News

The NALC Larger Councils’ Committee called again for an exemption from business rate payment on public conveniences owned and managed by parish councils, at its recent meeting on 20 October 2015.

The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) has demanded that Government’s devolution plans must include communities, neighbourhoods and parishes through the publication of its Devo Local paper.

The NALC Sustainable Communities Board met on 11 September and Cllr Derek Liddell was re-elected as Board Chairman for 2015-16. The Board agreed to re-submit the Burton on the Wolds (Leics.) Parish Council proposal to DCLG on asking for non-councillors to have voting rights on Neighbourhood Planning Committees (as they currently do for tourism, land, festival and harbour management committees) – under the Parish and Community Councils (Committees) Regulations, 1990.

DCLG has recently published a short, informative paper promoting the involvement of parish councils in Devolution Deals.

The National Rural Crime Network (NRCN) has received Home Office funding to undertake a rural crime and policing survey. The online survey will run for about five weeks and it is hoped that the findings will help shape and inform more on:

We need stronger and more robust local community media to scrutinise local councils. If this does not happen then local democracy will be weaker for it.