from the National Association of Local Councils' website