Parish councils are a vital part of local community and local government. I have five parish councils in my ward, and I attend their meetings whenever possible. On many matters, this - as the lowest level of local government - is best placed to understand problems and the right direction for a community. Neighbourhood plans, produced by the PCs, are an important part of that, and my normal operating model is to ensure that the parish council gets heard, through the representations they make to me, as the authoritative local voice. I will sometimes be asked by the parish council to ensure that planning applications are heard in committee, rather than simply adjudicated on by officers, for example.
In Herefordshire there is a particularly complex relationship because of the lengthsman scheme - but one where the complexity is definitely worthwhile. A local authority such as Herefordshire will inevitably face higher costs for small jobs, and indeed it has historically not always been easy to get the council to do them. So at HCC we have a preference to provide grants to parish councils whereby they can employ local contractors to do work. It's still our - the council's - responsibility, but it allows us to get work done quickly and cost effectively. Grants are made not just for the lengthsman work - verges, hedges, ditches, gullies etc, but also specifically against funds we put in place; currently for drainage/flood remediation and for public rights of way.