What a year! In a nutshell, as national reforms in 2025 accelerated local government re-organisation and devolution, we breathed a sigh of relief, having exited that pain barrier and well on the path to developing the new normal.
The Data Use and Access Act (DUAA) modernized data protection practice and we see the impact on that with changes to our transparency duties. Dare I mention Assertion 10?
Buckinghamshire advanced its Growth Plan and corporate productivity model; Milton Keynes delivered major regeneration, consulted on its Sustainability Strategy, progressed the City Plan 2050, and set out MKDP’s city-centre vision.
All the sector bodies (ICO, SAPPP, NALC, SLCC) issued guidance on data, audit, and ultra-local governance, and planning changes left us all scrabbling for a toe hold in an uncertain future.
The Natural Environment Partnership admitted BMKALC to its board and launched the Local Nature Recovery Strategy.
The CiLCA 2024 and 2025 cohorts have been working their socks off securing their portfolio’s and emerging as CiLCA qualified clerks. It was a race for fastest finisher this year and we are all working hard to get everyone through before August.
As for BMKALC, we worked hard, our Election Toolkit has been acknowledged nationally, we are finalists in the County Association of the Year category and, we now have Jess!
I harnessed the services of Co-pilot to highlight some of the key elements in individual summaries which we’ve emailed out. It’s by no means comprehensive but offers a few highlights! Last week I tested Co-pilot by asking how much notice was needed for a parish council meeting. It got the answer wrong and when challenged, acknowledged it’s mistake. Still a great deal of work to be done there then!
In a way it rather sums up our year. There has been an extraordinary amount of movement in our sector, and this amidst turbulent times both nationally and internationally. All the noise and the fuss we experience can cause us to lose sight of good governance and the prize.
Despite all this local councils march on, we all get out of step from time to time, and Christmas will provide us with an opportunity to rest and reset. I want to remind you that you do amazing things. Stepping forward to support your communities with little expectation of acknowledgement or thanks.
BMKALC will be closed from Christmas Eve until January 5th, we will be monitoring the BALC mailbox but will only respond to urgent matters. As a team we are proud of our member councils and our BMKALC family, it is a pleasure to represent you at national events and to lobby on your behalf with our principal authorities. We wish you a happy and relaxing holiday and look forward to speaking with you in 2026!
Kind regards
Mel