Cheque payments - nearly there!

Draft Legislative Reform (Payments by Parish Councils, Community Councils and Charter Trustees) Order 2013

The Draft LRO will remove the statutory requirement in Section 150(5) Local Government Act 1972 that cheques and payment orders must be signed by two members of the parish council.

The LRO was laid before Parliament on 11th November 2013 and published on 12th December 2013 (HC 929). 

DCLG won’t action this until revised Financial Regulations and the new Practitioners Guide are ready and approved by the Joint Practitioners Advisory Group (JPAG). 

The anticipated date is mid February. Watch this space! BALC will inform member councils when we have concrete news.

Rural Energy Fund £15m available

A £15m government fund has opened for applications from rural communities who want to generate their own green power.

The Rural Community Energy Fund aims to help rural communities access the money needed to carry out feasibility studies into renewable energy projects. It also helps fund the costs associated with applying for planning permission. In doing so, the government intends that projects will then be able to attract private finance to pay for renewable energy kit and get projects up and running.

Rural energy projects eligible for funding including wind, solar, biomass, heat pumps, anaerobic digestion, gas Combined Heat and Power (CHP) and hydro. 

The fund is being delivered on behalf of the government by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP).

Funding is offered in two stages:

• a grant up to £20,000 for feasibility studies into renewable energy projects in local areas
• once the studies have been completed, communities can then apply for a loan worth up to £130,000 to help with project costs, planning permission and environmental permits. The loan is repayable once projects have received the necessary private sector funding required to get them up and running.

£4m available to help save community assets

Greenham Control Tower BBC photo

Greenham Parish Council has won a grant of nearly £422,000 from the government's Community Assets and Services Fund to help buy the Control Tower and turn it into a visitor centre for users of Greenham Common.

Grants are available from the Social Investment Business group which is made up of the charity, Adventure Capital Fund, and its social enterprise, The Social Investment Business. They are one of the UK's largest social investors and have made over 1300 investments in civil society organisations ranging from under £5,000 to almost £7 million. 

More information here

Community Right to Build - HCA

Community groups or parish councils are invited to apply for a share of the £17.5m fund, which is being made available to provide seed corn funding to help groups to formally establish, progress their development proposals and submit a Community Right to Build Order.

The funding is available until the end of March 2015 or until the funding is fully committed. It is unlikely that applications made after October 2014 will be successful.

More information on the HCA website

Updated street party guidance from DCLG

Updated street parties guidance has been issued alongside a new 'Can do' guide on organising voluntary and community events. Both sets of guidance aim to dispel myths about what's required for community events, and help people to plan and run events with a minimum of red tape.

The street party guidance is here and the 'can do' guide for organisers of voluntary events is here.

Job advert - Wokingham Town Council RFO wanted

Wokingham Town Council are looking for a new Responsible Finance Officer

Do you have strong financial management experience and are you looking for a new challenge?

Wokingham Town Council could offer you an interesting post within a strong organisation.

Can you bring?

•    A relevant accounting qualification – AAT or CiPFA
•    Financial management experience
•    Strong interpersonal skills
•    Commitment to public service

On the retirement of our Responsible Finance Officer we are looking to appoint an individual to work with Councillors, the Town Clerk and staff to manage the budget and ensure that our existing excellent practice is maintained and developed further.

The post is offered from May 2014 at 30 hours per week and will be based at the Town Hall in Wokingham town centre.

Salary:  £27,323 - £28,127 pro rata, dependent on experience. Benefits include access to the Local Government Pension Scheme.

Closing date: Midday Monday 17th February 2014

For an informal discussion phone Mrs Jan Nowecki, Town Clerk on 0118 978 3185

Candidate information is available on the Council’s website www.wokingham-tc.gov.uk. Applications to be made online.

What next for Localism? NALC Conference March 2014

What next for Localism? - Wednesday 26 March 2014


NALC’s ground breaking and forward thinking conference has been moved to Wednesday 26th March 2014 at the Royal National Hotel, London.

But what hasn’t changed is local government at all levels and public services are facing unprecedented challenges to their funding and services.

And with a General Election rapidly approaching in 2015, this timely one day conference explores the fundamental question of what next for localism? And in particular, where next for parish and town councils?

Hear from the three main political parties, members of Parliament, think tanks, academics, local government bodies and councils themselves about what the future might look like, especially for parish and town councils.

As well as providing an important space for you to network, share experiences and good practice, our event will also provide a rare chance for you to debate and influence the future localism landscape.

Do not miss out on this exciting event -  Book now!

This event is being sponsored by:

Aon UK Ltd, Blachere Illumination UK, The Public Sector Deposit Fund