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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
AUTHOR: CLLR LILLIAN BURNS, NALC NATIONAL ASSEMBLY MEMBER AND PART OF NALC'S CLIMATE CHANGE TASK AND FINISH GROUP
NALC’s recent climate change survey of local councils asked: "What carbon-reducing measures are you working on in the community?"
AUTHOR: DANNY KRUGER MP FOR DEVIZES, WILTSHIRE
During the pandemic, we’ve seen a welcome upsurge in voluntarism and generosity across villages and towns up and down the nation. In Devizes, St James’ Church was especially quick to mobilise resources and get stuck in. Within just a week of asking congregants and other locals to help, 344 volunteers had been vetted and referenced. This marked the start of three busy months of leafleting, delivering essentials and checking on vulnerable members of the community.
AUTHOR: JO HAND, CO-FOUNDER, BUSINESS AND COMMUNITIES AT GIKI ZERO
Three-quarters of councils have now declared a climate emergency in the UK and a crucial next step is working through what this means in terms of councils’ operational and residents’ carbon footprints. Many councils will be considering, or already working towards Net Zero, and a key requirement to get there, is motivating residents to recognize the benefits of a low carbon transition.
AUTHOR: CLARE PELHAM, CHIEF EXECUTIVE AT THE EPILEPSY SOCIETY
Why indeed? At first glance, there seems to be a yawning gap between TV actor, Idris Elba and our local councils. The star of Sunday night’s Luther has been hotly tipped as a future Bond, but I’m not aware that he is also in the running as chair of a remote parish council in Cornwall or Northumbria. So why do I wish local councils could be more like the iconic hero of stage and screen?
AUTHOR: DANIEL PURCHESE, DIRECTOR AT BREAKTHROUGH COMMUNICATIONS
Data protection is changing yet AGAIN. Here's how parish and town councils can get on top of what's coming, take some of the stress out of compliance and get back to focusing on what matters in their communities.
AUTHOR: DAVID PRESTON, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF NABMA
Markets have been an important feature of many towns for over a thousand years. Currently, there are around 1,150 regular traditional retail markets, and almost 80% of them are operated or licensed by local authorities. But coming out of lockdown this situation might soon change unless local authorities support their markets.
AUTHORS: IMOGEN SMITH, SENIOR PROJECT OFFICER AT COMMUNITIES PREPARED AND PHILLIP VINCENT, PUBLIC AFFAIRS AND COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER AT ACRE
As the outbreak of COVID-19 has demonstrated, unexpected events can and do happen, threatening the way of life we have become accustomed to. Sometimes the impact on individuals and the services that support them can be severe, with recovery taking months, if not years. This can be particularly felt by rural communities which are typically not well served by public infrastructure and services. In response we - Communities Prepared and Action with Communities in Rural England (ACRE) - have published a new guide to help rural communities become more resilient to a range of emergencies, from floods to pandemics, by supporting them to plan ahead.
AUTHOR: AMY COBBETT, BUSINESS AND RURAL AFFAIRS ADVISER AT THE NATIONAL FARMERS' UNION
With the outbreak of COVID-19, we are in an unprecedented time of change and challenges. In order for rural communities and businesses to successfully navigate the difficulties presented by COVID-19, it is important to work together to best support these areas during this trying time. This piece briefly outlines some ways that local (parish and town) councils can work alongside the National Farmers' Union (NFU) and farmers to ensure the best possible outcome for rural businesses.
AUTHOR: THE REVEREND DR MARK BETSON, NATIONAL RURAL OFFICER AT THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND
One of the very positive things to come out of the current global crisis is the resilience of local communities. I work as the National Rural Officer for the Church of England and part of my role is to keep in to try to keep in touch with the 10,000 of our 16,000 churches that inhabit the countryside. The story from them has largely been the same across the country with village communities developing locally based schemes to support the vulnerable and encourage everyone.
AUTHORS: VARIOUS STAFF AT NALC
Like so many organisations, NALC moved quickly to homeworking for all staff due to the coronavirus pandemic. In fact, as part of NALC's business continuity planning most staff began working from home prior to the government advice to stop unnecessary travel and to work from home where possible. NALC staff reflect on the last few months, swapping the NALC office to their home office.
AUTHOR: GARETH ELLIOT, HEAD OF POLICY AND COMMUNICATIONS AT MOBILE UK
Patchy mobile coverage is one of today’s real concerns as the world becomes ever more connected. In the UK, many of the rural areas currently get only partial coverage or none at all. Ofcom’s most recent data states that 91% of the country receives 4G coverage from at least one operator and 66% from all four. Having good mobile coverage is widely recognised as being essential for the future prosperity of the rural economy and rural communities. People increasingly want the flexibility to work from home, and many sectors such as farming, tourism and transport are using mobile connectivity to increase productivity and improve services. Happily, the industry and the Government agreed on an unprecedented deal on 9th March 2020 that will extend coverage and eliminate the vast majority of partial not-spots coverage by all four operators.
AUTHOR: STUART WILBUR, MICROSHADE VSM
Microshade VSM works in close co-operation with cybersecurity experts to ensure the safety of local (parish and town) councils' data. We wish to share this information with the sector that has given to us.
AUTHOR: ANGE JONES, AGE-FRIENDLY COMMUNITIES MANAGER AT THE CENTRE FOR AGEING BETTER
An Age-friendly Community is a place where people of all ages are able to live healthy and active later lives. It involves local groups, councils, businesses and residents all working together to identify and make changes in both the physical and social environments. This could be anything from transport and outdoor spaces to volunteering and employment or leisure and community services.
AUTHOR: ANDREW TUBB, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF CIRENCESTER TOWN COUNCIL
Having received over 500 positive and constructive responses to a public consultation on Cirencester Town Council’s budget proposal and always seeking to raise the bar even higher, I was interested to learn about innovative democracy at a conference in Manchester, part of International Week for Democratic Innovation.
AUTHOR: CLLR LILLIAN BURNS, PRESTBURY PARISH COUNCIL
Citizens’ Assemblies were very much to the fore at the Innovating Local Democracy Conference which took place in Manchester in January. Earnest local authority officers and others spent much time examining different models and how to make them work most effectively and learning best practice from each other. All good stuff.
AUTHOR: DANIELLE FROST, HEALTH AND WELLBEING OFFICER AT THE ESSEX ASSOCIATION OF LOCAL COUNCILS
The health and wellbeing movement is fundamental to Essex County Council’s strategic plan and they understand that to be successful, they need the local council sector to engage with it. Local (parish and town) councils are the closest layer of government to residents and can have the greatest impact on residents’ lives, from beginning to end.
CRISPIN TRUMAN OBE, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF THE CAMPAIGN TO PROTECT RURAL ENGLAND
Standing in the High Weald in Kent recently, I’d been hearing about the multitude of problems the local area faces, with the pressures of development, degradation of nature, the finances of farming and the decline in traditional forms of community and participation.
AUTHOR: JONATHAN OWEN, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LOCAL COUNCILS
Amidst all the current manifesto talk there is a frisson of excitement in the world of think tanks which is highly relevant to our movement, especially our largest ‘super’ local (parish and town) councils, about the concept of ‘community power’.
AUTHOR: ANDREW TUBB, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF CIRENCESTER TOWN COUNCIL
It was great to be asked to chair the making communities healthier workshops at the NALC annual conference, with a strong focus on loneliness; during the sessions I had a strong sense that whilst loneliness is on-trend, the most important message to take away was the impact we can all have where we live and work.
AUTHOR: CLLR BARONESS SCOTT OF BYBROOK OBE, WILTSHIRE COUNCIL
Retiring as leader of Wiltshire Council this year has offered me the opportunity to reflect on all that has been achieved, and how local government has changed over the last ten years. For me, chief among these was the creation of Wiltshire Council in 2009. As the leader of Wiltshire County Council at the time, applying for unitary status seemed like a golden opportunity to improve the delivery and efficiency of services for 470,000 people.
AUTHOR: JAMES BEVAN, CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER AT THE CCLA
Planning ahead for costs and revenues or profits and losses requires assumptions to be set on the what will happen to economies, the environment and markets. Climate change can affect all three.
AUTHOR: HELEN WILDSMITH, STEWARDSHIP DIRECTOR (CLIMATE CHANGE) AT THE CCLA
Increasing attention is being paid to the impact that climate change will have on the economy.
AUTHOR: DANNY MOODY, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE COUNTY ASSOCIATION OF LCOAL COUNCILS
Over the past two years Northants CALC (the membership organisation for parish and town councils in Northamptonshire) has been heavily engaged in the Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) programme in the county. LGR will see the existing borough, district and county councils replaced with two new unitary councils, West Northamptonshire Council and North Northamptonshire Council, from 1 April 2021.
AUTHOR: LORD GARY PORTER, FORMER CHAIRMAN OF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION
As my time as chairman comes to its close, I can reflect on the importance of the relationship that has developed between the Local Government Association (LGA) and NALC for the sector.
AUTHOR: PROFESSOR JANE WILLS, CENTRE FOR GEOGRAPHY AND ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES, UNIVERSITY OF EXETER
There has been little to celebrate in the world of local government in recent years. Severe budget cuts have hit local authorities very hard and the associated headlines have been all about service cuts, job losses and even bankruptcy.
NALC has taken the opportunity to use the challenges of Brexit and local government funding reductions to undertake a stocktake of where the sector is now, how it sees itself and its future, and how others perceive it and view its potential. NALC want this big conversation to help develop a new vision for the role of local (parish and town) councils and the support and change needed to achieve this.
Organised by the Local Government Association, #OurDay is an annual tweetathon that gives everyone who works or volunteers in public services the chance to share their stories of how they improve the quality of life of their residents. And it’s really easy to get involved – simply tweet us @NALC using the #OurDay hashtag with your local council’s top achievements from 2017. NALC want to know anything you have done to benefit your community. Remember, images and videos help tell your story so make sure you tweet them out too! Do also sign up to the #OurDay thunderclap which will help get the hashtag trending. NALC be playing our part by tweeting out case studies from throughout the year. If you’ve already decided to get involved please let NALC know at: . If you’re not on Twitter yet, here are some simple tips to help signing up, so you can get involved!
NALC's A prospectus for ultra-localism sets out our positive offer to the government. It outlines how we can help the next government realise its ambitions for community empowerment, localism and devolution. It also arms the next government with a range of policy ideas to unlock the power and potential of communities by helping local councils flourish.
Next week marks the beginning of Volunteers’ Week 2017, an annual event from 1-7 June which celebrates the difference volunteers make to communities across the country.
NALC continues to promote onward devolution with the recent publication of its new Devo Plus toolkit
The main finding from a recent NALC survey of parish meetings across England was that most parish meetings want access to...
The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) recently responded to the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) Business Rate Appeals...
NALC has launched a survey of parish councils to support its campaign to give parishes greater community led housing powers.
NALC's Policy Committee met on 26 July 2016 and agreed that parishes in all Devolution Deal areas should push for a seat at the devolution table in their areas, especially in those areas represented by a Combined Authority.
The NALC Larger Councils’ Committee met for its annual good practice visit in Dunstable on 19 July, 2016 and re-iterated its call on the new government to make good on exempting parish councils from payment of business rates on public buildings they own or manage – before 2018.
NALC's Policy Committee met on 10 May 2016 and formally agreed to adopt a position for parish councils to become statutory consultees on all aspects of Temporary Events Notice applications.
The NALC Larger Councils Committee met on 26 April 2016 and called for larger local councils in England to make good quality proposals to solve national policy problems they are facing – using the Sustainable Communities Act 2007.
The Chancellor's recent Budget announced in Clause 2.125 that 'the government will allow local authorities in England to use their discretionary relief powers to support publicly owned public lavatories from 1 April 2018', which at a time of austerity and devolution is seen as a triumph by both local (parish and town) councils and national bodies.
NALC's Policy Committee met on 9 February 2016 and formally agreed to adopt a position seeking exclusion from the proposed Right To Buy extension – of housing in rural areas, particularly where the land has been originally provided to meet local housing need.