Using the Sustainable Communities Act to change things......

Regulations passed in October 2013 gave town and parish councils the right to use the Sustainable Communities Act. Local councils can work with citizens to put forward proposals for particular actions from central government that would help reverse community decline. This is great news for local democracy!  Town and parish councils are uniquely placed to identify innovative local solutions to the problems their communities face. 

The scope for proposals is very broad and there are two criteria that make a submission valid:

(1) It must be for a specific action from central government, e.g. giving councils a new power, changing a policy, removing red tape or changing the planning rules;
(2) It must explain, with evidence and argument, why the specific action proposed would promote at least one of the following: local economic activity, environmental protection, social wellbeing or involvement in democracy.

Patchway Town Council, South Gloucestershire has put forward a Sustainable Communities Act proposal requesting the government  to give all parish and town councils the right to sell electricity that they generate from any local schemes.The council submitted the proposal to government in January. As required under the Act, the council sought the views of local people on the proposal but unfortunately, received no responses. On these grounds the DCLG will not accept the submission.

The pressure group Local Works will continue to support Patchway Town Council to help them gather further evidence of community support for the proposal. The intention is to then make a new submission to the DCLG after the General Election.

Local Works have also requested further guidance from DCLG on the duty to 'reach agreement' with local people as required under the Sustainable Communities Act. We have received a number of queries on this topic. You can find a short article on this here:

Local Works are still confident that this proposal has a decent chance of success and the support of your Council will of course help that chance.

Employment Update for March

 



BALC held a really excellent training session run by our HR and Employment consultant Bethan Osborne on the evening of 25th March. It was informative, valuable and very beneficial - that is what the feedback said! The training covered the complete employment relationship from recruitment to dismissal and all things in between - performance, capability, sickness and so much more.


This months update is just that an update on a variety of employment topics:

• Pensions auto enrolment
• Insurance - fidelity guarantees
• Occupational health referrals
• Disclosure and Barring Scheme
• National Minimum Wage and Living Wage
• Pay award

The full Update is on the BALC website here

Changes to the smaller authorities' local audit and accountability framework: a guide

When the Transparency Code came into effect, we erroneously thought that smaller (exempt) authorities which are parish councils with a turnover of £25,000 or less, would not be required to have an external audit provided they published the required information on their website.

WRONG! 

DCLG  issued guidance on 11th March called 'Changes to the smaller authorities' local audit and accountability framework: a guide'  to clarify what the requirements will be after the closure of the Audit Commission on 31st March 2015.

The changes are:

• The Audit Commission which appointed Mazars as external auditors for Berkshire will close at the end March 2015
• Responsibility for appointing auditors transfers to a new company called Public Sector Audit Appointments Ltd.
• The current contract with BDO probably expires with completion of the 2016/17 audit
• Continue to prepare accounts in the form of an annual return, in accordance with proper practices set out in Governance and Accountability for Local Councils
• From 1st April 2015 and beyond it is for the RFO to set the commencement date for the exercise of public rights to inspect the accounts, not the auditor. For 30 working days from the commencement date the accounts must be available for inspection. The inspection dates must include a common inspection period of the first 10 working days of July.
• Parish meetings are exempt from the Transparency Code
• The Transparency Code is mandatory from April 2015 and by July 2015 smaller authorities must publish:

1. all items of expenditure above £100
2. end of year accounts
3. annual governance statement
4. internal audit report
5. list of councillor or member responsibilities
6. the details of public land and building assets
7. minutes, agendas and meeting papers of formal meetings

Note point 7 - draft minutes from all formal meetings must be published not later than 1 month after the meeting; agendas and papers must be published not later than 3 clear days before the meeting. They must all be published on a website.

• By 31st December 2016 smaller authorities will need to have appointed an external auditor for 2017/18 accounts. It is likely that NALC, possibly in conjunction with LGA, may become an appointing 'sector led body' which appoints auditors in bulk, as the Audit Commission did.
• The guidance states that smaller councils from 1st April 2017 will not need to have an annual assurance review BUT an auditor must be available to answer questions/objections from electors.
• If your council chooses not to use the sector led bodies appointed auditor then your council must - take the decision at full council; notify the appointing body by the set deadline: establish an independent auditor panel to advise on the appointment  of the auditor and procure an auditor.

CPRE and NALC support community right to appeal

From the NALC website:

"A new powerful alliance of the National Association of Local Councils (NALC), Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) and Civic Voice has called on all political parties to make a firm manifesto commitment to introduce a community right of appeal into the planning system.

The alliance believes that all political parties should support local ambitions by introducing a limited community right of appeal in areas where a development is non-compliant with a neighbourhood plan or local plan. Currently parish councils and other community groups have the power to produce neighbourhood plans, but no scope to stop developers overriding this by putting in speculative planning applications for approval by the district council. Budget cuts within local authorities mean that they are under increasing pressure to allow large developments, even when these are not in line with the community's aspirations for the future of its area."
 
See the full article on the NALC website

800th anniversary of signing of the Magna Carta June 2015

On Sunday 14th June there will be celebrations to mark the 800th anniversary of the signing of the Magna Carta under the title of 'LiberTeas'. This will include a peal of bells at 3pm and encouraging communities to come together for a cup of tea. There is no prescribed format just an opportunity to mark a moment in history. Have tea in the Mayor's parlour, have tea with your neighbours; Parish councils are being urged to become involved. 

Please put it on your next parish council agenda to discuss and raise the profile of this event. 

Please read the letter from Sir Peter Luff, Commons Chair of the Speakers Advisory Group:
Letter from Sir Peter Luff to Local Authorities - LiberTeas or go to www.liberteas.co.uk

My Community – free advice and grants

Your council has powers to make a difference in your area - saving local pubs, shops and community centres. Support and grants for developing your area through neighbourhood planning and building for your community are available, help with owning and managing local land and buildings, running services and boosting the local economy opens on 1 April. 

Visit mycommunity.org.uk  for information, resources, advice and grants and connect with others on the My Community Network. 

Under the Community Ownership and Management of Assets programme you can save local pubs and shops - new support & grants open 1 April

Under the Our Place programme you can have a say over services making them better for all – new support & grants open 1 April

Under the Community Economic Development programme you can help bring real economic benefits to your area - new support & grants open 1 April

Get Berkshire Active Week 16th-24th May 2015

Get Berkshire Active Week 16th - 24th May will be an opportunity to try something new and be more active

Where: Get Berkshire Active Week is happening across the county

When: Between Saturday 16th and Sunday 24th May. 

What: Local sports clubs and organisations are getting involved in the week by putting on a range of free and discounted taster sessions in their sport or activity for local people of all ages to try.

Who: The sessions which will be designed for all ages and for sporty and non-sporty individuals already include: Climbing, Tennis, Volleyball, Disability Archery and Martial Art

Summary of Rural Housing Policy Review 

Last summer many of you responded to the survey which informed the Rural Housing Policy Review. Your contributions were very much appreciated and helped inform both its findings and the recommendations. The report has now been published, 'Rural Affordable Housing: A Fair Deal for Rural Communities". 

A Summary report is available with a link on the back page to the full report. This is short and contains the evidence, findings and an expansion of the recommendations. It also contains embedded links and by clicking on the blue text that refers to the Parish and Town Council survey you can access the analysis of the response.

Local Councils Explained special price for new councillors

NALC is doing a special price for their publication Local Councils Explained. From 1st April to 31st July 2015 you can purchase a copy for £15.99 + postage and packing instead of £49.99 the usual members rate. For non-member councils the cost is £59.99 + p&p. NALC hope that councils will want to purchase the book to help new councillors understand their new role.

Contact BALC for an order form.

NALC announce new Star Councils awards 2015

The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) has a rich history of running awards, so we’re pleased to see that this year, they have announced a scheme with a wide variety of award categories with a ceremony taking place in October.

The NALC Star Councils awards are set to be one of the biggest events in the town and parish council calendar in 2015.  They are a fantastic opportunity to recognise and celebrate the achievements of member councils and county associations (CALCs)  – both within and outside of the sector.

It is easy for the work of local councils, councillors and staff to be under appreciated, so we are delighted that NALC will be highlighting and publicising the important role that local councils play - and the power and influence that they have on communities across the county.

AWARD CATEGORIES:  

Individual achievement

1. Young Councillor of the Year (Aged 18-30)
2. Clerk of the Year
3. Councillor of the Year
4. Chair of the Year                                   
5. Council Worker of the Year

Specific Achievement

6. Digital Communications of the Year
7. CALC outstanding project of the Year
8. Local Council outstanding project of the Year
9. Council of the Year

Please make sure that the work of your council and its staff is recognized, by getting your nominations in to starcouncils@nalc.gov.uk by 30th June 2015.

Further information and nomination guide

The Star Councils awards ceremony will be held in conjunction with the NALC AGM in London at the end of October and details of the event will be publicised at a later date.                                      

FoI Datasets NALC briefing Feb 2015

NALC has issued a Legal Briefing (L01-15) giving guidance on changes made to the Freedom of Information Act 2000. 
 
Each council must have a Publication Scheme which sets out the information that it makes available to the public. This change relates to 'datasets', an example of a dataset is a register of allotment holders in electronic form. If information requested is held in the form of a dataset then the council should not put in place obstacles to the re-use of that information, by for example, claiming copyright to the information.

The briefing is on the BALC website
More information on Publication Schemes is on the Information Commissioners office website