LEGAL MATTERS - Halls are still for all

by Louise Beaton OBE and David Clark

Our volunteer-run village and community halls are valued partners of parish and town councils in meeting the modern needs of local communities, central to community life today.
In Halls for All: A History of Village Halls, David and I explain the different styles and governance arrangements and how they have come about. Halls for All is not just a history of village halls or, indeed, only about ‘village halls’ though: it is the first book to tell the story of all kinds of community buildings, from their early beginnings through to the present. It draws attention to the lessons, challenges and opportunities facing those managing halls throughout the UK today.
Here we provide a small flavour of the history of our village halls and reflect on how councils can play their part in ensuring our halls continue to provide fit-for-purpose facilities that meet modern needs, while ensuring their heritage is not lost.

Village and Community Halls: origins
Hundreds of councils run a village hall or community centre themselves, so as a new clerk or councillor you may have wondered why it is that your hall or community centre isn’t run by the council and why it isn’t run according to the local government protocols demanded of a council.
Surveys carried out by Action with Communities in Rural England (ACRE) show that about 90% of the 10,000 or so village and community halls in rural England are independent charities. Charitable status brings some financial benefits, the involvement of a wider section of the community and protection to the assets. It also means they operate under charity law rather than local government law, which can give rise to confusion.
None of the 10,000 village and community halls in rural England are the same. Each reflects a combination of the history of its building, local geography and vernacular styles, the funding available to build and run it, the community groups and activities that use it, and local personalities.
Originating with mediaeval guildhalls, market halls, assembly rooms, reading rooms and church halls, the modern village hall is largely a product of the aftermath of the First World War. At that time a combination of the desire to commemorate those who had given their lives, provide facilities for returning servicemen and women, the rapid growth of Women’s Institutes and the lack of meeting places, other than churches or pubs (where no respectable woman would be seen) led to the creation of a national advisory service under the National Council of Social Service, now provided by the charity ACRE.
A loan fund, grants from Andrew Carnegie’s UK Trust and design guidance helped local communities with planning and fundraising. This led to a surge in village hall building, designed around the needs of the village, supported by the emerging organisations that now form the ACRE Network (then called Rural Community Councils).
Many halls originated before 1894, when councils were created, and for many years councils lacked powers. Consequently, the principles laid down nationally following the First World War were that a village hall should be run by a charity, which cannot be closed by an outside authority and by local people who have legal rights and responsibilities in the running of the hall. These principles were reflected in the creation in 1925 of a model trust deed for village halls. This was endorsed by Government, the Charity Commission and funders and has been updated over the years.
About 75% of the village and community halls in England are based either on this model or, since 2016, on ACRE’s Charity Commission-approved model Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) constitution. The success of this arrangement is reflected in the fact that whereas numbers of village shops, pubs, churches and schools have declined, village hall closures have been few. That does not mean, however, that they are free from such risk in the face of ageing buildings and the financial and other pressures of modern life.

Relationships between charitable halls and councils
The relationships between a council and the village halls and other community recreational facilities in their village are varied. The council is usually entitled to appoint one or more members to the management committee, who are the charity (or managing) trustees.
Tens of thousands of councillors – clerks too – have served in this capacity. Many have become highly valued trustees often saying it has been one of their most fulfilling roles, through which they have made lasting friendships. In some cases, a council is also custodian trustee (i.e. lends its corporate status to the charity for the purpose of holding the charity property), as explained in NALC’s Legal Topic Note 28.
In rare cases, it is the sole charity, or managing, trustee. ACRE network advisers are occasionally called upon for help when trustees retire and new trustees cannot be found, presenting a risk of the hall closing. Local consultation is essential, and the reasons and the alternatives available need to be explored. For example, would more council support or transfer to CIO status bring forward new volunteers by addressing concerns about personal liability? Would there be support for the retiring trustees to take a resolution appointing the council as sole charity trustee? Such a resolution tends to be a last resort, bringing added responsibilities for a busy clerk and councillors and needs to be drawn up in accordance with the Charities Acts 2011 and 2022.
A council may be the landlord, hirer or have an office at a hall and, of course, it also has power to provide important financial support for both capital and revenue purposes. The ACRE Network, SLCC, NALC and ALCs work together to help address the issues and conflicts of interests that these sometimes multiple relationships can pose through written guidance and training for clerks and councillors. We hope Halls for All helps unpick the background and creates better understanding.

Challenges and opportunities
The opportunities for working together today range from promoting health and wellbeing, to climate change, supporting economic growth and providing appropriate facilities for new housing development.
The economic impact of activity at halls should not be under-estimated: collectively halls were estimated in 2020 to contribute £178 million pa to the rural economy, excluding the big-ticket items of improvement or rebuilding work, and to employ 4,500 people.
It is important to understand the financial circumstances under which halls operate. In 2020 just over half covered ordinary expenditure from hire charges and rents. Through a diverse income stream, including parish council revenue grants, fundraising and bar/catering income, and charging more to non-charitable groups, trustees have been able to meet the charitable aims of their hall, enabling smaller voluntary groups to use the hall at modest charges and the start of new health and wellbeing activities, such as Warm Hubs. These were pioneered by Community Action Northumberland in 2015 to address problems of isolation and fuel poverty and have spread throughout the UK.
Significant numbers have very low income and expenditure: under £4,000 pa for more than a fifth of halls in 2020. These halls mainly serve villages of fewer than 1,000 residents. They are most at risk from rising energy prices, as are many halls built more than 40 years ago. Some now report paying more than £7,000 pa in energy costs, while many pay 20% VAT and the Climate Change Levy.
Capital funding for improving and building halls has changed significantly. From 1955 to 1981 a stable Government grant programme incentivised local authority grants and fundraising but when responsibility (and funding) was passed to local authorities, a wide divergence resulted. Lottery funding has waxed and waned and, like CIL and Landfill Funding, is geographically variable. The creation in 2019 of Defra’s Village Halls Improvement Grant Fund and subsequent Platinum Jubilee Fund have been extremely important in bringing hundreds of older buildings up to modern standards, as illustrated by ACRE’s ‘net zero’ design guide for village halls.
The power of councils to provide both revenue and significant capital funding, under s19 of the Local Government Act 1976, has provided essential help to many halls.
Usually, a council would be expected to set aside a precept for some years towards improvement work at a local hall. In addition, it can take a loan from the Government Debt Office to provide a grant. With considerable competition for limited external funding, a significant council grant helps exercise the leverage and proof of support that brings other funders to the table and encourages local fundraising. It also helps overcome the ‘chicken and egg’ problem: each funder waiting for others to come on board. ACRE and ALC Advisers can help councils work out the best way of doing this and whether they can make VAT savings.

Conclusion
The need for financial planning brings us back to the importance of good communication between a council and its village and community halls. The council’s appointed trustee(s) are an important channel. As well as providing personal support they are in a good position to keep the council up-to-date, explaining how changes in use, local needs and legislation affect the hall, and also to explain council processes and timetables to volunteers. Practical help with publicity, public meetings, business planning, fundraising, funding for design and planning fees can be particularly helpful.
The needs of communities change and buildings age, so the tremendous volunteers and staff who run our halls will continue to face new challenges and opportunities. Halls for All shows that with support they can do so.

Louise Beaton worked for more than 40 years in the ACRE Network, as village halls adviser in Hampshire and Sussex, and latterly as an independent consultant. She has contributed to charity, VAT and licensing legislation, helped win funding for halls and provided support during the Covid 19 pandemic. A former trustee of ACRE, she was awarded an OBE for services to rural communities in 2021.
Dr David Clark served for many years as a parish, district and county councillor in Hampshire. Trained as a historian, he was formerly chief rural officer of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, managing the national village halls advisory service until ACRE was formed in 1987.

Halls for All: A History of Village Halls is available from https://www.amberley-books.com/halls-for-all.html (£15.29 plus postage), local bookshops and libraries.

ACRE’s 2020 Survey Report and ‘Net Zero’ Design Guide are available at: https://acre.org.uk/publications-resources/
www.communityhallsadvice.co.uk
www.acre.org.uk

Written by Louise Beaton OBE and David Clark
As appeared in Clerks & Councils Direct, March 2026
© CommuniCorp