A View From Our Window

Dear Clerks and Councillors

Clerks – Please circulate to your Councillors

We have been banging the drum off and on for a number of years now asking that councillors be allowed to use their allowances, if they have one, for the payment of carers which would allow the councillors to attend meetings. Thank you to those that have given me direct feedback on this which has now been forwarded to NALC.  Using the Sustainable Communities Act 2007, Weymouth TC asked that the matter be considered at the local authorities be included in the legislation that allows our principal authorities this right.  They have been waiting 18 months for a response.  NALC adopted this campaign as a policy and have been no more successful.  We will continue together with our Association cousins to push this matter and I’ll keep you updated as to what you can do to help.

Now usually we get notice of a few non submission of AGAR’s or registrations that no AGAR is required, we tend to chase, but here is an example of what can go wrong ! A parish council’s failings — A cautionary tale from the Smaller Authorities’ Audit Appointments – News (nalc.gov.uk)

Questions this week included a clarification around MVAS units and LTN 13 for which we have requested clarification, a flag flying policy for councils – the SLCC has a an example template, employment contracts and co-options for warded councils. Our CiLCA 2022 cohort for Day 3 of their training, all matters finance being the topic for the day.

The County Officers Forum took place on Wednesday.  The highlights for me were the Sustainable Communities Act 2007, mentioned and highlighted above, and how it could be applied, the reminder to look at the NALC website for toolkits which are often overlooked, the confirmation of the Worknest / NALC partnership and imminent arrival of the timetable for next years Local Council Award Scheme.

This being a long weekend, BMKALC will be launching their new website.  No rest for the mischievous!  Lorraine has worked especially hard to bring it to this stage and will no doubt be keeping an eye on things over the course of the next few days.  As always keep your eye on training events, these are constantly being updated.  The same goes for vacancies, do let us know when you have appointed candidates so that we can ensure that the list remains current.

Don’t forget Conference 2022 – Climate Change Practical Local Actions October 25th book now and a further date for your diary, our AGM on 16 November 2022. 

We hope that you will enjoy a good break and look forward to speaking to you next week.

Kind regards

Mel, Helen and Lorraine