What a week, grey and wet, those of you struggling with flooding must be exhausted and watching the forecasts and weather with dread. I hope you are finding lighter moments to sustain you and that your communities are coming together.
From our work window, we had the opportunity to participate in a workshop which feeds into the National Improvement and Development Board, it won’t surprise you that our key areas included, training to improve confidence and capacity, addressing the democratic deficit, promoting the sector and inspiring the sector. The full Board will meet on the 5th March to determine set actions and priorities.
Our CiLCA 2025 group met again to review the finance module, we have already had several completions for this cohort who must complete by August this year, and the balance are well on the way to completion, perhaps just needing another 8 hours a week to produce the written-up work. We say it every year, CiLCA is a tremendous opportunity to develop your skills and it is a substantial commitment, requiring around 200 hours of work to complete the Portfolio. If you are interested in CiLCA 2026 checkout our website for more information.
At a National level this week government announced their decision to formally exclude parish and town councils from referendum principles on excessive council tax increases for the 2026/27 financial year. Excellent news for those of you stepping up to fill the voids as our Principal Authorities scale back some of what they must view as non-essential services.
The NALC Annual Conference is now available to book, it was a great day last year and I would be delighted to see you there. You can book your place and find out more about the conference on NALC’s website.
Of all the opportunities to engage with other councils that are advertised, I would advocate for a study tour. Newport Pagnell TC’s was excellent and this year its to Taunton Town Council and a practical insight at its first 1000 days as a TC. Places are strictly limited, so please book early to avoid disappointment. You can book your place and find out more about the study tour on NALC’s website.
Locally we have the BC Planning Forum on Monday where we will hear more about the Local Plan and of course to our MK members, have you booked your space on the LTPS briefings? There are two dates and I encourage you to take advantage of these sessions and BMKALC host Part 2 of the 3-part Councillor Essentials training.
Thank you to those councils who have responded to the recent shout outs for information and support. It is testament to our community that we can both ask and respond on these occasions.
Thank you too, for all those people who have sent in nominations for this years Royal Garden Party, I will be reviewing these this weekend as the cut off isn’t until 5pm this evening. We have had a great response from you which makes the job all the harder, I really wish we could simply hire a coach, and all go!
With that I wish you all a peaceful weekend, and Jess and I will look forward to speaking with you next week.
Kind regards,
Mel & Jess