Free accessible agenda and minutes templates for parish councils

Last reviewed 23 October 2026. General information for councils in England, not legal advice.

Two Word templates for ordinary parish or town council meetings: an agenda and a set of minutes. They use real heading styles and Word’s own numbering, so they are easier to read, easier to convert, and a better starting point than a scanned PDF.

In short

  • Download the agenda or minutes template, replace the text in [square brackets], and save a copy with a clear file name.
  • The files use Word’s Heading 1, 2 and 3 styles, numbered agenda items, a sans-serif 12 point body, and an English (United Kingdom) document language.
  • The Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 apply to most parish and town council websites. These templates help you write clearer papers. They are not a compliance certificate.
  • When the document is finished, upload it to ClerkPages to publish it as an accessible web page, or publish the same text as HTML on your own site.

Download the templates

Both files are free Word documents (.docx). They are written for an ordinary meeting of a parish or town council in England. Town councils can use the same files: change [Council name] to your council’s name.

You do not need a ClerkPages subscription to download or use them.

Why accessible agendas and minutes matter

The Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 (SI 2018/952) apply to websites of public sector bodies. GOV.UK guidance says that includes “central government and local government organisations”. Parish and town councils are local government. Small councils are not on the list of bodies that are exempt or partly exempt.

That duty covers the documents you put on the website, not only the homepage. GOV.UK says a website meets the legal requirements if it meets WCAG 2.2 AA and has an accessibility statement. It also says you can assess whether fixing something would be a “disproportionate burden”, but “you cannot take things like lack of time or knowledge into account”.

This page does not say your council is or is not compliant. That depends on your whole website, your other files, and your statement. A well-structured Word file is still worth doing: residents can search it, enlarge it, and use a screen reader on it. The Transparency Code for Smaller Authorities (turnover of £25,000 or less) also asks you to publish agendas and papers at least three clear days before the meeting, and draft minutes within one month. Accessible publishing has to fit those timescales.

GOV.UK’s Publishing accessible documents guidance says HTML is “the most accessible format for publishing documents” and warns against scanning paper and saving it as a PDF. A scan is a picture. Screen readers hear nothing useful, and nobody can search for a planning number. Our guide to scanned PDF agendas and our guide to accessible minutes explain that in more detail.

How to use the template

  1. Download the agenda or minutes file and save a working copy, for example agenda-full-council-2026-11-12.docx.
  2. Replace every placeholder in [square brackets], including [Council name], [date], [time] and [venue].
  3. Keep the Heading 1 title at the top. Use Heading 2 for each agenda or minute item. Use Heading 3 only for a sub-item, such as payments under finance.
  4. Do not type 1, 2, 3 in front of the headings. Word already numbers Heading 2 and Heading 3. If you add an item, put the cursor at the end of the previous Heading 2 paragraph, press Enter, then apply Heading 2 again so the list continues.
  5. Add, remove or rename items so they match your standing orders. The standard items included are apologies, declarations of interest, public participation, minutes of the previous meeting, the clerk’s report, finance and payments, planning, and the date of the next meeting.
  6. Run Word’s Accessibility Checker and fix what it finds.
  7. Set File, then Info, then Properties if you change the title, so the document title still describes this meeting.

The templates start with English (United Kingdom) as the document language, Arial 12 point body text, and dark text on a white page. Leave those in place unless your council already has a house style that is at least as readable.

Short tips that make the biggest difference

  • Headings. Use Word’s heading styles, not bold or a larger font on its own. Do not skip from Heading 1 to Heading 3. Screen reader users jump between headings to find the item they want.
  • Lists. Use Word’s numbered or bulleted list buttons. Typed numbers and dashes look like a list on paper but often become a single block of text when you publish.
  • Alt text. If you insert an image that carries information, such as a location plan, add alt text that says what it shows. A decorative crest does not need a description.
  • Descriptive links. Write “Planning application 26/01234/FUL on the district council website” rather than “click here”. Screen reader users often list every link on the page, out of context.
  • Avoid scanned PDFs. Do not print the agenda, sign it, scan it and upload the picture. Keep a signed paper copy of the minutes if your standing orders require it, and publish the same text from this Word file. GOV.UK advises against scanning documents to PDF.

GOV.UK also says to use a sans-serif font of at least 12 point, left-aligned text, and sentences of about 25 words or fewer. Only use a table for data, not to line up the page. These templates do not use tables.

Publish the finished document with ClerkPages

A structured Word file is the right starting point. Residents still need a way to read it on the web. GOV.UK prefers HTML. You can paste the text into a page on your council website and re-apply the headings, or let ClerkPages do that conversion for you.

ClerkPages turns the Word agendas and minutes you already write — and text-based PDFs — into accessible HTML pages. Each document gets a permanent address you can link from your existing website. £79 a year per council, excluding VAT.

Upload the finished .docx from this template. Check the page before you share the link. The conversion handles headings, lists and tables well. It will not catch every issue in your wording, and it is not legal advice. Your council remains responsible for its website and its papers.

Upload your finished document Subscribe — £79 a year See an example

Sources