News

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JUL
26

NALC announces Star Council Awards 2021 finalists

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The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) has today announced who is in the running for the 2021 Star Council Awards.

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JUL
26

NALC add a new online event on levelling up the environment to its calendar

biodiversity

The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) has added a new online event on levelling up the environment through biodiversity net gain, taking place on 27 October 2021.

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JUL
26

Insurance and Accounting for Councils – a new guide from BHIB Councils Insurance

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AUTHOR: LUKE PERKINS, PARTNERSHIPS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER AT BHIB COUNCILS INSURANCE


NALC’s insurance partner, BHIB Councils Insurance, have produced a detailed new guide aimed at providing council insurance and accounting information to new council clerks and councillors.

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JUL
22

NALC urges ministers and MPs to involve communities more in planning

PLANNING

The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) has today written to the planning minister Rt Hon Christopher Pincher MP and to all MPs urging them to let the voice of local (parish and town) councils be listened to in the planning process and for local councils to be trusted with more powers.

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JUL
12

NALC launches survey on 2021 local elections

ELECTIONS

The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) has launched two surveys aimed at local (parish and town) councils and councillors on the 2021 local elections.

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JUL
07

NALC hosts historic first meeting of women councillors 

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NALC held its first National Network: Women councillors meeting on 5 July 2021, which aims to help women councillors from across England's local (parish and town) councils to connect, learn, support and share good practices.

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JUL
06

NALC adds a new event on affordable rural housing to its schedule

affordable-homes

The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) has added a new online event on making rural housing more affordable to its schedule, taking place on 17 November 2021.

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JUL
05

English Rural launch a new guide on rural housing for councillors

housing

Today, English Rural launched their new guide (Parish Councillors’ Guide to Rural Affordable Housing) aimed at local (parish and town) councillors on affordable rural housing.

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JUL
01

A joint statement agreed by Civility and Respect Project Working Group

respct

The Civility and Respect Project Working Group agreed at its latest meeting on 28 June 2021 a joint statement committing to promote civility and respect in public life. The statement, which summarises the core aims and values for securing permanent change in the local (parish and town) council sector, reads:

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JUN
30

The High Street Footfall Decline - TrailTale’s Solution

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AUTHOR: RAFI ILIVITZKY, MANAGING DIRECTOR AT TRAILTALE


A growing decline

According to the Retail Gazette Analysis (2019) - In the past seven years, British high streets have suffered greatly. In total, the high street footfall has declined by 10%, an incredibly large statistic; considering that our population is growing, rather than shrinking.

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JUN
29

Parliamentarians seeking views on levelling up

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Parliamentarians in the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Local Democracy are seeking views on levelling up from local (parish and town) councils at an online roundtable on 12 July 2021.

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JUN
29

NALC urges the government to make remote meetings permanent

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The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) has again urged the government to make remote meetings a permanent option for local (parish and town) councils.

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JUN
25

Thank You Day: celebrating the community spirit that got us through

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AUTHOR: ANDREW DIXON, TOGETHER


In March, Together published the Talk/together report based on a national conversation involving over 150,000 people. The report found that people felt the country had generally pulled together, not apart, as a result of the pandemic, and that people were keen to retain the best of the new community spirit they had seen in action.

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JUN
22

Calling on local councillors to secure a legacy for the future

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AUTHOR: DAVID BARROWCLIFF, COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER AT ENGLISH RURAL


Rural communities can only thrive if there are good quality affordable homes available to those who live and work in rural areas.

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JUN
21

NALC launch new ground-breaking online conference

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The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) has launched its first-ever one-day online conference, Future Communities 2021, taking place on 2 December 2021.

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JUN
18

NALC marks Pride Month by hosting its first-ever meeting of LGBT+ councillors

pride

The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) marked Pride Month by hosting its first-ever national meeting of LGBT+ councillors from local (parish and town) councils.

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JUN
18

NALC add a new online event on high streets and town centres to its calendar

high-streets

The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) has added a new online event on the future of high streets and town centres to its calendar, taking place on 29 September 2021.

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JUN
14

Help us draw the line to make parliamentary constituencies more equal

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AUTHOR: TIM BOWDEN, SECRETARY TO THE BOUNDARY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND


What are the local ties which bind together your constituency? Is it where you send your children to school, your place of worship, your library - or, perhaps, the community groups you attend? Over the next eight weeks, we want you to tell us how we can best reflect your local community as we reshape the map of parliamentary constituency boundaries in England.

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JUN
07

Environment Bill must unleash a million green fingers to create more sustainable communities says NALC

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The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) is pushing for changes to the government’s Environment Bill to unleash the million green fingers of its movement of 100,000 local councillors to create a greener, more environmentally friendly and sustainable communities.

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JUN
07

What does the Queen's Speech mean for rural communities?

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AUTHOR: GRAHAM BIGGS, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF THE RURAL SERVICES NETWORK


So now we know the government’s proposed programme for new legislation in the current session of parliament, as well as some other actions the government intends to take that, don’t need new laws or changes to existing laws. But what does it tell us?

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JUN
02

MPs and peers elected to champion local councils in parliament

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Cherilyn Mackrory MP and Richard Holden MP have been re-elected as co-chairs of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on local democracy aimed at championing local (parish and town) councils in parliament.

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JUN
02

NALC meets with local government minister Luke Hall MP

lukehall

The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) chair, Cllr Sue Baxter, met with Luke Hall MP, minister for Regional Growth and Local Government at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) on 19 May 2021.

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JUN
02

NALC sets up a new national network for LGBT+ councillors 

pride

To coincide with Pride Month taking place throughout June, the National Association of Local Councils (NALC) is setting up a new national network for LGBT+ local (parish and town) councillors.

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JUN
02

Low-interest rates: maintain your focus

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AUTHOR: MARK DAVIES, RELATIONSHIP MANAGER — LOCAL GOVERNMENT AT CCLA


Amid the events of 2020, a further reduction in the interest on your savings at the bank, building society or National Savings and Investments (NS&I) may well have gone unnoticed. Initially, at least.

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MAY
14

Open letter: People powered change

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Our communities thrive when people get involved and come together to take action on the issues they care about.

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MAY
14

How councils are using digital tools to improve efficiency and communication with their communities

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AUTHOR: DAVID HALL, DIRECTOR AT CLOUDY IT


At the end of April, the High Court ruled against a bid by Hertfordshire County Council, LLG and ADSO to force the government into retaining the remote-meeting arrangements introduced in the first lockdown. For many councils, the instruction to return to face-to-face meetings directly after the May elections is a blow, particularly as public engagement has rocketed with virtual sessions. The government, meanwhile, does not intend to resume real-life sittings before 21 June.

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MAY
11

NALC statement on the Queen’s Speech

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Responding to today’s Queen’s Speech, Cllr Sue Baxter, chair of the National Association of Local Councils (NALC), said:

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MAY
11

Parish Online User Group

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AUTHOR: GRAHAM STODDART-STONES, FOUNDER AND MANAGER OF THE PARISH ONLINE USER GROUP


What is Parish Online? Parish Online is recommended by NALC as a tool to help local councils manage their businesses. Over 1,400 councils already use Parish Online and, if you haven’t already done so, I suggest that you evaluate Parish Online by taking out a free trial. Parish Online is an affordable web-based, map-based information management system which allows councils to access OS mapping, address data and a host of other national datasets. Councils can use these maps as a reference to build their own asset layers (for things like allotments, streetlights and playground equipment). Councils can also use Parish Online to develop their own plans (for instance Neighbourhood Plans, Emergency Plans and Tree Planting Plans).

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APR
29

Internal Audit: Not just about the AGAR

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AUTHOR: ELEANOR GREENE, SECRETARY TO THE PARISH INTERNAL AUDITORS FORUM


At this time of year, every clerk is focused on getting their internal audit done and convening a full council meeting at which the Annual Governance and Accountability Return (AGAR) will be signed. Still, with the right advice, an internal audit is a year-round, positive process.

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APR
28

NALC responds to High Court judgement on remote meetings

statement

Responding to today’s judgement in the High Court on holding remote meetings, Cllr Sue Baxter, chair of the National Association of Local Councils (NALC), said:

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APR
28

NALC presses UK Finance to improve banking services for local councils

MONEY

The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) has pressed the trade association for banks (UK Finance) and its member banks to improve their services to local councils.

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APR
26

Government announces two key neighbourhood planning funds

planning

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) announced on Saturday 24th April the launch of two new key neighbourhood planning funds.

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APR
23

NALC responds to proposals for locally-led re-organisation

locally

The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) has responded to the government consultations for locally-led re-organisation in Cumbria, Somerset and North Yorkshire.

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APR
19

The importance of secure email systems and GOV.UK domains for local councils

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AUTHOR: DARREN BRIDDOCK, DATA PROTECTION LEAD AT BREAKTHROUGH COMMUNICATIONS


Almost all local (parish and town) councils now have an official website, as well as official email accounts. An increasing number of councils also provide official email accounts for their councillors as well as for their clerk and other officers. When choosing a domain name for the council's website and emails, many local council websites are appropriately making use of the exclusive GOV.UK domain (for example, ourparishcouncil.gov.uk), with email addresses being linked to that domain as well.

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APR
09

His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh, K.G, K.T

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“It is with great sadness that the National Association of Local Councils (NALC) has learned of the death of His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh.

“I know that those in the local (parish and town) council sector would join me in extending their condolences to Her Majesty The Queen and members of the Royal Family.”

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APR
08

NALC launch a new publication on trees

trees

The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) has launched a new publication on local (parish and town) councils and the Tree Charter.

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APR
08

How to prepare new councillors for the future of hybrid meetings and workplaces

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AUTHOR: DAVID HALL, DIRECTOR AT CLOUDY IT


With just weeks to go before the May local elections, councils are taking stock of the last 12 months. The biggest change has been the shift to remote working, and among the biggest winners has been local democracy, with online council meetings enjoying far greater participation from both councillors and public than was typical with traditional, face-to-face meetings.

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APR
07

The first intake for CiLCA 2021 beginning from April 

cilca

The Certificate in Local Council Administration (CiLCA) 2021 was launched earlier this year to reflect legislation changes. From April 2021, learners will be registered for the updated qualification.

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APR
06

Democracy Club

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AUTHOR: PETER KEELING, VOTING INFORMATION MANAGER AT THE DEMOCRACY CLUB


Democracy Club is a Community Interest Company which builds online voter information tools for UK elections. We run the UK’s national polling station finder at WhereDoIVote.co.uk (in conjunction with The Electoral Commission), and a database of UK elections and candidates at WhoCanIVoteFor.co.uk. We’re a small team, supported by hundreds of volunteers. We work openly, and all our data is free to access.

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MAR
29

NALC presses the government to keep the housing system democratic

housing

The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) has pressed the government to promote democracy when implementing reforms for better quality housing.

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MAR
26

Government announces remote meeting powers not being extended

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The secretary of state for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Robert Jenrick MP, has written to council leaders about remote meetings to confirm the government has considered the case for extending legislation very carefully and has concluded that it is not possible to bring forward emergency legislation on this issue at this time.

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MAR
26

Council tax levels for 2021/22 show the lowest increase in precepts for a decade

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The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has published information on council tax levels set by councils in England for the financial year 2021-22.

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MAR
26

Principal authorities told to pass funding on to local councils

MONEY

The government is strongly encouraging principal authorities to work with local (parish and town) councils and pass on funding from the £56m Welcome Back Fund.

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MAR
22

NALC releases survey on young people

young

The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) is calling on local (parish and town) councils to complete its new survey on young people. The survey will explore what local councils are currently doing to support young people in our communities.

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MAR
17

Update on NALC's online events calendar for 2021

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Following our Rebuilding Communities online event series over the last year, we're excited to share news on our upcoming events calendar. From April 2021, we will continue to run our online events, covering the hottest topics from the sector with expert panellists to share valuable insights and practical tips to help build stronger communities.

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MAR
15

Why councils are moving away from Zoom in 2021 

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AUTHOR: DAVID HALL, DIRECTOR AT CLOUDY IT


How time flies when we’re enjoying ourselves. It’s one year on from the first lockdown when, almost overnight, councils had to switch to virtual meetings. Video-conferencing platforms such as Zoom and Teams went from hitherto obscurity in local government circles to mainstays of the democratic process.

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MAR
09

NALC launches a new guide on cyber security

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The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) has launched The Good Councillor's guide to cyber security in partnership with Microshade VSM.

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MAR
04

NALC pressure on the government leads to a response to the Committee on Standards in Public Life report

standards

The government has confirmed it intends to publish its response to the Committee on Standards in Public Life's (COSIPL’s) review of Local Government Ethical Standards “shortly” and at the same time publish a consultation on the recommendations it has agreed to.

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MAR
02

NALC urges the government to maintain an extended audit timetable for local councils

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The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) has urged the government to maintain the current extended timescale for local (parish and town) councils to publish their audited accounts.

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FEB
25

NALC launches Star Council Awards 2021

news-story

The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) has announced that it is once again running its awards programme this year as part of its work to recognise the local (parish and town) council sector’s achievements.

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