Pensions LGPS funding deficit and future arrangements

NALC  has issued a Financial Topic Note F12-14
 
If your council has any workers enrolled in the Local Government Pension Scheme please read this briefing. It is common knowledge that there is a funding deficit in the LGPS. NALC will when the opportunity arises take it up with the relevant government departments and officials.

At present LGPS Actuaries are tackling the deficits in two ways:

• progressive increases in employers funding percentages or
• retaining constant employers percentages but adding a lump sum specifically targeted at reducing the deficit

The briefing goes on to explain - Current Reporting and Accounting Requirements, the possible effect of the introduction of Compulsory Workplace Pensions and the need to keep the situation under close and constant review.

Sec 137 amount for 2015-2016

The Department for Communities and Local Government has confirmed that the appropriate sum for parish councils for the purposes of section 137(4) (a) of the Local Government Act 1972 (“1972 Act”) for 2015-2016 is £7.36.

This is the amount that results from increasing the amount of 2014-15 (£7.20) by the percentage increase in the retail index between September 2013 and September 2014 (of 2.26%), in accordance with Schedule 12B to the Act.

Implications for Devolution in England

On 16th December the coalition parties - Conservatives and Liberal Democrats,  published a command paper on Implications for Devolution in England. It is not a cross-party paper and does not contain ideas from the Labour Party.

The Command Paper was announced by Leader of the Commons William Hague in an oral statement to MPs and sets out proposals for responding to the implications of devolution for England after the Scottish Independence referendum and contains separate proposals from each of the coalition parties on how best to address these issues.

The paper includes:

•  How powers have been passed to the devolved administrations so far;
• What the Coalition Government has done to transfer powers from central government to local communities in England;
• Options for further devolution and decentralisation;
• The impact of the devolution landscape for the Westminster Parliament, in particular the West Lothian Question and the issues that would need to be considered in designing a way forward;
• How the Coalition Parties might respond to these challenges in the next Parliament.

Conservative Party key points and proposals include:

• power should be decentralised down to the lowest appropriate level – down from Europe, down from Whitehall, to councils, to community groups and to individual taxpayers: giving power to the people
• we wish to continue with the empowerment of neighbourhoods and parishes in England, not least through a huge further increase in neighbourhood planning
• there should be greater use of direct democracy, such as allowing local people to hold local referendums on local issues
• extend and strengthen the transparency and accountability and help support the press and public in holding local politicians to account
• localism must not be a way of imposing new taxes: the English taxpayer already pays too much tax. Instead, we wish to strengthen the fiscal incentives councils have to support enterprise and growth -- for example, by further extending the local retention of business rates
• introducing English Votes for English Laws, or English and Welsh Votes for English and Welsh Laws, is crucial and cannot be ignored any longer, options include Reformed consideration of Bills at all stages, Reformed Amending Stages of Bills and Reformed Committee Stage and Legislative Consent Motions.

Liberal Democrat Party key points and proposals include:

• we are guided by the twin principles of subsidiarity and accountability, as we believe people can best hold politicians to account if those elected locally are in charge. And we also believe that taking decisions at a lower level means better decision-making, more responsive public services and greater value for money
• we would deliver this through an “English Devolution Enabling Bill” and Liberal Democrats would introduce legislation in the next Parliament which would empower local areas within England
• the “English Devolution Enabling Bill” would provide for areas to be able to demand from Westminster and Whitehall the powers that they want from a menu of options
• in order to successfully claim the powers they wished, a given area would need to demonstrate it met tests around geography / population, competence, local democratic mandate, a fair electoral system and a transparent and accountable governance structure
• it is right that any new stage in the Westminster legislative process which would limit the involvement of MPs to those from English constituencies should operate on the same fair basis
• the time is right for a Constitutional Convention to discuss the relationship between the constituent parts of the UK and also to explore the values and principles which bind us together
• a Constitutional Convention should be composed of representatives of the political parties, academia, civic society and members of the public. The Convention should be led by an independent Chair agreed by the leaders of the three main political parties. The remit of the Convention should be decided by parliament through legislation, if possible on a cross party basis. 

If you would like to respond to these proposals the contact details are on page 33 of the Command Paper.

Nominate someone for an Honour

DCLG are soliciting recommendations for the New Year 2016 Honours List. They we are happy to accept honours nominations at any time, but to be included for consideration in the New Year 2016 honours round,  citations are needed by 10am Monday 9th March.

DCLG are looking for people who may be involved in areas such as;

• Community empowerment - community leaders and people who have mobilised their community and put power into people's hands e.g. by leading community campaigns, fund raising for, or taking ownership of community assets such as sports centres, meeting places and pubs.
• Public service reform - those in public services who have established and delivered improved ways of delivering public services e.g. setting up an employee owned mutual; parents who have come together to set up a free school.
• Social action - people volunteering in their local communities, offering up their skills, time and expertise to local charities, community groups and neighbours; philanthropists who are making a difference to our society.

DCLG are only able to consider candidates who work in areas covered by its remit. They are unable to process nominations for candidates whose achievements fall under another department’s policy responsibility; however they will work with you to establish the correct department to submit your nominations to.

There is a strong message from the Prime Minister that if the honours system is to fulfil its role and to remain credible and respected, it needs to be seen to recognise the best from across the diversity of British society today. That can only be achieved if there is a wide range of top quality candidates, nominated from a rich variety of sources.

There has been disproportionate shortfall in the number of female candidates.  DCLG therefore ask you to look particularly for good female candidates and to identify good senior female nominations where possible.

We also need to identify good quality candidates at all levels from under-represented black and ethnic minority communities. We would ask you to give careful thought to achieving  diversity of candidates across the board including people with disabilities and ensure that this is noted on the citation form.


For more information read DCLG Honours: How to write a citation

Nominations relating to DCLG should be sent by e-mail to Julian.matthews@communities.gsi.gov.uk  10am Monday 9th March 2015.

December HR and Employment Update

As the year draws to a close it is a good opportunity in this last briefing to reflect on topical employment matters at the end of 2014 and to look forward to legal changes anticipated in 2015. 

The briefing covers

• National Pay Award
• Holiday Pay and Overtime ruling
• Pensions auto-enrolment
• Vaping
• Employment Law timetable for 2015

The full briefing is on the BALC website here.

Crowd funding of civic projects

Spacehive has won David Cameron's Big Society Award for helping local communities to fund neighbourhood improvement projects online. The Prime Minister praised the organisation for harnessing a new trend that allows local people, businesses and councils to spontaneously fund projects.

A total of 58 civic projects worth £1.8m have been funded via Spacehive since March 2012. Most of the schemes do seem to be urban at the moment but the idea might be worth pursuing if you have a project.

Have a look at their website and see if there is any scope for using them for your project.

House of Commons Written Statement on sec 106 contributions etc

A useful update from the House of Commons on Sec 106 contributions and small developments including rural exception sites, a Written Statement from the Minister of State for Housing and Planning, Brandon Lewis MP, 28th November 2014.

What are your views on the Operator Licensing System?

The Department for Transport has launched an interactive website seeking views about the work and role of the traffic commissioners and potential improvements to the operator licensing system for goods and PSV vehicles.

The site allows anyone with an interest in traffic commissioners or operator licensing to comment and discuss changes or improvements they would like to see. 

The site can be found at: http://www.dft.gov.uk/traffic-commissioners-review/

This is not a formal consultation.  Comments and suggestions provided will feed into the current triennial review of the traffic commissioners as well as helping the Department for Transport consider ways of improving the operator licensing system for users (this may give rise to formal consultation later).

The site will be open for comment until the end of January 2015. 

We would encourage all those with an interest to provide their suggestions and comments.

Please feel free to share the link with others who you feel may have an interest in operator licensing or traffic commissioners.

Berkshire Local Nature Partnership Biodiversity Plan 2014-2020

The Berkshire Local Nature Partnership (BLNP) is working to create a sustainable, healthy and vibrant Berkshire by promoting the conservation and enhancement of nature, and the benefits we receive from a healthy environment. The Partnership does this by:

•  creating a strategic vision for the natural environment in Berkshire
•  offering a single, unified voice for the natural environment in decision making
•  improving awareness of the challenges and opportunities facing nature
•  providing a network of advice and expertise relating to the environment

The Partnership has published its Biodiversity Plan 2014-2020 which can be looked at here.

This strategy builds on, and replaces the Berkshire Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP), developed by the Berkshire Nature Conservation Forum and incorporates the relevant messages
and actions from the Government’s ‘Biodiversity 2020: A strategy for England’s wildlife andecosystem services’. The Berkshire Local Nature Partnership identified local objectives which will also contribute towards achieving the desired national outcomes.

North Wessex Downs AONB Sustainable Development Fund

Sustainable Development Funding for 2014-15 is now open to new applications. Expressions of Interest are welcomed for projects starting in the 2014-15 financial year.

Guidelines available here.

SDF funding is aimed supporting a range of projects that bring environmental, social and economic benefits to the North Wessex Downs AONB. Detailed criteria and information on how to add value to your project can be found in the Guidelines. You may also wish to look at examples of projects previously supported through the SDF, found to the left of this page.

Who can apply?

•  Community and voluntary groups and groups working in partnership.
•  The private sector
•  Local Authorities and public bodies
•  Charities
•  Businesses.

More information here

Pillars of the Community

English Heritage has produced a guide aimed at both local government and community groups on when and how to transfer heritage assets to parish and town councils and community ownership.

The need for local government to make savings is resulting in many taking a close look at the property they own and looking for opportunities to rationalise. At the same time, there are increasing opportunities, provided in part by legislative change, for communities to take a more active role in their local area. These two principles are brought together in the transfer of assets from local authorities to community ownership. The updated guidance provides practical advice on when to do this, and on how best to do this. A successful transfer can breathe new life into, not only the asset , but also the local community itself.


The report is here

Home Office consultation light touch authorisation for groups to sell alcohol

The Home Office is consulting from 11th November to 9th December 2014 on a relaxation for community groups and small businesses selling or giving away small amounts of alcohol as part of a wider service.

The consultation is here 
It is called Consultation: The Community and Ancillary Sellers Notice

This is potentially important for community groups, and possibly parish councils, that want to sell alcohol at an event for example.

A public consultation on alcohol, undertaken in 2012, asked for feedback on two measures. These were: a lighter touch Temporary Event Notice (TEN) with more local discretion for community groups, and a new authorisation to reduce burdens on ancillary sellers of alcohol. In response to the consultation, the Government announced its intention to create a new authorisation called the Community and Ancillary sellers Notice (CAN) to provide a light touch authorisation for both these groups.The CAN is intended to benefit providers of bed and breakfast or other similar overnight accommodation who may wish to offer overnight guests a bottle of wine in their room and community groups putting on small community events who wish to sell an alcoholic drink to those attending the event. 

The Consultation is a short document which asks for responses to 7 questions only three of which relate to Community groups.If you run events, or want to run events, but have been put off you may want to respond to this consultation.

If your council is affected by the reduction in Council Tax Support Grant - protest!

In 2013/14 and 2014/15 DCLG has paid Billing Authorities a combined total for each financial year of £3.3 billion to officially pass on to parish councils in their areas to minimise the impact of the reduction in  revenue following the diminution of average council tax bases in parished areas. In 2014/15 most Billing Authorities passed on the Localisation of Council Tax Support Scheme (LCTSS) mitigation grant to parishes in their areas, but 15 did not.

NALC lobbied the Government very hard to ensure that it put pressure on Billing Authorities to pass on to all parishes in their areas the maximum amount of LCTSS mitigation grant in 2015/16.

Thus the impact of the average 10% reduction to parish council tax bases over the last two financial years has been minimised so that services can continue as seamlessly as possible in parished areas.

Despite uncertainty as to how much capital funding the current Coalition Government is referring on to Billing Authorities in 2015/16 due to the intervening General Election, the National and County Associations will continue to lobby Government as hard as they possibly can to ensure that maximum LCTSS funding is passed on to Billing Authorities and that the Government communicates its expectation that the monies should be passed on to parish councils in their areas. NALC will know the Government's intentions by the Local Government Finance Settlement in December, 2014 and the sector will be advised accordingly.

 If your council feels sufficiently strongly that your unitary authority is not passing on the support grant then you may wish to send your comments directly to DCLG here or lobby your own MP:

Bracknell Dr Phillip Lee
Maidenhead Theresa May
Newbury Richard Benyon
Reading East Rob Wilson
Reading West Alok Sharma
Slough Fiona Mactaggart
Windsor Adam Afriyie
Wokingham John Redwood

Job advert Whitchurch Town Council, Hampshire

Whitchurch Town Council, Hampshire is advertising for a new Clerk/RFO. It is a full time job. 

Applications have to be in by 12th December. 

More information on our Vacancies page

Join the Big Energy Race!

The Big Energy Race* is a national initiative to help community groups and individuals to take control of their bills and reduce how much they are spending on energy. The Race will see numerous community groups from regions across England, Scotland and Wales register to take part by January 2015. Big Energy Race will engage 25,000 households and ultimately reach over one million people.

Community groups across the country sign up as ‘teams’, and compete with other groups around the UK in a race to accumulate points by promoting energy efficiency in the community. A ‘team’ will encourage individuals to sign up as ‘team members’ and undertake household energy challenges, such as tracking their meter readings, turning down boiler thermostats or turning off appliances. The more team members each community group recruits and the more challenges that are undertaken, the more points the whole team earns. 

Taking part in the Big Energy Race may be for a community group if any of the following apply:
•    Your group aims to help people in your local area
•    You want to help local people save on their energy bills
•    You want some ideas for activities to do in Spring 2015
•    You have some ideas for a local community energy project
•    You are planning events / activities in Spring 2015 where you could easily slot in some additional element

There are lots of weekly prizes to be won, which will be awarded to each Region of the Week, Team of the Week and Team Member of the Week during the Race. In addition, one team crowned the Big Energy Race Champions at the end will win the main prize of cash towards a community energy initiative. 

The Big Energy Race will begin in mid-January and last 11 weeks. From November 2014, community groups can visit the Big Energy Race web page and register their interest in taking part as a team.

Visit www.bigenergyrace.org to register your interest and receive further information.

*The Big Energy Race is an initiative designed by behaviour change experts Global Action Plan and is delivered in collaboration with the Energy Saving Trust, Citizens Advice Bureau and Energy UK. It is supported by major energy providers, including Npower, British Gas, EDF Energy and Green Energy.

November Employment update on Variations in contracts

Bethan's latest update for November is on Variations in Employment contracts

In the last newsletter the topic of ‘contracts of employment’ was covered.  This month we shall be looking at how an existing contract of employment can be varied, what the law permits an employer to do and what risks or potential pitfalls could cause a council problems when seeking a contractual change.

• Can a contract of employment be changed?
• What should our council do if we want to alter an employment contract?
• What might make a variation unlawful?
• How do we avoid creating an unlawful or unreasonable variation?
• What process should we adopt then?
• How do we know how much notice to give?
• Can notice be reduced?
• What if the employee refuses to change?
• What is unilateral variation?
• What records should we keep of the variation?
• What is meant by ‘Termination and Re-engagement’?
• Which laws are involved in variations of contract?

The full article is on the BALC website here

Pensions and pay update

An update from Bethan Osborne, BALC HR adviser: 

Pensions
Further to the article published in the September 2014 newsletter we have received some helpful clarification from a County Pensions administrator which helps put in context apparently contradictory advice within the ‘Being a Good Employer’ guide and rules for auto-enrolment of pensions. 

Town and parish councils can provide a scheme before the staging date but (other than where the Scheme is the LGPS) can’t contribute to it. Once Councils reach their staging date they need to make a choice as to what scheme they want to use to fulfil their responsibilities and, whatever scheme is chosen, they will be able to make an employer contribution to it. The administering authority has no responsibility to tell town and parish councils what they can and can’t do. The assumption is that it is the auditor’s role to check whether an employer is doing something they should not be doing."

Please note that ‘Being a Good Employer’ was written in 2010, before the pensions reforms and auto-enrolment were introduced to the statute book, and is to be revised by NALC and SLCC in the coming months. 

The National Pay Agreement.  The Local Government Employers and main unions who are signatories to the “Green Book” have agreed a settlement on council staff salaries to April 2016.  There are 1.5 million employees affected by this settlement.  The agreement is worth an average of 2.35% with some of the lowest paid staff receiving significantly higher pay rises.

The   NALC and SLCC  announcement is here  Councils with staff at scp5 need to take immediate action as the existing pay rate is below the new National Minimum Wage level of £6.50/hour.  There will be payments which will need to be included in the December 2014 payroll and further increases from April 2015.

Back to basics - House of Commons Library paper

For the geeks, nerds and wonks out there!

 Mark Sandford, researcher, House of Commons Library has produced a useful summary paper on recent issues facing town and parish councils.It is on the BALC website here.

I hope it is useful reading. You may find it helpful to bring to the attention of your MP. They may need reminding as we come up to elections that 16 million people are represented by town and parish councils, a number that is increasing as more people in unparished areas show an interest in having a parish council

Community Shares newsletter

If your community is interested in running a community shop or pub you need to know about Community Shares

The Community Shares Unit is supported by the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) until March 2015 and is delivered in partnership by Co-operatives UK and Locality. The unit acts as a central reference point for market intelligence, providing the latest information on community share activities nationwide, as well as producing regularly-updated guidance materials.

The unit also operates as a dynamic hub for support, building relationships with networks and organisations to signpost communities, investors and other interested parties to the most appropriate forms of advice and assistance to develop new share offers and support existing ones.

Finally, it acts as a strong platform for highlighting the community share model, raising awareness of the value of the approach and facilitating peer support and networking to those already involved in community shares. 

Community Shares have produced a film on saving The Bell pub in Bath. Have a look on Youtube  or sign up for their Newsletter

Local Government Transparency Code in effect from 3rd Oct 2014

NALC have issued a legal briefing on the new code of recommended practice in relation to information that parish councils have to publish.

The briefing is here 

The Code is recommended not mandatory for parish councils with a gross annual income or expenditure exceeding £200,000. The Code replaces the previous Code issued on 1st May 2014, see other Legal briefing L01-14

Part 2 of the Code is mandatory for large councils with a gross annual income or expenditure of £6.5 million - this obviously affects very few parish councils. Part 2 requires the publication quarterly of:

• expenditure over £500
• invitations to tender for contracts for goods for services with a value over £5000
• details of contracts or purchase orders over £5000

Delivering Differently in Neighbourhoods

The Department for Communities and Local Government has recently launched Delivering Differently in Neighbourhoods, a new programme which aims to support principal authorities to redesign services to deliver at neighbourhood level, with the involvement of community organisations or parish councils.

The department is offering direct grants to around 25 local authorities in total to kick-start innovative projects in 2014/15 and 2015/16. An expert panel will provide advice and challenge, and there will be opportunities for different projects to exchange learning and network.

DCLG are interested in projects that seek to devolve greater responsibility to parish and town councils, and expect that a minimum of 3-4 projects funded in each of the two phases of the programme will involve parish and town councils in some way.

We would encourage parish councils to discuss the programme with their local authorities, who will need to submit expressions of interest to DDneighbourhoods@communities.gsi.gov.uk by 15 December.

For further information about the programme, please see the prospectus.

CiLCA review

The Certificate in Local Council Administration (CiLCA) is the qualification clerks need to be recognised as 'qualified' for the purposes of exercising the General Power of Competence and for Quality Council Status (also being reviewed for relaunch next year as Local Council Award). CiLCA is undergoing a thorough review, the national Improvement and Development Board (IDB) met recently and a number of decisions were made about the CiLCA refresh. Below is a summary of the key updates:

Understanding the changes to CiLCA
The key message is that there is one CiLCA. There are no versions or years that are better or worse – eg if you are qualified under CiLCA 3 years ago you have the same quality qualification as someone who will take it next year.

This focus helped shape a number of decisions:

• There will not be a ‘bridging module’ or anything similar to bring those with an older CiLCA qualification ‘up to date’.
• There will not be a CiLCA ‘Finance bolt-on’ or similar proposed optional additions.
• There will be no exemptions – all students will have to complete the full set of tasks
• There will not be an option to register for the refreshed CiLCA before launch. This is because the current CiLCA is still a valid and valuable qualification. Our advice is that if clerks would like to be qualified under CiLCA they should go ahead and register with the existing CiLCA rather than waiting for the refreshed version to launch

Time frames 

• We aim to launch CiLCA 2015 on 1 April. This is still tbc subject to scoping how long it would take to set up the new assessment process.
• Students currently registering for CiLCA will have 2 years to complete the current version.
•  Registrations received after 1 January 2015 will have 1 year to complete the current version.
•  Applications after 1 April (tbc) will enter CiLCA 2015.
•  CiLCA 2015 will have a one year time limit to complete after registration. With the option to extend as in the current existing arrangements.

Assessment and verification

•  The existing processes and assessment team will continue with the current CiLCA version until the final candidate has completed
•  A key difference of CiLCA 2015 will be how it is assessed and verified. The aim being a more flexible approach where candidates are more likely to pass first time
•  To reflect our commitment to this, the fee for CiLCA 2015 will include the cost of the first resit. This will be trialled for a year and then re-assessed. 

Overtime pay – Employment Appeal Tribunal ruling 4th November 2014

You may have noticed the recent ruling of the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) under the Working Time Regulations (WTR) that non-guaranteed overtime should be factored in when calculating the amount of holiday pay that an employee is entitled to.

Before jumping to any conclusions the advice from Bethan Osborne, B

ALC HR advisor is to wait because the employers have 42 days in which to appeal to a higher court. The judge has given them leave to appeal, so it is highly likely that an appeal will happen.

The retrospective application of this ruling appears to be limited in scope as employees will potentially only be able to go back 3 months in their claims due to the Tribunal rules.

Bethan advises that councils keep robust records of authorised overtime from this month onwards in case the appeal sides with the Unite union and the workers. It is the employers who have staff on zero-hours contracts who treat additional hours as overtime who have the most to lose, and their employees who have the most to gain. It would also be prudent for councils to calculate how many hours of voluntary but authorised overtime are worked annually and what level of holiday leave or pay entitlement those extra hours are likely to generate onto staffing costs should the EAT judgement be confirmed.

VAT reclaim delays?

There have been a few reports of HMRC being very slow in processing VAT reclaims. NALC Financial Advisor, Derek Kemp would like to know if these are isolated instances or if there is a more wide ranging problem. Slow processing of a VAT reclaim on a large project can lead to cash flow problems for a council.

Have you experienced severe delays in reclaiming VAT from HMRC? If you have please could you let the county officer Christine Lalley know.

NALC and SLCC agree to work more closely

 

The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) and the Society of Local Council Clerks (SLCC) have joined forces for further mutual working and co-operation. The leadership teams of NALC and SLCC signed a joint protocol between the two bodies at the annual SLCC Conference 2014.

Both organisations agreed to work together to promote the best interests of the local councils sector and its employees and their contribution to the wellbeing of communities. These aims will be achieved through regular communication at all levels, mutual promotion and collaboration in representations to Government and other bodies when there is common interest. 

Specifically in 2015/16 our two organisations will encourage:

• participation in the new Local Council Award Scheme and
• take-up of CiLCA (This is the accredited certificate for our sector, designed to test basic levels of competence for the role of parish clerk);
• establish a Sector-Led Body to procure audit services;
• provide joint advice to councils including on part-time working hours;
• prepare new model terms and conditions of employment;
• and work towards a complementary conference programme and joint events.

Cllr Ken Browse, chairman of NALC, claimed that: “NALC and SLCC have a long and positive history of working together to promote the work of both organisations and the all important role that councillors and officers play in community leadership and representation. This protocol cements the partnership working between NALC and SLCC and long may this continue.” 

Commenting on the new protocol, SLCC’s chief executive, Howard Middleton, said: “We have always enjoyed a close working relationship with our colleagues at NALC and this builds on the previous agreement to take us forward working together in a spirit of mutual co-operation for the ultimate benefit of the communities which clerks and councils both serve.”

CEO of NALC speaks at Berkshire AGM

Berkshire Association of Local Councils held its AGM on Bonfire night at Grazeley Village Hall. The speaker was Dr. Jonathan Owen, Chief Executive Officer of NALC.

Representatives from member councils agreed at the AGM to no increase in the BALC element of the subscription and received the accounts and annual report. 

The title of Jonathan Owens talk was Improving Local Communities together! He  talked about his first 6 months in the job and the challenges facing our sector as we come up to elections next year. Jonathan outlined how NALC was seen as the 'go to' organisation by central government for the town and parish councils sector, although that didn't always mean that we were listened to!

The presentation is here. All members councils will have received a copy of the BALC Annual Report with their invitation to the AGM which includes the accounts. Please come to next years AGM which will be at the beginning of November 2015

October Employment Update - Contracts of Employment

Bethan Osbornes October Employment Update covers contracts of employment. It answers all the questions below:

• Does the law require an employment contract to be issued?
• What is a Written Statement of Particulars?
• How soon does a Written Statement need to be issued to a new employee?
• What is included in the Statutory Written Statement of Particulars?
• Where do I start?
• What is the Model Contract and how does it tie in with the Green Book?
• Can the Model Contract apply to all council jobs or just the Clerk?
• Can the Model Contract apply to different sorts of contracts within the council?
• How does the Green Book affect our council’s terms and conditions?
• How much detail is necessary in a contract?
• What happens if reality is different from what is says in a contract?
• What if a contract is unsigned?
• What if we can’t find a written contract on file?
• What if something in the contract is affected by changes in statute?
• How can a contract be varied?

The full article is on the BALC website

Transparency Code for councils with exp. or income >£200,000

The Government has published a Local Government Transparency Code. This October 2014 version replaces the previous Code published in May 2014

Importantly, the mandatory data publication requirements have been extended and now apply to councils with a gross annual income or expenditure (whichever is higher) exceeding £200,000. Previously the mandatory requirements only applied above the threshold of £6.5 million which effectively meant local councils exceeding the £200,000 threshold were subject only to recommendations under the Code.

The Government has published a Frequently Asked Questions which provides additional help with interpreting the Code.

For local councils with an annual turnover below £25,000, it is also anticipated that a Transparency Code ‘which will act as a substitute for routine external audit’ will be implemented later this year and will be ‘mandatory’. This wording suggests that affected smaller councils will not be able to opt to stay within the external audit regime and out of the Code, as previously envisaged. But this is not clear yet.

Local councils above the £200,000 threshold should read the October 2014 Code and the associated FAQs to prepare themselves for the Code coming into force on 7th November 2014 and for the first deadline for data provision of no later than 31 December 2014.

Councils below the £25,000 threshold need to monitor announcements for the introduction of a Transparency Code for them later this year.

All councils should consider the increasing demand from central government for transparency of financial data and information about decisions and should review the way they manage their records and information. The default assumption should be in favour of providing data and information wherever possible.

Future Local - NALC Larger Councils Conference 3rd December

Future Local 

NALC Larger Councils Conference

at Galleon Suites, Royal National Hotel, London, WC1H ODG

Minister for Government Policy Oliver Letwin MP; Liberal Parliamentary Party Chairman Annette Brooke MP and Labour’s Policy Review Chief Jon Cruddas MP (invited) will give keynote speeches on devolution, localism and local government at NALC's conference for larger councils on Wednesday 3rd December 2014 in London.

'Future Local' is a one-day conference exploring the current and future role of larger local (town and parish) councils in putting communities in control of local facilities, delivering local services and providing influence over decision making, providing the perfect opportunity to learn, share and network.

Plenary and workshop sessions include:

• The road to 2015: what are the Labour, Lib Dem and Conservative policies on town and parish councils?
• How to shape the future of your area through strategic and neighbourhood plans
• Using the Our Place! approach to bring partners together to improve public services
• Town councils driving regeneration and local economic development
• Beyond bricks and mortar: how to build community cohesion
• Inaugural meeting of the super councils network

More information here

Neighbourhood Plan funding

There’s a new grant funding pool from DCLG now available to encourage communities to take up neighbourhood planning.

From today, local groups can apply for grants of up to £2,000 to run a neighbourhood planning workshop in their community. The workshop must be run by knowledgeable and enthusiastic advocate of neighbourhood planning, with the aim of giving a community the information they need to begin the neighbourhood planning process.

Areas that have a low take up of neighbourhood planning are the focus for these grants.

See more here

Local Democracy Week - Newbury Town Council

 Photograph: Pupils from Falkland School enjoy trying on the Councillors' and Mace Bearers' robes

 

During October, Newbury Town Councillors were busy welcoming local Primary Schools to the Town Hall for this year’s Local Democracy Week. 

Councillors gave a short presentation about local democracy and the work of Newbury Town Council in the community.  The visits were an opportunity for the children to meet the Mayor, Cllr Jo Day in her full regalia, and they also got a chance to dress up too!   Pupils were encouraged to ask their own questions of the Councillors and as usual, they asked some searching questions.  

Local Democracy Week has morphed into a fortnight and the second week involves Councillors visiting local Secondary Schools for a 'Question Time' type panel with an audience of Sixth Form students. This is the sixth year that the Town Council has been involved in Local Democracy Week .

Updated Financial Regulations

New Model Financial Regulations following the repeal of S150 (5) of the Local Government Act 1972 were issued in May 2014.

Following numerous comments and questions thereon, the opportunity has been taken to review and tidy up certain drafting errors. An updated version of the Model Financial Regulations is now in the Members’ Area of the NALC web-site. BALC member councils have the username and password to access the NALC Members Area.

The over-riding requirement resulting from the abolition of S150 (5) is that each and every local council seeking to depart from the two signature rule must “implement and maintain robust controls on expenditure as an integrated part of their overall financial control system”.

The Model Financial Regulations are designed to provide a suggested template for such systems and controls. They are not intended to be a prescriptive requirement, merely a framework and it is for each council to adapt them to their individual size, organisational structure and practice procedures. As such, constructive debate on the eventual detailed content of the council’s new financial regulations to be adopted is essential and to be encouraged.

DCLG consultation on travellers

Change to travellers definition "has potential for legal challenge": planning officers   

Local Government Lawyer writes 

"The Government’s proposed change to the planning definition of travellers will “place an unnecessary burden on local authorities and has potential for legal challenge”, planning officers have warned.

The Department for Communities and Local Government has launched a consultation in which it proposed amending the definition to remove the words “or permanently” to limit it to those who have a nomadic habit of life.

“This would mean any application for a permanent site by someone who has stopped physically travelling would be considered in the same way as an application from the settled population - rather than be considered under policies relating to travellers,” the paper explained.
 
DCLG insisted in the consultation that it was open to further measures to support those travellers who fall under the proposed new definition to facilitate their nomadic habit of life. “For example, through the use of conditions which ensure that transit sites are available at certain times of the year for travellers to occupy on a temporary basis. This of course would be a matter for the local authority but may go towards making provision for those travellers who do travel.”

The Housing (Assessment of Accommodation Needs) (Meaning of Gypsies and Travellers) (England) Regulations 2006 would also be amended to bring the definition of ‘gypsies and travellers’ into line with the proposed definition of ‘travellers’ for planning purposes.

The consultation paper said that consideration would be given to amending primary legislation to ensure that those who have given up travelling permanently have their needs assessed.

However, warning about the potential impact of the measures, Catriona Riddell, the Planning Officers Society’s Strategic Planning Specialist, also said: “The proposed changes to the definition of 'travellers' which distinguishes between travellers that travel and those that have ceased to travel, will be very difficult to apply in practice."

The consultation is here and closes on 23rd November 2014

Openness Regulations 2014 briefing

BALC joined with Oxfordshire ALC to do a joint briefing on the Openness Regulations 2014 today. At Didcot Civic Hall over 70 clerks and councillors from the two counties learnt from Liz Howlett, solicitor, how the Regulations which will allow filming, recording, blogging and tweeting of council meetings will work in practice. The Regulations came into force on 6th August 2014 and affect all town and parish councils.

May 2015 NALC manifesto - Communities in control

Communities in control: realising the potential of town and parish councils


"Town and parish councils are the backbone of our democracy and at the heart of many communities in England. They provide our neighbourhoods, villages and towns with a democratic voice and a structure for taking action – real people power at grassroots level.

We need more local democracy with more empowered people and places.

The 2015 general election provides an opportunity for politicians of all parties to support our most local level of governance. A chance to demonstrate their commitment to citizen-led action, which protects local assets and services and delivers responsive services based on local priorities – all of which improves lives and enhances communities.

NALC’s manifesto sets out our positive offer to the next Government. It outlines how we can help the next Government realise its ambitions for community empowerment, localism and devolution. It also arms the next Government with a range of policy ideas to unlock the power and potential of communities by helping town and parish councils flourish.

Our vision is to improve the quality of life for local communities through having vibrant, dynamic and effective town and parish councils.

NALC wants to work with the next Government to turn this vision into a reality."

The manifesto is here

Review of Quality Council Scheme

The Quality Council Award scheme has been the subject of a long ongoing review. We are still not quite there yet. Preliminary details of the proposed scheme which will be piloted in the coming months are available. Subject to feedback from the pilots the scheme will be launched in January 2015.

Councils can apply for an award at one of three levels.

• The Foundation Award demonstrates that a council meets the minimum requirements for operating lawfully and according to standard practice.
• The Quality Award demonstrates that a council achieves good practice in governance, community engagement and council improvement.
• The Quality Gold Award demonstrates that a council is at the forefront of best practice and achieves excellence in governance, community leadership and council development.

More details of the proposed scheme are here in the Quality Council section of this website. The scheme will be renamed as the Local Council Award Scheme with a new logo. 

What this space!

September Employment Update Hours of work

BALC is now offering its member councils access to Bethan Osborne, an experienced HR and employment advisor. As part of that service Bethan will write a monthly article on relevant employment legislation changes that could affect your council. The full article will be placed in the Documents section of our website, under the BALC documents tab. This months article is about Hours of Work:

• Is there any legal limit on hours which can be worked?
• Why is it important to get it right?
• What if we want to change the hours?
• What if the employee wants to change the hours?
• What is the best practice approach to overtime?

If you would like to discuss hours of work within your council in the context of the advice within this briefing then please do contact the BALC office for referral to Bethan Osborne who is acting as Employment Consultant to the Association

Finally, a reminder of a change which is taking effect in October:
National Minimum Wage increase from 1October 2014
•    £6.50 for workers 21 and over
•    £5.13 for workers 18-20 yrs
•    £3.79 for 16-17 yrs old
•    £2.73 for apprentices under 19 (or 19 and over who are in the first year of apprenticeship)

Town and parish councils receiving little money from "Boles bung"

Town and parish councils have received only a tiny fraction of community infrastructure levy (CIL) revenues since the introduction of rules requiring local planning authorities to pass on money raised from local development. 

NALC issued a press release in May which was picked up by Planning magazine. The press release is here

Lawyers Pinsent Masons write:

The UK government amended the CIL Regulations in April 2013 to require local planning authorities to pay town and parish councils up to 25% of any CIL raised from housing developments in their area. The payments were nicknamed "the Boles bung", after then planning minister Nick Boles said in January 2013 that they were intended "to persuade communities to accept more housebuilding by giving them a tangible share of the benefits it brings".

According to information obtained by Planning Magazine under a freedom of information (FOI) request, a total of £92,000 in CIL funding was received by town and parish councils in the 15 months following the introduction of the rules. This represents only 1% of around £9 million raised by planning authorities in this time.

The report said that only eight of 43 planning authorities that responded to the FOI request had passed any funds to town and parish councils by June 2014, with an average of £1,648 transferred to each of 56 town and parish councils.

Ken Browse, chair of umbrella body the National Association of Local Councils, told Planning Magazine that the figures "confirm our worst fears that the system is in danger of not being fit for purpose and needs an urgent rethink".

However, a Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) spokesman said that low amount transferred could be explained by the fact that CIL receipts were passed on to town and parish councils six months after being collected by planning authorities and "new provisions do not relate to planning permissions granted before the new rules". The DCLG expected funds transferred under the rules to "start at a low base and steadily rise over time", said the spokesman.

Sussex parish Community Right to Build Orders proceed to referendum

Three development orders brought forward by Ferring parish council have become some of the first to pass examination and be recommended for referendum under the UK government's Community Right to Build scheme.

Lawyers Pinsent -Masons report that


The Community Right to Build was introduced by the UK government following the Localism Act in 2011. It allows communities to group together to draft Community Right to Build Orders (CRTBOs), proposing development projects that will benefit the local community. If approved by an examiner and by 50% of people voting in a local referendum, CRTBOs can be used to circumvent the need for planning permission for the development described within them.

Ferring Parish Council submitted three CRTBOs to Arun District Council alongside the emerging neighbourhood plan for the parish in April. The orders provided detailed proposals for three sites allocated for development in the neighbourhood plan. Arun District Council gave its support for the orders and for the neighbourhood plan and appointed independent examiner Clare Wright to examine them.

More on the story here

South East Water - Community Chest Fund

South East Water Community Chest Fund is open

If you know or are part of a community project, charity or not-for-profit organisation in our water supply area that would benefit from financial support, please help spread the word that our Community Chest Fund is open for applications until 31st October.

Last year, the £30,000 Fund was shared between 35 organisations supporting a range of projects from a £1,500 grant to St Andrew’s CE Infant in Farnham for cold frames to help the pupils grow fruit, vegetables and flowers, to £100 for Aldershot and District Schools’ Athletics Association’s new summer games trophies.

Visit our website to view the criteria, see other projects we have supported and submit an application.

Find out more about the Community Chest Fund

West Berkshire Community Champion Award Scheme

Recognising the contribution volunteers make to West Berkshire

This is a new and exciting scheme aimed at recognising the valuable contribution made by volunteers in making the district of West Berkshire a vibrant place to live, work and play.
The award scheme incorporates the following categories:

•  Junior Citizen of the Year Award [23kb] 
•  Volunteer of the Year Award [25kb] 
•  Community Group of the Year Award [27kb]
•  Lifetime Achievement Award [24kb]

We are very keen to receive nominations for people who deserve an award for their work in the West Berkshire community. 

Please use the online form to make your nomination.
The closing date is Friday 24 October 2014.

Award winners will be presented with a certificate and medallion, and their details will be entered into a "Roll of Civic Award" which will be available for future generations to review.