NALC meets new local government minister

The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) has held a very ‘positive’ introductory meeting with Luke Hall MP, the new local government minister.

Luke Hall MP is a former parish councillor, was elected in 2015 to represent Thornbury and Yate in Gloucestershire, and appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government in July 2019.

Cllr Sue Baxter, chairman of NALC, said: "It was a pleasure to meet the new minister and we had a really positive first meeting, getting our relationship off to a good start. As a former parish councillor himself, he recognised the important part local (parish and town) councils play in communities and the opportunities to continue to grow their role. We spoke about maintaining and building on relationships with former ministers and working together to take forward commitments in the Communities Framework, particularly around the creation of new local councils.

“It was also helpful to start to discuss a range of local government finance issues such as business rates on public toilets, council tax referendums, accessing funding streams and sector support. I look forward to continuing these discussions to ensure the local government finance settlement contributes to a flexible and diverse funding landscape which allows local councils to invest in building build stronger communities that are cohesive, healthy, safe, sustainable, and prosperous.”