THE boss of an organisation which represents parish and town councils says the Tatton MP George Osborne needs to help them out financially.

Dr Jonathan Owen, chief executive of NALC (National Association of Local Councils), was speaking after the MP and Chancellor of the Exchequer delivered his latest Budget.

Dr Own said:“England's 9,000 parish and town councils are the backbone of local democracy, giving people a voice and structure for taking action.

"They are increasingly delivering more services to improve their area as austerity bites. They can provide very local services extremely cost effectively and should be part of the solution to the financial challenges the country faces.

Dr Owen, who is NALC's chief executive explained, he would have liked the Budget to have said more about how devolution of power to communities and local people could help meet the current financial challenges.

He added: "There was much talk of creating ‘northern powerhouses’ but we’d like to see ‘localist powerhouses’ too with parishes and their volunteer support running a range of local services to reflect local circumstances.

"From providing shuttle buses to reduce traffic in towns, to building dementia friendly communities and supporting older people. From providing discretionary youth services to small highway maintenance. But to do these parishes need to be given the tools and fair funding to support this work."

“The Chancellor, acknowledged recently how communities and very local councils are the unsung heroes of house building via neighbourhood planning.

"Very local councils have jumped in the driving seat to take up the mantle of shaping future development and housing in their areas. We believe parishes can do more in this and other areas too and we look forward to discussing with the Government accelerating the take up of neighbourhood planning and the further devolution of services."