Newsletter 20/11/2023
20 November 2023
Please note: this news article is in our archive. Articles were correct at time of publication, but should not be relied on for accuracy after the passage of time.
Planning
SLCC News
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Ofsted Area SEND Inspection Survey
Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) are visiting West Sussex, as part of an inspection looking at arrangements for children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) aged 0-25.
They would like to hear from parent and carers and children and young people about the support you get and how this is helping you.
Your views are important to them. They will help inspectors understand experiences of SEND arrangements in your area. The survey will close at 9.00 am on 21 November 2023.
All information can be found on our Your Voices pages at West Sussex County Council: Your Voice: Area SEND Inspection – survey information
John Saull Memorial Lecture
The first John Saull Memorial Lecture will take place on Monday 20th November in the DARTeC Passenger Experience Lab, Cranfield University, Bedford, UK, the event will also be streamed live and recorded. The memorial lecture is presented by Cranfield Univeristy in recognition of John’s long term role as Chair of the Cranfield College of Aeronautics Alumni Association (CCAAA).For information attendance is free either online or in person, see link below.
Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner
Sussex Police & Crime Commissioner News
Op Downsway End of Season Event Meeting minutes
Carbon Monoxide – Alarms Save Lives
Carbon Monoxide awareness week 20-26 November see link for further information.
Carbon Monoxide Alarms save lives
NALC News
NALC committee election voting is closing soon
A final call for all larger and smaller local (parish and town) councils to vote for the Larger Councils Committee and Smaller Councils Committee. This year, we are using the Single Transferable Vote (STV) system for all elections, and to vote, you will need to pre-register your council to vote. Those details will be submitted to UK Engage, and a voting link will be issued. Larger councils can find more information about the candidates for direct councillor and clerk vacancies and pre-register to vote on the NALC website. Smaller councils can find out more about the candidates for the three direct committee seats and pre-register to vote by visiting the NALC website. All councils must register by 20 November 2023, and voting will close on 22 November 2023, with results being announced at the National Assembly meeting on 29 November 2023. For any enquiries on the committee elections, please get in touch with NALC at nalccommittees@nalc.gov.uk.
NALC and LGA joint event explores the role of councillors
This week, on 14 November 2023, we held a joint event with the Local Government Association (LGA) that explored the role of local councillors. The sold-out event showed how community members could be the voice of their community by standing for election as local councillors. It provided a valuable opportunity to learn more about councils, especially local councils, and the role councillors can play locally. The expert panel featured Jane Biscombe, the clerk of Weymouth Town Council, who stressed the importance of representation, stating, “Our communities are diverse, so our councils should represent this”. Cllr Katharine Keats-Rohan of Wallingford Town Council and South Oxfordshire District Council spoke about her journey to becoming a councillor and said, “There are three things a councillor can be: a negotiator, facilitator, and catalyst”. Cllr Chidi Nweke of Epping Forest District Council talked about working in local government and said, “The reward of being a councillor is unmeasurable”. I’m grateful to Virginia Ponton, the Be a Councillor adviser at the LGA, for hosting the event and, in her opening, highlighting so powerfully the benefits of being a councillor! You can find out more about how to become a councillor and our Make A Change campaign on the NALC website.
New local government minister in Cabinet reshuffle
In his Cabinet reshuffle this week, the prime minister, Rishi Sunak MP, appointed Simon Hoare MP as the new local government minister. Tweeting about his appointment, the North Dorset MP commented that he had previously served as a parish, district and county councillor, “so it’s nice to be home”. NALC’s chair, Cllr Keith Stevens, has already offered his congratulations and will further engage with the new minister. The former local government minister Lee Rowley MP has been promoted to minister of state for housing following the sacking of Rachel Maclean MP. Michael Gove MP continues as the secretary of state for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. In other changes, Steve Barclay MP replaces Terese Coffey MP (who resigned) as the new secretary of state for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Richard Holden MP, a former co-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on local democracy (for which NALC runs the secretariat), has become the new chair of the Conservative Party. The Institute for Government has an excellent live blog and diagram on all the moves.
National Network: Young councillors
NALC’s national network for young councillors met on 8 November 2023. It appointed Cllr Lewis Anderson (Horinglow and Eton Parish Council), Cllr James Cantwell (Sutterton Parish Council) and Cllr Elliot Jayes (Minister on Sea Parish Council) as co-chairs. The network reviewed our survey on the network, which we have now launched, and I’d be grateful for your help in ensuring the survey reaches as many young councillors as possible. The survey aims to gain insight into the experiences of young councillors within the sector, with responses helping us to improve the delivery of future sessions and help the co-chairs focus on the aims of the network. The network also discussed how to improve engagement with other tiers of local government, spoke about local councils’ involvement with housing associations and the difficulty of managing housing costs for young people, increased representation of young councillors in NALC and county associations, and made links with youth bodies such as Duke of Edinburgh Award and National Citizen Service. You can find out more about the network on the NALC website.
Finance and Scrutiny Committee
NALC’s Finance and Scrutiny Committee had its last cycle meeting this week on 14 November 2023. Matters considered included the half-year management accounts, reports from officers on progress with the website/IT development project, and expectations for the events and sponsorship compared to the budget. It was noted that the recent Annual General Meeting (AGM) had approved the committee’s recommendation for the 2023/24 affiliation fee as 7.94 pence per elector with a cap of £2,037.
On the blog: Transport Planning Society
This week’s blog from the Transport Planning Society (TPS) talks about how local councils can help deliver a decarbonised transport system. Now in its sixth year, the Transport Planning Day on 13 November 2023 focused on planning and providing for a rapid and equitable transition to a decarbonised transport system. The blog stresses that the best thing you can do is to encourage more people in your community to walk, cycle, and use public transport. The blog lists several ways to make a plan to apply for government funding for transport. Read the blog to find out more!
Out and about
Staying on transport planning, I was pleased NALC had been invited to attend the Transport Planning Day. We also worked with TPS to produce The Good Councillor’s Guide to transport planning and are building links to help raise the profile of local councils. NALC’s head of policy and communications, Justin Griggs, was at the event, which included sessions on transport systems, infrastructure and mobility, and equitable transition to net zero. Check out the TPS posts on X (formerly Twitter), which captured headlines from the event. NALC’s senior solicitor and legal manager, Jane Moore, attended the Lawyers in Local Government (LLG) Governance Conference in Sheffield on 10 November 2023 as a guest of the president. The conference included presentations on culture and leadership, AI opportunities and the role of the monitoring officer. I’m really pleased to have developed close links with LLG and continue to work with them on issues such as our campaign on remote meetings. NALC’s head of member services, Charlotte Eisenhart, joined the Warwickshire and West Midlands Association of Local Councils Annual Conference and AGM in Stratford-Upon-Avon on 15 November 2023. She spoke at their AGM about our work supporting and promoting local councils, and the event had a thriving marketplace with representation from a wide range of organisations plus workshops on topics ranging from festive lighting to council finances, community engagement, and much more.
Fortnightly meeting with county officers
At this week’s meeting between NALC and county association officers, we were joined by Annie Child, the new chief executive officer of the Smaller Authorities’ Audit Appointments (SAAA), which was an excellent opportunity to reflect on the relationship between auditors, local councils, county associations and how those are working well and where they could be improved. We were then joined by NALC national partners, WorkNest, who gave an update on their work with local councils that require support related to disciplinary and grievance matters to help us all consider how we all work with councils on those issues.
And finally…
Coming up this Autumn and Winter, our colleagues at Communities Prepared (a national community resilience programme run by the charity Groundwork) are offering discussion sessions to accompany courses in their online learning space. Community Emergency Planning Part 2 and Community Emergency Troubleshooting are designed to support anyone who is developing an Emergency Plan and has previously attended the Community Emergency Planning Part 1 Workshop. As the weather gets darker and colder, the team will also be running discussion sessions covering what community volunteers can do in the event of a flood or utility failure in their local area. You can register with Communities Prepared for free-to-access resources, self-led learning modules and these discussion webinars. These sessions are repeated regularly, and more will be announced for 2024. If you have any questions on how Communities Prepared could help you or the communities you work with, please contact them at communitiesprepared@groundwork.org.uk.
Rural Bulletin
Rural Bulletin 14 November 2023
Gatcom News
Children, young people and the built environment – Levelling Up Committee launches inquiry
The Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (LUHC) Committee has today launched an inquiry looking at how better planning and building and urban design in England could enhance the health and well-being of children and young people (see news item).
The cross-party group of MPs are likely to explore about how children and young people use outside public spaces and have the freedom and ability to move around their neighbourhoods and have the opportunity for unsupervised play.
Clive Betts, Chair of the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee, said: “It’s important for children and young people’s mental and physical health that they have access to spaces to play and to socialise.
“In our inquiry, we want to find out more about how children and young people experience outdoor spaces in towns, cities and rural areas across England. What policy interventions from local and central government could help to deliver streets, estates, villages, neighbourhoods and parks that enable kids to enjoy active outdoor lifestyles and engage with others?
“Planning and development should not be indifferent to the interests of young people. Stories of developers disregarding promises to deliver earmarked spaces for children highlight flaws in the current approach to the built environment. The Committee’s inquiry will want to examine how children’s needs are being met by the current planning process.
“We’re keen to hear from urban planners, charities, children’s rights groups, health professionals, councils and others about the examples of policy and good practice across the country which are improving experiences for children and young people.”
The Committee’s inquiry on the built environment, principally concerning landscape architecture and urban planning, will look at local and national government planning policies, guidance and delivery.
The key questions for the inquiry are included in the full terms of reference (which are listed further below).
Evidence sessions for this inquiry are likely to begin in Spring 2024.
Children, young people and the built environment – inquiry terms of reference
The Committee welcomes written evidence on the terms of reference outlined below.
The closing date for submissions is Tuesday 2 January 2024.
The experiences of children and young people of their built environment
- How do children and young people experience outdoor spaces in towns, cities and rural areas across the country? For example, their streets, estates, villages, neighbourhoods and parks?
- How do these experiences vary across income, race, gender, age?
- How easily can children and young people travel to outdoor spaces and schools? How has this changed over the years?
The planning system
- How well are children and young people’s needs currently met by the planning process in terms of policy and guidance?
- How are children and young people’s views and voices heard, considered and acted upon in the planning system if at all?
Best practice and evaluation
- Where are the examples of policy and good practice that are improving children and young people’s experiences in the built environment, either directly or indirectly, in the UK or internationally?
- How are these outcomes measured? For example, through economic or health and wellbeing indicators?
Cross Government working
- How does the relationship of children and young people with the built environment overlap with policy areas beyond the work of DLUHC, such as public health, transport, policing and net zero?
- Are government departments working together to address children and young people’s needs in this respect?
Shared ownership inquiry – Levelling-Up Committee publishes written evidence
The Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (LUHC) Committee has today published an initial tranche of 10 written evidence submissions for its shared ownership inquiry.
The submissions have been received from a range of individuals and stakeholders, including organisations such as the National Housing Federation, Great Places Housing Group, Shared Ownership Resources, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Rentplus, and the Housing Ombudsman (see full list of evidence submissions).
The written evidence submissions cover a range of issues relating to the costs and affordability of shared ownership, difficulties around increasing shares, and matters concerning complaints, property condition, charges and estate management.
The LUHC Committee will publish further written evidence submissions in late November, ahead of the opening public evidence session in early December.
The shared ownership model enables people to buy a share in a property, usually from a Housing Association, and pay subsidised rent on the rest. Sometimes known as ‘part buy, part rent’, shared ownership requires a smaller deposit and mortgage, making it, in theory, a more affordable route into home ownership.
The LUHC Committee’s inquiry will examine the challenges associated with shared home ownership schemes, including barriers to achieving full home ownership and whether shared ownership is genuinely an affordable route to owning a home.
The Committee is also likely to explore challenges around reselling, affordability issues such as service charges and maintenance responsibilities, and questions around mortgage availability and the limited range of providers.
See the shared ownership inquiry full terms of reference.
The LUHC Committee’s inquiry will be focussing on the Shared Ownership scheme in England.