As Kencot has a fewer than 200 electors it is too small to have an elected Parish Council. Instead we have a Parish Meeting. A chairman and clerk are elected at the annual meeting normally in May each year.
The Powers of the Parish Meeting are listed below. Many of which the village does not have. Those in bold we do have.
The Parish Meeting can set a precept but at the present time this is not the case. £181 is held in account ring fenced for repairs to the War Memorial
In areas with no parish council, the parish meeting has the following powers:[2] Allotments: a parish meeting may hold and administer allotments for cultivation (s.33 (3) Small Holdings and Allotments Act 1908); NB Kencot allotments belong to the Amelia Carter Charity Bus shelters: a parish meeting may provide and maintain a bus shelter (s. 4 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1953 and s.179 of the 1972 Act); Burials: a parish meeting is a burial authority. It may therefore provide burial grounds and may contribute towards the cost of burial facilities provided by others(Para 1(c) of schedule 26 to the 1972 Act); Cemeteries and crematoria: power to adopt byelaws made by a district or London borough council or the City of London (Para11(1) of schedule 26 to the 1972 Act); Charities: a parish meeting has the same powers as a parish council to appoint trustees to parochial charities. The audited accounts of all parochial charities (except those for the relief of poverty) must be sent to the chairman of the parish meeting who must lay them before the next meeting (s.79 (2) of the Charities Act 1993); Churchyards: liability to maintain a closed Church of England churchyard may be transferred to a parish meeting by the same process by which such liability is transferred to parish council (s.215 (2) of the 1972 Act). i.e. by serving written request on the chairman of the meeting. See also LTN 65 - Closed Churchyards and Disused Burial Grounds. Commons: a parish meeting may be registered as the owner of common land if it has inherited ownership from the appropriate pre-1894 authority (often the Churchwardens and Overseers of the Poor) pursuant to s.67 of the Local Government Act 1894; Land: a parish meeting has no general power of acquisition but may acquire land to exercise its allotments or burial powers. It may appropriate land from one purpose to another with the approval of the Secretary of State. A parish meeting may dispose of land on the same conditions applicable to parish councils (s.126 of the 1972 Act). See also Disposal and Appropriation of Land by Local Councils. Section 13(3) of the 1972 Act provides that the parish trustees shall be the chairman of the parish meeting and the proper officer of the district council. The parish trustees may hold on behalf of the parish meeting the following categories of land:
Common land
Allotments
Cemeteries
Open space
Licensing: a parish meeting may be an "interested party" and may be consulted in respect of applications for premises licenses (s.13(3) of the Licensing Act 2003); Lighting: a parish meeting may light roads and other public places (s.3 of the Parish Councils Act 1957); Rights of way: a parish meeting is entitled to be notified of a public path creation order; an extinguishment order, a diversion order or a definitive map modification order. In relation to the last named, the meeting is also entitled to be consulted by the county council before the order is made (Part III Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and Schedule 15); Village greens: a parish meeting may prosecute a person who damages or encroaches upon a village green in the parish and thus commits an offence under section 12 of the Inclosure Act 1857 or section 29 of the Commons Act 1876. See also LTN 56 - The Provision of Play and Sports Equipment on Village Greens); War memorials: a parish meeting may maintain, repair or protect any war memorial in the parish (ss.1 and 4 of the War Memorials (Local Authorities' Powers) Act 1923). Staff: Parish meetings do not have the power to appoint staff. Generally speaking it is not a local authority and its powers are not as wide as those of a Parish Council.
We are also consulted by West Oxfordshire District Council (WODC) on planning applications. These are circulated by email and details placed in the 2 village notice boards. WODC also send emails regarding any other matters, notices etc which are circulated by email as appropriate.