News

This week’s Council of the Week has been selected in recognition of its innovation and hard work on a number of projects, but particularly for the development of an impressive new community hub in 2014.

This week’s Council of the Week is one that punches above its weight. It has been selected in recognition of its innovative approach to the problems and challenges that it has faced in recent years, for the way that it manages the huge amount that it takes on and for the successes that it has had.

The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) has secured a multi-million pound package of funding from Government to help smaller parish councils meet new audit and transparency rules.

The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) gave a warm welcome to the Government’s idea of extending the jurisdiction of the Local Government Ombudsman to some parts of the local (parish and town) councils sector.

Waltham Abbey Town Council is a large council, representing 20,000 residents in Epping Forest District, bordered by Hertfordshire to the west and two London Boroughs to the south.

This week’s Council of the Week has been brought to our attention via Twitter; nicely exemplifying the power and importance of social media for council communications.

This week’s Council of the Week was the 500^th Parish Council to register under the new Local council Award Scheme.

More than 730 Commonwealth Flags will be raised in locations throughout the United Kingdom, Channel Islands, Isle of Man, UK Overseas Territories, and Commonwealth countries and on 9 March 2015 – Commonwealth Day 2015.

This week we would like to celebrate the work of Bembridge Parish Council, a small council serving a large village on the Isle of Wight.

The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) announced on 27 February 2015 that it will once again be running an awards programme this year, as part of its work to recognise the achievements of the local (parish and town) council sector.

This week we would like to celebrate the work of Thatcham Town Council in West Berkshire.

This week’s Council of the Week has been selected for its strong leadership, dynamism and imaginative approach to community-based initiatives. 

This week’s Council of the Week has been selected on the basis of its innovative and impressive approach to partnership working, brought to our attention through last year’s WW1 centenary. 

Over 500 local (parish and town) councils have already registered with the Local Council Award Scheme since its launch on 6 January 2015. We have been pleasantly surprised by the interest in the scheme so far and look forward to having even more registrations from councils across the country. This is strong testimony to Local Councils commitment to improving, pushing themselves to meet the challenges faced by the their communities and the whole local government family.

We would like to give Maplestead Parish Council the top spot this week, in recognition of its hard work and achievements, with limited budgets and resources. 

More than 5000 people have signed a petition against proposals to withdraw government funding from England's 38 rural community councils.

This week we would like to shine a light on one of the very first councils to be accredited under the new Local Council Award Scheme. 

Danbury Parish Council participated in our pilot last year and was awarded Quality Gold Status on 6 January 2015 when the scheme launched. 

The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) welcomes the Electoral Commission’s recommendations to modernise the rules around standing for election and to make them clearer and fairer. 

The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) has led a delegation to meet with Local Government Minister Kris Hopkins MP this week to press for fair funding for parish and town councils in next month’s local government finance settlement.

The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) welcomes the Government’s moves to make a law that allows local (parish and town) councils to be able to send agendas electronically rather than in the post; ending a budgetary burden on councils and enabling them to benefit from 21^st Century technology.

This week, we’d like to celebrate the work of a Parish Council in the small village of Sibbertoft, which sits on the Northamptonshire and Leicestershire borders, to the north east of Daventry. 

Communities up and down the country are being urged by the National Association of Local Councils (NALC) to get their voices heard and run local services through neighbourhood democracy.

This week’s Council of the Week, the last of 2014, was nominated by the Kent Association of Local Councils (KALC) and has been chosen in recognition of its many and recent achievements.

Stone Parish Council has an excellent track record of success, which has been sustained on the foundation of sound management and a genuine vision for its community in an area that certainly does not lack demanding challenges due to economic pressures.

A little feedback has gone a long way for Sarah Pengelly, Town Clerk at Broadstairs and St Peter’s Town Council, the lucky winner of this year’s conferences and events survey prize draw. 

The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) has asked the Government to think again about its opposition to giving local (parish and town) councils a percentage slice of the business rates under the Sustainable Communities Act (SCA).

The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) is calling for the Government to help local (parish and town) councils through local government finance after a finance settlement statement was made from the Department of Communities and Local Government on Thursday 18 December 2014.

The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) welcomes and supports many findings of the parliamentary select committee for Communities and Local Government on planning.

The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) is calling on all County Associations of Local Councils with parish and town councils to follow the example of the Hampshire Association of Local Councils (HALC) by forging closer links with local Rotary Clubs.

The Rural Services Network has published its manifesto ahead of the 2015 General Election, calling for a fairer deal for rural England.

The department of Communities and Local Government (CLG) has informed the National Association of Local Councils (NALC) that the appropriate sum for the purpose of section 137(4)(a) of the Local Government Act 1972 (the 1972 Act) for parish and town councils in England for 2015-16 is £7.36 per elector.

Dunkerton Parish Council (DPC) has been selected as 'Council of the Week' in recognition of the drastic improvements that have been made, following the Parish Planning process for improvement. Over recent years DPC has made a successful transition from being paper driven to paperless.  It has become almost unrecognisable through new ways of working and notably more efficient and inclusive.  

Tackling the rural housing crisis The Rural Housing Alliance and Rural Services Network have launched a new guide promoting affordable rural homes.

Parish and town councils are improving accountability for public money according to a new report by the Audit Commission.

LCR (Local Council Review), the flagship magazine of the National Association of Local Councils (NALC) has been published on 10 December 2014.

LCR is NALC’s high-quality, glossy quarterly publication with in-depth articles and features offering you advice and good practice, along with regular spotlights on parish and town councils and top tips information to help assist you with the real issues affecting local councils and communities. 

Re-elected chair and two vice-chairs will lead the National Association of Local Councils (NALC) in 2015 as it takes the lead in furthering the development of localism for every local (parish and town) councils and communities, after elections held on 9 December 2014.

Frome Town Council has just been recognised as the ‘Most Proactive Public Body’ in the whole of the South West, making it an obvious candidate for our 'Council of the Week' slot.

National Association of Local Councils (NALC) conference, Future Local, showed how local (parish and town) councils are helping to drive and deliver many localist actions such as Our Place! Sustainable Communities Act and Neighbourhood Planning to communities. And how those in power need to listen to calls for more influence and devolution to the community level. 

With the autumn statement due to announce a ‘roads revolution’ and a focus on fracking, the priorities of rural communities risk being sidelined, says Lord Robin Teverson, Chair of the Rural Coalition.

Calling for recognition of the national importance of the countryside and our rural communities, the Rural Coalition is today (3 December 2014) urging Government to address three core areas to support them: the rural economy, affordable housing, and health and social care services. The Rural Challenge 2015 outlines a new set of rural priorities for the next Government.

Parish and town councillors from across Hampshire are working in partnership with the County Council as winter sets in a bid to strengthen community resilience.

National Association of Local Councils (NALC) will launch on Wednesday 26 November, an initiative that will enable the whole world to view what is happening in the historic market town of Uppingham.

English Heritage has produced a guide aimed for both local government and community groups on when and how to transfer heritage assets to local (parish and town) councils and community ownership.

National Association of Local Councils (NALC) is to support the global day of #GivingTuesday on 2 December 2014.

It is a day of giving that asks everyone to show the world why it’s good to give. Whether it’s making a donation, volunteering time or just spreading the work, it is a call to action for everyone who wants to give something back.

The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) has launched Delivering Differently in Neighbourhoods Programme, which aims to support principal (county, district, unitary and borough) authorities to redesign services to deliver at neighbourhood level, with the involvement of community organisations or local (parish and town) councils.

Residents of the Cotswold town of Minchinhampton, Gloucestershire will now be able to make calls and browse the internet over a 3G mobile network for the first time, after the community was named as the first of 100 rural towns and villages to receive coverage under Vodafone’s Rural Open Sure Signal programme.

National Association of Local Councils’ (NALC) Annual General Meeting held on Wednesday 29 October 2014, saw a direction forward to putting local (parish and town) councils  and communities more in control of how their lives are run and public services delivered to them.

The annual general meeting of the National Association of Local Councils next week is to discuss an emergency motion urging the Government to take stronger action to ensure £9 million of funding is passed on to local communities.

National Association of Local Councils (NALC) believes  Sir Michael Lyons report on boosting housing supply was reasonably even-handed and at times pragmatic and proportionate to the house building crisis that the country faces at the moment.

One of our key strategic priorities at NALC is to ensure that we’re delivering high quality services to both CALCs and our member councils.

National Association of Local Councils (NALC) is demanding that the Government needs to take action now to make planning work better for communities and local people.

National Association of Local Councils (NALC) and the Society of Local Council Clerks (SLCC) have joined forces for further mutual working and co-operation.