Chief executive’s bulletin

Happy new year and open letter from NALC’s chair 

A very happy new year to you and yours! And what a year in prospect as 2024 is set to be the biggest election year in history. Countries with more than half the world’s population – over four billion people – will be going to the polls. Hyper-local democracy is the very foundation of our movement, which, as our chair, Cllr Keith Stevens, sets out in his open letter, has so much to contribute to making local communities across the country stronger and able to address so many of the challenges we face today. Keith’s latest open letter also thanks everyone in the sector, congratulates all councillors elected in last year’s main round of local elections, reflects on several achievements over the last year, and highlights his priorities for the next two years. Do check it out!

Community Ownership Fund 

Nineteen local councils, including Anston Parish Council (Kent), Clun Town Council (Shropshire), and St Neots Town Council (Cambridgeshire), have collectively secured around £4.5 million from the Community Ownership Fund during the third round of the second window. The initiative – which NALC lobbied successfully to be extended to applications from our councils – supports communities in preserving, enhancing, or reviving local assets like libraries, halls, pubs, and nature reserves. Keith has rightly applauded the successful response and emphasised the need for broader funding opportunities for our sector. Round three of the fund launched in May 2023 and the current funding window is open until 31 January 2024 and I would encourage you to apply for funding before the window closes!

Management Board 

Our new Management Board of eleven councillors from across the country elected by the National Assembly held their first meeting of the year this week which included their induction into the role. In addition, they had an initial discussion of some of the barriers, risks and challenges that potentially impact on the effectiveness of our sector, which NALC should be addressing in its work and support for councils and county associations. They also began work on identifying their work programme for the next two years and how individual members of the board could help.

NALC gives evidence to Parliamentary inquiry on the Office for Local Government

This week, we submitted written evidence to a Parliamentary committee conducting an inquiry into the Office for Local Government (OFLOG). In our response to the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee, we have again called for an extension of OFLOG’s remit to include local councils. Local councils, as the first tier of local government in England, are responsible for spending nearly £1 billion of council tax on a wide range of hyper-local services, as well as having a wider community leadership and place-shaping role. Our response also proposes a range of data themes which OFLOG should publish on local councils, propose piloting with some larger local councils, and highlight the need for investment in sector improvement.

Consultation on creating Whitstable Town Council

Huge congratulations to Whitstable’s CT5 People’s Forum for progressing their town council campaign. Canterbury City Council has now initiated a Community Governance Review (CGR) for Whitstable, exploring the establishment of a town council, and is seeking public input. The review must be completed by December 2024, with public consultation starting in January 2024 and the final recommendations published before the deadline. The first stage responses will be considered by the committee and council in April. Read the brochure for more information. NALC and colleagues at the Kent Association of Local Councils will be continuing to provide support to the campaign through the next steps of the process.

Joint Panel on Accountability and Governance 

The Joint Panel on Accountability and Governance met on 4 December to agree the final changes to the Practitioners Guide for 2024/5. There will be some changes to best practice guidance related to internal audit that we will provide more information on when the guide is published in March.

Upcoming online events 

Last year, NALC’s monthly online events program was consistently well-received, featuring impactful and relevant topics closely aligned with the interests of local councils and NALC’s work. 100% of respondents said that in the final event of 2023, winning strategies for the funding game, they felt fully engaged throughout the event and that they would recommend NALC’s online events to others. This year, we have many exciting events kicking off with How local councils can benefit from the levelling up agenda on 31 January, The good, the bad, and the ugly of social media in the local council sector on 28 February, and Reconnecting communities through community transport on 27 March. Come to the January event to learn the opportunities and challenges associated with the levelling up agenda and to gain insights on surviving and thriving in a devolved environment by acquiring assets, liabilities, and services from principal authorities. The February event will cover the advantages and challenges of using social media for local councils and provides tools for creating a social media policy that fosters civility and respect. And the March online event will highlight the importance of community transport for local councils and offers insights on establishing partnerships and funding opportunities to make a positive impact on local transport. Find out more about these events and register your place.

On the blog: BT Consumer 

This week’s blog is from BT Consumer, which discusses the transition of landline phone technology from analogue to digital, led by BT in the UK. The shift aims to address the increasing unreliability of the decades-old analogue network. BT is introducing its new home phone service, Digital Voice, with improved call quality and enhanced protection against scam calls. The rollout is happening region by region, and by December 2025, most calls are expected to be made over broadband lines. The blog outlines the rollout schedule, emphasising that customers will be contacted in advance and provided support during the transition. You can visit BT’s Digital Voice website to find out more.

County officer fortnightly meeting

The first meeting of the year between NALC and county officers took place this week on 10 January. We were pleased to be joined by the government’s Parish Council Domains Helper Service who provided an update on their project to encourage more local councils to adopt gov.uk domain names, which NALC fully supports. They ran through the benefits of using a gov.uk domain name, the barriers to councils taking them up and their work to overcome them. There will be updates in future bulletins as this work progresses including more information and support for councils. The meeting also updated county officers on the review of Local Council Award Scheme criteria, the future work programme for our fortnightly meetings throughout 2024, and our current surveys about NALC’s Star Council Awards.

Corporate peer challenge review meeting

Our member services team along with colleagues from the Local Government Association (LGA) met with Cirencester and Morecambe town councils recently to review their experience of taking part in our joint corporate peer challenge programme. Corporate peer challenge forms part of the commitment to improvement in the local council sector and is open to all super councils. Both councils had an incredibly positive experience of taking part and saw the challenge as an important component of their drive to continue improving as councils. The meeting also identified ways in which the corporate peer challenge process can be further developed.

Local Government Association appoints new chief executive

As colleagues know, we work closely with the LGA including on our joint corporate peer challenge programme. The LGA represents the interests of 315 of the 317 principal councils (district, county, metropolitan, and unitary authorities along with London boroughs). This week they announced the appointment of their new chief executive, Joanna Killian, who is currently chief executive of Surrey County Council. We wish Joanna well in her new role and I look forward to working with her.

Consultation on Local Council Awards Scheme criteria  

NALC has launched a consultation as part of the Local Council Award Scheme (LCAS) Criteria Review taking place this year. As part of continued improvements to the scheme and a commitment to raising standards in local councils, we are seeking views on improving the criteria and guidance for the scheme. We want clerks, councillors, county associations, other interested parties, and those already involved with the scheme to put forward ideas and suggestions by taking part in the consultation. Your views will then help inform our improvements moving forward. The LCAS Consultation 2024 survey will be open until Friday 29 March. Further information on the scheme including the guide, can be found on the scheme webpage or if you have any queries, contact Lisa Etchell, projects officer at LocalCouncilAwardScheme@nalc.gov.uk.

And finally…

In this bumper year of elections, I would encourage you to have a listen to Baroness Louise Casey’s excellent BBC Radio 4 series on challenges facing the next general election winner. She identified five major social policy issues and asked what we need from government, at all levels, to make things work better. These issues included cohesion, children in care, hunger, and rough sleeping, which are problems that our sector undoubtedly can play a part in helping address. As NALC has recently been accredited as a White Ribbon organisation, I was pleased that her fifth big issue, discussed on 4 January, was the issue of men’s violence against women and children. She highlighted the importance of institutions of all levels, “from parish councils through to the prime minister” to take accountability for acting against such violence. Her final programme on 5 January concluded with a call to action: “Britain can be fixed, but those who govern us at all levels must step up.” I am sure this message is relevant to our 10,000 local councils who Keith praises for continually stepping up in his open letter, and I am sure you will want to reflect on this in 2024.