Submission Draft Mid Sussex District Plan 2021-2039: Regulation 19
Submission Draft Mid Sussex District Plan 2021-2039: Regulation 19
This consultation is open from 12 Jan 2024 at 08:00 to 23 Feb 2024 at 23:59.
Mid Sussex Consultation Submission Draft District Plan 2021-2039 (Regulation 19)
January 2024
Mid Sussex District Council has published a submission draft District Plan 2021-2039 for consultation from the 12th January, closing 23:59 on the 23rd February 2024.
The Mid Sussex District Plan 2014-2031 was adopted in March 2018. In accordance with legislation and national policy, Local Plans must be reviewed every five years and updated as necessary. The adopted District Plan commits the Council to reviewing the Plan with submission to the Secretary of State in 2023. The submission draft District Plan 2021-2039 is published for Regulation 19 consultation which is the first formal stage in its preparation.
The draft Mid Sussex District Plan 2021-2039 reviews and updates the adopted vision and strategic objectives while implementing a revised strategy to guide growth during the plan period. It provides updated and new policies to ensure that the Plan remains effective and in accordance with National Policy. It also includes new housing allocations to meet identified housing needs. The drafting of the Plan is supported by a proportionate, up-to-date and robust evidence base available alongside the consultation documents.
All of the consultation documents can be viewed on the Regulation 19 Consultation webpage at https://midsussex.inconsult.uk/districtplanreg19/. Supporting evidence is accessible from this webpage.
At Regulation 19, responses must follow the format required by the Planning Inspectorate and be framed around the Tests of Soundness and legal compliance. Responses can be submitted online using the above link, this is the easiest way to respond to the consultation and will facilitate the processing of responses. Detailed guidance on how to respond to this consultation is available on that page.
All responses made through the consultation will be collated by the District Council and submitted to the independent Inspector appointed by the Secretary of State alongside the submission District Plan, statutory documentation and full evidence base.
This consultation will be considered by the EGTC Planning Committee on 31 January 2024. Councillors please send any comments to Chair of planning leader, Cllr Mockford or the clerk as the consultation group requires comments by 22 January to allow the paper to be compiled for the planning committee to sign off. Thank you.
How local councils can benefit from the levelling up agenda
31 January 2024 — 12.00 – 13.15
The levelling up agenda has been a hot topic recently, with many questions about what it means, which areas it applies to, and which sectors will benefit. Local (parish and town) councils are uniquely positioned to take advantage of the levelling up agenda, but they need to be prepared for the challenges that come with devolution.
This event will explain how local councils can survive and thrive in a devolved environment by taking on assets, liabilities, and services from their principal authority. You will learn about the benefits and challenges of devolution and hear from experts on how to make the most of the opportunities presented by the levelling-up agenda.
Join us to understand better how local councils can benefit from the levelling up agenda and what steps they need to take to prepare for devolution. You will hear from speakers with experience in local government and councils successfully navigating the devolution process. They will share their understandings, best practices, and lessons learned, giving you a helpful perspective on succeeding in a devolved environment.
Speakers: Adam Hawksbee (Onward), Sophie Hosking, (Cornwall Council) and Cllr Carl Les (North Yorkshire Council)
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.
Please see the attached letter to East Grinstead Town Council from Jackie Smith, Chair and James Lowell, CEO at Queen Victoria Hospital regarding the next step in their strategy development journey. We expect James Lowell to attend the next Public Services meeting.
West Sussex County Council News
Forward Plan of Key Decisions published
A new version of the Forward Plan (published 9 January 2024) has been published and is available on the WSCC our website.
The Plan has been republished in order to: In the Highways and Transport portfolio: add a new decision – Highways and Transport Delivery Programmes 2024-2025 – February 2024.
County council’s domestic abuse support service celebrates 20-year anniversary
This year Worth Services is proudly celebrating 20 years of supporting victim-survivors of domestic and sexual violence and abuse in West Sussex.
Since the service opened on 4 January 2004, it has supported over 25,000 adults and young people and worked in partnership with Childrens and Adult Social Care as well as other agencies, including My Sister’s House, Hersana, Switchboard and Sussex Police, to hold perpetrators of domestic abuse to account for their harmful behaviours.
On a weekly basis the service receives an average of 100 referrals and at any one time they are supporting over 700 victim-survivors.
Worth started its journey based out of Worthing Hospital with two members of staff responding to victim-survivors who were attending the hospital and in need of vital support to get away from their abusive situations.
Over the last 20 years the service has grown considerably and currently has 43 members of specialist frontline staff and supporting managers who are located across a variety of teams and locations across the council and beyond, which includes the Family Safeguarding Team, Housing Options and Acute Hospital Sites.
Councillor Amanda Jupp, Cabinet Member for Adults Services said: “Keeping people safe from vulnerable situations is one of the county council’s four strategic priorities. Domestic abuse is something that is hidden within society, and it is reassuring to know that our very own Worth Services has been standing side by side with victims in West Sussex for the past 20 years, giving them much needed help and guidance, all whilst ensuring that the voice of the victim as well as their children, remains at the centre of the support.
“Alongside this vital work, the service also delivers free comprehensive specialist domestic abuse training to all professionals in West Sussex, helping them to increase their confidence in the response to domestic and sexual violence and abuse. Our frontline workers are perfectly placed to see the signs and contributing factors and without this training there would be many people still experiencing abuse without any end in sight.
“There is absolutely no excuse for abuse, so if you, or someone you know, is a victim, please do not hesitate to contact Worth – they are there to listen and offer support and advice to help keep residents safe.”
Throughout 2024, Worth Services will be holding events to celebrate all of their achievements, including their 20 year milestone, and these will be shared on the County Council’s Community Safety and Wellbeing Facebook and Twitter pages.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic abuse, and you’re ready to reach out for support, you can call Worth’s central duty phoneline between 9am and 5pm, Monday – Friday on 0330 222 8181.
Mid Sussex District Council has approved the latest stage of its draft District Plan, which was agreed by Council on December 13. The Regulation 19 submission draft, along with supporting materials will now move to public consultation.
To support our District Plan campaign, we have created a promotional video and an animation video: www.midsussex.gov.uk/districtplan to make it easier to understand the process of plan-making and how it will benefit the District’s future. Please share the information with your networks so we can ensure we are reaching as many people as possible. We have also shared this information with our Members. The Mid Sussex District Plan consultation will run from 12th January 2024 to the end of February 2024.
Please see slides below in relation to the recent District Plan briefing forwarded by Judy Holmes, Deputy Chief Executive.
This includes information on the Site Selection papers which include the Site Selection Methodology and conclusions reached. The library will be updated ahead of the start of the consultation on 12 January 2024 and will continue to be updated as and when new evidence is submitted and published.
Winter information from WSCC Highways
When road surfaces reach freezing temperatures, our gritting teams are mobilised to treat key routes. We treat in the region of 42% of our network in advance of forecasts of freezing weather. This winter we started with 9000 tonnes of salt which is split across the 3 depots – Drayton, Clapham and Jobs Depot. These cover the Western, Central and Eastern parts of the County.
Approximately 1500 tonnes of salt have been used so far (this is accurate as of 18/12/2023). Over 400 grit bins have been filled and we have provided more than 30 x 1 tonne hippo bags.
We urge those using salt from grit bins to use sparingly and effectively, so that they have enough for the remainder of the winter season. For further information follow the link below.
You may be aware that all local planning authorities are required by regulations to publish an annual Infrastructure Funding Statement (IFS). The IFS report provides an overview of development contributions secured, received, allocated and spent during a given financial year. This ensures transparency for communities.
The full report for 2022/2023 is attached for your information ahead of formal publication later this week on our monitoring webpage. For the reported year, the Council collected just under £2 million of developer contributions and spent over £750,000 on infrastructure projects.
The data required by the government, if published without supporting information, can be quite dry and could be meaningless for our residents. Therefore, a ‘user-friendly’ report has been prepared which is supported by simple charts that are easy to grasp and makes clear to communities what infrastructure has been delivered by the development taken in their area.
The Council will continue to report as an when significant infrastructure investment happen across the district. Do not hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions.
Kind regards,
Estelle Maisonnial
Senior Planning Policy Officer
Planning Policy and Housing Enabling
Rural Services Network Survey
Information from Kerry Booth Chief Executive at Rural Services Network.
As you know, the Rural Services Network campaigns for a fairer distribution of national resources to rural areas. Successive governments have underfunded rural councils with urban areas receiving 38% per head more in government funded spending power than their rural counterparts. Recent public sector funding cuts have further impacted on rural services.
As a member of the Rural Market Town Group, we would value your feedback on how public services have fared over the last three years in your town or parish. These insights will inform our work to secure a better future for public services in rural areas and to ensure that rural communities, such as yours, are represented on a national level.
Please do share your experiences by completing the short online survey here:
Please note that this survey will close on Friday February 2nd, 2024.
We will share a summary of findings with all our RMTG members. If you have any questions or comments, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Best wishes
Kerry Booth
RURAL SERVICES NETWORK
East Court Ashplats Steering Committee Minutes
Metrobus Service Information
Information from West Hoathly Parish Council.
West Hoathly Parish Council passed a motion at the Parish Council meeting held on the 27th November 2023 to try and improve the 84 Metrobus Service. Cllr Paul Brown proposed the motion and has asked me to share the details with neighbouring parishes. Please find attached the agreed motion. If you or your members have any feedback or comments, please do let me know.
Kind Regards
Leanne Andrews West Hoathly Parish Clerk
Gatcom News Bulletin
NALC Newsletter
NALC and SLCC senior teams meet
The NALC and Society of Local Council Clerks’ (SLCC) senior leadership teams met in London this week to discuss issues of strategic significance to the sector, including workforce development, audit and finance of local (parish and town) councils, and our respective work programmes for 2024. Both organisations were pleased to mark the publication of a new model contract of employment for local councils. The documents provide a model that councils can issue to new employees. It does not replace the contracts of existing employees. If you would like more information on how your council can be a good employer, do check out our updated Good Councillors Guide to Being a Good Employer.
NALC leadership complete as committees elect chairs and vice chairs
I’m delighted to report that NALC’s leadership line-up for the next two years is now complete following the election of chairs and vice chairs to our committees. Over the last two weeks, our four committees held a governance meeting to elect their chair and vice-chair, have an induction covering roles and responsibilities and committee processes, and agree on the date of their in-person meeting for 2024. Committee chairs and vice chairs for 2024/25 are:
Finance and Scrutiny Committee: chair, Cllr Peter Davey (NALC vice-chair, finance) and vice-chair, Cllr Alan Neal (Lancashire Association of Local Councils)
Policy Committee: chair, Cllr Peter Allison (West Yorkshire Association of Local Councils) and vice-chair, Cllr Richard Page (Gloucestershire Association of Local Councils)
Larger Councils Committee: chair, Cllr Iain Hamilton (Merseyside Association of Local Councils) and vice-chair, Cllr Mike Drew (Yate Town Council)
Smaller Councils Committee: chair, Cllr Marcus Allen (Herefordshire Association of Local Councils) and vice-chair, Vanessa Lowe (Alcester Town Council)
Updated legal guidance and December legal bulletin
We have issued legal briefing L02-23 to take into account the Government’s amendment to the Local Government Act 1894 in the form of a new section 19A (as inserted by section 82 of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023), which will come into force on 26 December (England only). NALC is recommending councils follow the Government’s position, which will mean that councils are not prohibited from using powers, other than in the 1894 Act, for spending money on works to property relating to affairs of the church or held for an ecclesiastical charity. LTN 31E (local council general powers) has been reissued to remove references to the prohibitions that will not apply further to section 19A coming into force. And legal briefing L01-18 has been withdrawn. We have also reissued LTN 87 (procurement) to take account of the new procurement thresholds. Our final legal bulletin for county officers has just been sent out. December’s update looks at whether councils could have a policy requesting repayment of money spent on councillor training for councillors leaving within a set period after the election (our view is no), the Electoral Commission guidance on digital imprints, updates on recent work plus visits undertaken by our solicitors in the member services team.
Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement
This week’s Provisional Local Finance Settlement 2024 to 2025 confirmed the government’s policy statement covered in my bulletin two weeks ago. In short, the government is not proposing to extend council tax referendum principles to local councils next year. This is very welcome as this is an issue NALC continues to advocate strongly for. While the government says the settlement makes available over £64 billion for local authorities in England, an increase of almost £4 billion or 6.5% in cash terms in Core Spending Power on 2023-24, a statement by our colleagues at the Local Government Association warns it is not enough to meet severe cost and demand pressures and their councils face a funding gap of £4 billion over the next two years. The settlement is subject to consultation, which NALC will respond to in January.
December’s online event on funding
NALC hosted its final online event of the year, “Winning Strategies for the Funding Game,” on 15 December 2023, which saw 180 attendees hear from expert speakers about various funding opportunities available to local councils, examples of how local councils used grants, and tips on securing funding. The specialist panel featured Stuart McLeod from the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NHLF)and Andy Reeves from Central Swindon North Parish Council. Stuart provided a summary of NHLF sources local councils could apply for. Andy spoke about steps his council took, such as hiring a funding officer, that helped them succeed in securing over £1 million in grants over the last 5 years. They both urged maturity in funding applications, emphasising the need for a comprehensive business plan, realism about impact, and the cultivation of strong relationships with funders. Do check out our upcoming events in 2024 which cover levelling up, social media and community transport, with more events to be added shortly!
Civility and Respect Newsletter
The latest edition of the Civility and Respect Newsletter is out now! The newsletter highlights some of the key work that is being undertaken in Phase 2 of the project. It also includes information about how to register for free webinars that will be available in the New Year for those wanting to know more about tackling toxic behaviour in the workplace, personal safety and stalking awareness.
Local Council Award Scheme results
Congratulations to the latest local councils accredited under the Local Council Award Scheme (LCAS). LCAS celebrates the best of local councils, helps them develop their potential, and recognises that they are well run and meet the required standards. The latest councils to be accredited are:
Quality Gold Award: Alvechurch Parish Council, Bollington Town Council, Moulton Parish Council, and Saffron Walden Town Council
Quality Award: Angmering Parish Council, Bishampton & Throckmorton Parish Council, Halewood Town Council, Harling Parish Council, and Seaton Town Council
Foundation Award: Ashton Hayes & Horton-cum-Peel Parish Council, Chipping Norton Town Council, Great Waltham Parish Council, Hayle Town Council, Hullbridge Parish Council, Liss Parish Council, Loftus Town Council, Mildenhall High Town Council, Ponsanooth Parish Council, Shavington-cum-Gresty Parish Council, Sherborne Town Council, Sprotbrough & Cusworth Parish Council, and Startforth Parish Council
This week’s blog is from Barbara Eifler, chief executive of Making Music. She writes about Make Music Day UK, which takes place on 21 June every year. Anyone can create, host or perform in a music event on 21 June and be part of the world’s biggest DIY grassroots music festival. There are only three requirements: it must be a music event, take place on 21 June, and be free for the audience or participants to access. Holding a Make Music Day event by your local council can bring more people to your area and benefit your residents, individuals, or businesses. Read the blog to find out more!
White Ribbon Day recap
On 25 November 2023, NALC celebrated White Ribbon Day to help end violence against women and girls. After becoming a newly accredited White Ribbon organisation in August 2023, NALC celebrated the day and the following 16 days of action through a variety of activities. These included a group video which I was delighted to see featured in the White Ribbon UK summary mailing, a social media campaign across our social channels, a blog on NALC’s attendance at this year’s White Ribbon conference and another blog on 10 ways to end violence against women. Other activities include a presentation on White Ribbon at National Assembly by Cllr Mark Edwardson from Congleton Town Council, and various NALC staff attended the Suzy Lamplugh Trust bystander training to learn what to do if you experience or witness harassment. We’d still love to hear about what county associations and councils did to mark White Ribbon Day, please drop us a line to policycomms@nalc.gov.uk.
Local Net Zero 2030 roundtable
On 13 December NALC organised an online roundtable for members of our National Network: Climate Emergency whose local council has adopted a policy to achieve net zero by 2030. The session was facilitated by Cllr Ed Gemmell from Hazlemere Parish Council who is also chief executive of Scientists Warning Europe. The session was attended by representatives from around 12 local councils and one county association of local councils and featured short talks from Ed himself and Andrew Maliphant, SLCC’s climate and sustainability advisor, and sharing of ideas and good practice on how to reach this challenging target. A further roundtable may be organised at some point in 2024.
Please see below the latest Modality Mid Sussex patient update and information below.
We will be releasing the attached patient update to patients later today (13th December 2023). We are making really good progress against our improvement plan and continue to work closely with the ICB, CQC and Patient Participation Group to enhance the service we offer. We, like other local primary care providers, are facing increased demand due to Winter pressures and we are making every effort to expand our acute on the day provision to tackle this. A meeting is being arranged between all healthcare providers in East Grinstead to encourage collaboration and improve access for patients, this is something we are keen to be part of and that we think has the potential to bring improvements to the local area.
As you may be aware, we have launched the second round of Immediate Justice grant funding to expand our provider list for reparative activity. All comms are now live online and I would be most appreciative if you could all share the below link with relevant contacts who might like to apply:
Amy Loaring, BA(Hons), AMInstLM. Community and Business Partnerships Manager
Office of the Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner
NALC News
Chief executive’s bulletin
Management Board
Following our recent committee elections, our chair, vice-chairs and Management Board held their first informal meetings. These informal meetings provide an opportunity to reflect on future strategy, consider topical issues, and give my management team and me a steer on day-to-day operations. They agreed to meet informally every two months, to have an early session with new chairs of committees and to hold an induction session for National Assembly members in January 2024. They also noted progress on the new template employment contract and current engagement with Smaller Authorities’ Audit Appointments (SAAA).
Local Council Award Scheme
Our member services team hosted an online event on 12 December 2023 with nearly 200 attendees to help local (parish and town) councils develop a robust application for the Local Council Award Scheme (LCAS). The free event looked at how to complete the application, common pitfalls, an insight into the criteria and some feedback from councils who participated in the scheme. The event also heard from Julia Mutlow, town clerk at Seaton Town Council in Devon, who gave an overview of her experience with the application process and shared some valuable hints and tips. If you want to find out more about the LCAS, get in touch with your county association. And look out for more free webinars which we’ll be advertising in the New Year.
Join our exclusive website testing team!
As part of our ongoing digital transformation projects, we’re developing a new website to be launched in 2024! We’re inviting county associations, councillors and clerks to register their interest to be the first to explore and refine the new website which we want to be at the heart of how we provide services and information to councils and county associations. The testing will involve completing tasks to test the new website’s capabilities. To register your interest, please complete our short form, and we’ll be in touch on the next steps.
On the blog: Groundwork UK
This week’s blog from Groundwork UK discusses how communities and local councils can and must empower the next generation to drive climate solutions. Young people can play a vital role in tackling the climate crisis as they are the next generation of changemakers. As part of the Everyone’s Environment programme, Groundwork UK has been asking young people for their opinions about climate change. And since climate change and biodiversity loss will impact young people’s futures more than anyone else’s, they found that young people want a voice in what is being done about it. Do check it out.
Update to planning webpage on planning policy positions
We recently updated our dedicated planning webpage with a short briefing on our leading planning policy positions. The briefing provides further information on NALC’s overarching positions, views on the National Planning Policy Framework and local plans. It’s also a helpful reference and resource for anyone mentioning NALC’s planning policies at meetings, seminars or events. If you have any feedback on this resource or the webpage please drop us a line at policycomms@nalc.gov.uk.
Fortnightly meeting with county officers
At this week’s meeting on 13 December 2023 between NALC and county officers, we had our annual review of the year and discussed plans for 2024. Highlights of this year included inducting new staff (including many new county officers), improving working with principal authorities, better communications and engagement with member councils, and working with others on flooding, parish mergers, HR, and tackling the cost-of-living crisis.
Rural Coalition
NALC’s chair, Cllr Keith Stevens, attended The Rural Coalition’s last meeting of the year on 7 December 2023. It discussed priorities for 2024, which looks likely to be a general election year and when it would be more important than ever to express the needs of rural communities. The Coalition plans to focus on making the economic case for rural and its potential to support the drive for economic growth across the country. Growing the rural economy will boost the national economy, which is the central message the Coalition wants to get across to all the political parties next year.
Smaller Authorities’ Audit Appointments survey on digitalising the Annual Governance and Accountability Return
As part of its future strategy, the new board of SAAA is running a project to consider the possible digitalisation of the Annual Governance and Accountability Return (AGAR) process and what benefits or challenges this would bring to customers and suppliers. They have engaged RedQuadrant to support the review. Within the project, SAAA is keen to hear from various stakeholders to understand their perspectives on the process, including what changes they want. As part of this, they have created a short survey aimed at those who use the AGAR process. The survey is a mix of open and closed questions which should take 10 minutes to complete and will be available until 5 January 2024. If you have any questions, please contact aidan.loughran@redquadrant.com or james.wickham@redquadrant.com.
And finally…
Our partners, Clear Councils Insurance, have shared an article on winter safety and risk management for councils to prepare for the challenges of winter weather. It emphasises the potential hazards and risks associated with winter conditions, such as icy roads, snow-covered walkways, and damage to council buildings from storms, high winds, floods, and icy weather. They offer tips and advice to help councils ensure they are well-prepared for the various risks of winter weather. The article also encourages councils to take proactive safety and risk management measures to minimise potential issues and ensure the community’s well-being.
Gatcom News
Revised Prevent Duty: – To support local authorities, the Home Office have developed the following new communications:
(New Prevent duty animation):Public sector staff working together to stop radicalisation.
A new animation film illustrates how public sectors under the Prevent duty work together to stop radicalisation. The animation is aimed at public sector professionals under the Prevent duty.
(New Prevent leaflet and posters):What is Prevent and how to stop radicalisation.
The attached Prevent leaflet explains the Prevent programme, what radicalisation is and the most common signs, including actions to take if someone is concerned that a person they know is becoming radicalised, as well as the referral process and support. The leaflet is aimed at the general public and public sector professionals under the Prevent duty.
Prevent Radicalisation
In relation to the Israel/Gaza conflict, and any antisemitic or anti-Muslim incidents emanating as a result of this, the below links may be useful:
The Community Security Trust (CST) has published a number of resources on their social media feeds, including guidance on how to communicate about Israel in a non-antisemitic way. A host of other resources can be found on their website here: Educational Resources – CST – Protecting Our Jewish Community. CST also has a national emergency number which should be used to report antisemitic attacks, alongside calling 999: 0800 032 3263.
Tell Mama is a confidential support service for those suffering from anti-Muslim hate and discrimination across the UK. Their website features a number of different ways to report anti-Muslim incidents, including via phone or WhatsApp: Report in Anti-Muslim Hate or Islamophobia (tellmamauk.org). The site also hosts useful resources, including on mosque security.
Hate incidents and hate crimes can, of course, be reported to the police or via the specialist free, confidential Hate Incident Support Service operated by Victim Support. More details here: www.westsussex.gov.uk/hatecrime
Revised Prevent Duty: – To support local authorities, the Home Office have developed the following new communications:
(New Prevent duty animation):Public sector staff working together to stop radicalisation.
A new animation film illustrates how public sectors under the Prevent duty work together to stop radicalisation. The animation is aimed at public sector professionals under the Prevent duty.
(New Prevent leaflet and posters):What is Prevent and how to stop radicalisation.
The attached Prevent leaflet explains the Prevent programme, what radicalisation is and the most common signs, including actions to take if someone is concerned that a person they know is becoming radicalised, as well as the referral process and support. The leaflet is aimed at the general public and public sector professionals under the Prevent duty.
In relation to the Israel/Gaza conflict, and any antisemitic or anti-Muslim incidents emanating as a result of this, the below links may be useful:
The Community Security Trust (CST) has published a number of resources on their social media feeds, including guidance on how to communicate about Israel in a non-antisemitic way. A host of other resources can be found on their website here: Educational Resources – CST – Protecting Our Jewish Community. CST also has a national emergency number which should be used to report antisemitic attacks, alongside calling 999: 0800 032 3263.
Tell Mama is a confidential support service for those suffering from anti-Muslim hate and discrimination across the UK. Their website features a number of different ways to report anti-Muslim incidents, including via phone or WhatsApp: Report in Anti-Muslim Hate or Islamophobia (tellmamauk.org). The site also hosts useful resources, including on mosque security.
Hate incidents and hate crimes can, of course, be reported to the police or via the specialist free, confidential Hate Incident Support Service operated by Victim Support. More details here: www.westsussex.gov.uk/hatecrime
MSDC Public consultation for Polling Places Review
Mid Sussex District Council has begun a review of polling district and polling place arrangements for elections. The consultation will close on Wednesday 3 January, and the Council invites comments and representations from any interested individual, group or organisation. Please see the full release below.
Public consultation opens in Mid Sussex for Polling Places Review
Mid Sussex District Council has begun a review of polling district and polling place arrangements for elections.
The review considers the number of electors in each polling district and the suitability of current arrangements at polling places across Mid Sussex, as well as the locations to ensure they meet polling requirements and are accessible to all voters, including those with disabilities. Local authorities are required to review their polling districts and polling places for UK parliamentary constituencies at least once every five years.
The public consultation opened on Monday 20 November and will close on Wednesday 3 January. Mid Sussex District Council invites comments and representations from any interested individual, group or organisation, particularly those with expertise in access for persons with any types of disability.
The Town Council consultation group will be Helen Farren, Margaret Belsey, Rex Whittaker, Steve Ody and Julie Mockford – if there are any comments please can these be sent to them by 28th December for a submission on 3rd January.
Information from Sussex Police on the use of ANPR SIDs in Community Speedwatch
We are starting to get a lot of enquiries from Parishes about purchasing ANPR Speed Indication Devices, whilst we advocate the use of Speed Indication Devices as a very helpful deterrent and educational tool, the use of ANPR SIDs ( automatic number plate recognition ) is a completely different scenario especially with the General Data Protection Regulation and current legislation. I have had numerous enquiries on this subject and have spoken to the Force Lead on ANPR, we as Sussex Police will be sending out a collective memo very shortly to all Parish Councillors stating that at this time we would not support the use of ANPR SIDs in Speedwatch for numerous reasons including the following: It takes away the educational element of Community Speedwatch, we are unable to enter into individual data sharing agreements with Councils or individuals for the use of this system, we cannot guarantee its accuracy and are unable to facilitate calibration / accuracy testing which would be a prerequisite of sending letters to the driver, also collection of the data in the first instance ( GDPR ). The data would be low quality data as it would not be verifiable. Portable SIDs without ANPR or fixed SIDs with the right risk assessment are perfectly ok to use within a Speedwatch Scenario, however please refer to the Sussex Police Policy on use and the following must be taken into account as per training when using a SID as these if used wrong can also be a distraction to the driver. Any mounted SID on street furniture must have a damage waiver in place with East or West Sussex County Council, your risk assessments for the site must include SID use, SIDs can only be mounted on approved street furniture this does not include telegraph poles etc. (refer to your SID policy manual in the help section), SIDs must not be used within 30 metres of a road junction. We are happy to advise if any issues arise by contacting csw@sussex.pnn.police.uk
I’m delighted to let you know that the government has listened to NALC’s call not to extend council tax referendum principles to local (parish and town) councils. One of the key asks in NALC’s manifesto is for local councils to have the freedom to set their precept without holding a referendum. Over the last year NALC’s chair, Cllr Keith Stevens, has continued to press this with ministers and Parliamentarians, including directly with the new local government minister, Simon Hoare MP, at last week’s parliamentary reception. On 5 December, the government published the Local government finance policy statement 2024 to 2025 which sets out the government’s intentions for the upcoming local government finance settlement. The package of proposed referendum principles includes a core council tax referendum limit for local authorities of up to 3% (for shire district councils this is up to 3% or £5, whichever is higher), an adult social care precept of 2%, £13 for police authorities, up to 3% for fire and rescue authorities, and no council tax referendum principles for mayoral combined authorities or local councils (adding that “the government will review the decisions taken by these authorities when considering referendum principles in future years”). Other parts of the statement include core settlement, social care grants, technical adjustment to business rates retention system and public health funding. NALC will be continuing to engage with the government on the financial challenges and cost pressures facing local councils and responding to the finance settlement when it is published in a few weeks’ time.
National Assembly
It was good to meet so many councillors from county associations at our National Assembly meeting on 29 November 2023, held at the Local Government Association office in London. Ahead of the draft minutes being available, here’s a summary:
The focus of the meeting was presentations linked to NALC’s Civility and Respect Project. Cllr Mark Edwardson from Congleton Town Council spoke about the White Ribbon campaign to end violence against women and girls. Sue Moore, chief executive of the Jo Cox Foundation, gave an update on the work of the Jo Cox Civility Commission and proposals in a report due in the New Year which will help our sector with the challenges it faces. National Assembly members were asked to encourage their county association and councils in their areas to support the White Ribbon campaign and promote signing up for the Civility and Respect Pledge.
Councillors noted the results of NALC’s committee elections for leadership and committee roles and thanked everyone who put themselves forward and previous members for their service.
The calendar of meetings for 2024/25 was agreed upon; committees will hold their governance sessions in early December to elect chairs and vice chairs, have an induction on roles and responsibilities and terms of reference, and agree on the date of their in-person meeting next year.
Proposals were also supported to develop and improve how National Assembly and committees work. These include better induction and training, more consistent administration and processes, and a work programme for the next two years.
NALC calls for extension of Oflog remit to include local councils
Responding to the Office for Local Government’s (Oflog) invitation for views on the next steps for the organisation and proposed next set of draft metrics, NALC has called for its remit to be extended beyond principal councils to include local councils. We’ve also used our response to set out our position on Oflog and its development over the longer term. Key points include supporting the overall rationale of Oflog to provide data and analysis about the performance of local government and support its improvement, our desire to strengthen the accountability and transparency of local councils to increase effectiveness and drive improvement, the lack of comprehensive and readily available data on local councils, the need for increased investment and support from existing sector support funding for improvement, and proposals for metrics on local councils such as elections, finance, audit and some council services. NALC’s chair, Cllr Keith Stevens, will have his next meeting with Oflog’s chair, Lord Morse, in the New Year.
Broadband access consultation
We recently urged the government to ensure broadband connectivity reaches all hard-to-reach rural areas. In NALC’s response to the government’s digital connectivity consultation on improving broadband for very hard-to-reach, we suggested the government prioritise giving isolated rural communities a baseline minimum broadband signal ahead of trying to accelerate the speed of connection in areas with strong broadband. As a related issue, NALC has also called for new houses and businesses to be provided with in-built infrastructure to enable connection to fibre-optic broadband, which was critical for the growth of the rural economy and future jobs. NALC also advised the government to work closely with them and other local government stakeholders, as many of their members represent rural areas. NALC is supportive of the government’s ambition to deliver nationwide gigabit-capable broadband as soon as possible and thinks that in the period to 2025, it is about right that the government is targeting a minimum of 85% gigabit-capable coverage and is working with the industry to accelerate delivery to get as close to 100% coverage as soon as possible.
This week’s blog is from Shar Roselman, town clerk at Newport Pagnell Town Council, who writes about NALC’s study tour in 2023 to Newport Pagnell Town Council. In short, our study tour is a close look at another council (usually one of the larger councils) and their services, successes, and failures. At the study tour, Newport Pagnell Town Council gave presentations on Newport Pagnell’s devolution journey since 2012 such as taking ownership of a swimming pool, community centre, and a youth club. The blog also shares why Newport Pagnell put itself forward as a venue for a study tour and what it gained from hosting. Check out the blog to learn more! We’re hosting another study tour in 2024 at Yate Town Council, which has just sold out!
King’s Portrait Scheme
Our policy and communications team met with the Cabinet Office recently to discuss His Majesty the King’s Portrait Scheme. The Cabinet Office first announced the scheme in April, with all public bodies able to apply for a free framed portrait of the monarch to celebrate the new reign, fully funded by the government. The scheme is being delivered in stages to help manage the portrait supply. Due to popular demand, local councils will be able to apply for a free portrait later in the scheme and will be notified when they can access the portrait scheme website. Watch this space!
The Municipal Journal roundtable on local government finance
In the week that many upper-tier councils wrote to Michael Gove MP outlining concerns about local government finance, I joined a debate hosted by the leading local government magazine The Municipal Journal (The MJ). The discussion brought together senior colleagues across local government to discuss this and how the financial pressures facing local government and recent severe problems in several upper-tier councils impacted services and innovation. Our sector is affected too, as many councils have taken on services previously provided by other tiers. I argued that local councils had been quiet innovators in recent years, with more being set up to meet local needs, total precepts had doubled, and the number of local councils with precepts above £1m was now over 100. Our councils are also increasingly delivering on issues such as health and well-being, climate change, and the cost-of-living crisis, which often prevent people from getting into severe difficulties and in turn, saves other tiers money. I also stressed that our councils could do more with recognition and support from different tiers, government, and timely engagement. A full write of the roundtable will be featured in an upcoming edition of TheMJ.
UK Finance parliamentary event
Among our many campaigns is banking services, which is a concern for some councils. We have been seeking to address this issue with UK Finance, the trade body for the banking and finance industry, and with individual banks to improve their understanding of our sector and their forms and processes, such as bank mandates. We’re not alone in this endeavour as colleagues in the voluntary and community sectors have also raised similar concerns affecting around one million accounts held by clubs, societies, charities and other community bodies. This is why it was good that NALC’s chair, Cllr Keith Stevens, was at the UK Finance parliamentary reception on 5 December 2023, taking the opportunity to continue to press this issue with their managing director and representatives from individual banks, as well as brief several parliamentarians. In the New Year, UK Finance aims to launch a new web portal aimed at helping small and community organisations, which we expect over time to address the issues facing our councils. I will provide more information on this in due course; in the meantime, please continue to let us know of any specific problems you are facing with banking services for councils at policycomms@nalc.gov.uk.
Shared Intelligence online event on climate change
Earlier this month, NALC supported a free online event organised by our colleagues at Shared Intelligence on developing local council actions on the climate change and nature depletion agenda. Tony Blake, director at Shared Intelligence, hosted the event, and speakers were Sandra Bell, senior sustainability analyst at Friends of the Earth, and Cllr Ed Gemmell from NALC’s National Network: Climate Emergency. Sandra and Ed presented interesting frameworks to think about local council climate action. Ed spoke about information, organisation, energy, transport and control and wrapped it into a compelling narrative about starting now, engaging the community and setting targets. Sandra talked about having a “climate filter” on everything a local council does. In the group discussions, a range of issues and ideas were highlighted, including needing toolkits and a template call for action, training to help local councillors build a shared carbon literacy as well as specifics such as the biodiversity duty, measuring the impact of actions, the challenge of community engagement. Other themes were help with grant applications, locating expertise, data, finding compromises, working together, and engaging young people. In terms of the next steps, we’ll be exploring with Shared Intelligence colleagues how we can take these issues forward through support on practical material or addressing some of the bigger picture questions about working in partnership with principal councils or, indeed, between neighbouring local councils.
And finally…
On behalf of the coastal communities’ national network, we have launched a survey to help shape the future of the network on 5 December 2023. The coastal communities network is specifically focused on local councils in coastal areas. The survey seeks to understand the experiences of coastal communities within the local council sector, enhance future sessions, and guide the co-chairs in refining the network’s objectives. I urge you to complete the survey by 5 January 2023 and please share the survey with other councils you know in coastal areas.
County Council Elections May 2025
Please see link below for information from West Sussex County Council for anyone considering standing for election as a County Councillor in May 2025. The website highlights a range of events which might be of interest to those thinking of standing.
Information from MSDC in respect of their community grants programme.
Following the review of our community grants criteria, linking them to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, we are encouraging applications in advance of our next community grants programme deadline of 2nd January 2024. Local groups can apply for grants of up to £5,000 for projects that will benefit residents across the district. In focussing on the UN goals we are especially interested in grants that address the impact of the cost of living crisis, poverty and climate change.
To go with our pre-Christmas Campaign we have a partner pack and you can also access our promotional video and social media assets all of which can be found here: Community grants – Dropbox
Please share the information with your networks so we can ensure we are reaching as many potential applicants as possible. We have also shared this information with our Members and the Towns and Parishes.
The Council has already included the UN Sustainable Development Goals in its District Plan and Sustainable Economy Strategy. There are 17 goals which are an urgent call for action by all countries – developed and developing – in a global partnership. They recognise that ending poverty and other deprivations must go together with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate change and working to preserve oceans and forests.
Applications are currently open and close on 2 January 2024. Community groups can apply on the Council’s website and email communities@midsussex.gov.uk with any questions.
Star Council Awards 2023 winners crowned in parliament
We announced our Star Council Awards winners at a dazzling ceremony held on 29 November 2023 at our parliamentary reception in the prestigious House of Lords. Hosted by NALC’s president, Baroness Scott of Needham Market, the prestigious and packed-out event brought together councillors, clerks, MPs, Peers, academics, stakeholders, journalists and other leading opinion formers to celebrate the sector and recognise those individuals and organisations that have demonstrated exceptional dedication in supporting their communities. This year’s winners from local (parish and town) councils and county associations stood out among an impressive pool of nominees, showcasing their commitment to excellence and significant contributions to improving their communities. The expert panel of judges had the challenging and unenviable task of selecting the winners over the Summer, and I was delighted they could join us at the event. Speaking at the awards ceremony, Baroness Scott commented on her “privilege and honour of being re-appointed NALC’s president at last month’s Annual General Meeting” and how “all parties, not just the government, need to recognise the vital importance and contribution of rural areas and of rural governance, especially parish and town councils”, and empathised her commitment to take “every opportunity possible over what remains of this parliament to continue to make a case for parish and town councils to be empowered”. The event also featured a speech by the newly appointed local government minister, Simon Hoare MP, who thanked councils, councillors and clerks, stating they are”unsung very often unseen” but “towns and villages are demonstrably and immeasurably improved by what you do day in and day out”, and commented on the awards, he said, “the awards shine a spotlight on excellent work you have done and everybody who is involved in the work of a parish or town council is a winner”. The winners of the Star Council Awards are Council of the Year — Braunstone Town Council in Leicestershire and Rutland; Councillor of the Year — Cllr Lorna Berrett of Botley and North Hinksey Parish Council; Young Councillor of the Year — Cllr Cameron Palin of East Cowes Town Council; County Association of the Year — Essex Association of Local Councils; and Clerk of the Year — Andrea Mann of Odiham Parish Council. Congratulations to all the winners and finalists, and thanks to all our judges and the award sponsors Clear Councils Insurance, Blachere Illumination, Breakthrough Communications, CCLA, Cloudy IT and DCK Accounting Solutions! You can read more about the winners and finalists on our website and revisit the event as it happened on NALC’s X (formerly Twitter).
NALC committee election results
The results of our committee elections were unveiled at the National Assembly meeting held at the offices of the Local Government Association before the parliamentary reception on 29 November 2023. Cllr Keith Stevens has been re-elected unopposed as our chair, as has Cllr Peter Davey as our vice-chair (finance), and I am pleased to welcome our new vice-chair (member services), Cllr David Francis. I want to congratulate all candidates elected to governance roles on NALC committees for 2024/25, and I’d like to thank everyone who put themselves forward. You can read the full results on our website. The first meetings of the new committees take place in early December.
White Ribbon Day
On 25 November 2023, we celebrated White Ribbon Day, a global initiative raising awareness about combatting violence against women and girls. I’m proud that NALC became a White Ribbon accredited organisation in August 2023. Since then, we’ve been working on implementing a three-year action plan developed by our steering group. To show our support for White Ribbon Day, we published a group video highlighting male support from within the sector, uploaded a blog from NALC and a blog from UN Women, hosted an awareness-raising session at this week’s National Assembly, and implemented a social media campaign for the day and the 16 days of activism. We will continue raising awareness for this vital initiative, and I’d encourage all councils to get involved! Visit the White Ribbon UK website to find out more.
Autumn Statement
The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt MP, delivered the 2023 Autumn Statement on 22 November 2023. Measures of interest for local government include:
A long-term freeze in capital investment in the public sector with no new funding for adult or children’s social care or any general local government funding for 2024/25 beyond what was announced last year.
Council tax referendums were not mentioned. This is expected to be set out in the provisional local government finance settlement (PLGFS) in December.
The main rate of National Insurance was cut from 12% to 10% from 6 January.
National Living Wage will increase from £10.42 to £11.44 an hour from April, with the new rate applied to 21 and 22-year-old workers for the first time rather than just those aged 23 and over.
Independent Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts inflation will fall to 2.8% by the end of 2024 before reaching the Bank of England’s 2% target rate in 2025, with living standards expected to return to pre-pandemic levels in 2027/28.
The 75% business rates discount for retail, hospitality and leisure firms in England extended for another year.
Households living close to new pylons and transmission infrastructure to get up to £1,000 a year off energy bills for a decade.
Local planning authorities will receive £32m to tackle planning backlogs and introduce new premium planning services across England, with faster decision dates for major business applications and fee refunds when these are unmet.
Four new devolution deals, including Level 3 mayoral deals with Greater Lincolnshire, Hull and East Yorkshire, Level 2 non-mayoral deals with Lancashire and Cornwall and advanced discussions to agree on a Level 2 non-mayoral deal with Devon and Torbay.
NALC event explores how to improve the planning system for local councils
Our latest online event took place on 22 November 2023, looking at how to make the planning system work for local councils. The event highlighted how to improve the planning system to meet local councils’ needs, the challenges and opportunities they face, different approaches for improving community engagement, promoting sustainable development, and ensuring a fair and transparent planning process. Richard Blyth of the Royal Town Planning Institute spoke about the local council’s vital role in planning, stating, “On applications, local councils are obliged to be consulted about all planning in their area”. Cllr Sue Camp of Sevenoaks Town Council’s Planning Committee spoke about how her council benefitted from the infrastructure to deal with planning, saying, “Sevenoaks Town Council successfully deals with planning applications by holding their Planning Committee every two weeks”. Cllr Sanchia Davidson and Cllr Helen Sunday of Wing Parish Council spoke about the neighbourhood plan introduced at the council to help control the future development of the village, commenting, “The team needs to be big enough to represent but small enough to function”. You can find out more about NALC online events on our website.
National Network: Coastal communities
NALC’s national network on coastal communities held its latest meeting on 23 November 2023. Dr Joanna Williams, from the Sea Level Group at the National Oceanography Centre, gave a fascinating presentation on the impact of rising sea levels on coastal areas. In the Q&A session, Dr Williams discussed how flooding prevention methods are locally variable, the implications of extreme tidal waves on barriers, and flood weather warnings. Lisa Bowman, the clerk at Exmouth Town Council and the network’s representative at the Local Government Association’s Coastal Special Interest Group (SIG), provided an overview from the most recent SIG meeting. Lisa urged the network to check if their principal council was represented on the SIG and to link up with the relevant council officer. Stephanie Bennett, clerk at Fawley Parish Council, discussed better guidance on dealing with litter clearance in coastal areas with coastal designations, and the network gave feedback on how they were dealing with this issue. The network also discussed an upcoming survey aimed at improving insight into the experiences of coastal communities in the sector and shaping the delivery and aims of the network. If you’re a local council in a coastal area and want to connect with your colleagues, please sign up for the network.
On the blog: The Tree Council
This week’s blog from The Tree Council celebrates National Tree Week 2023, which runs between 25 November 2023 and 3 December 2023. The week is an excellent opportunity to come together and appreciate how vital trees and woodlands are in the fight against climate change. The need for more trees has been recognised through national targets and policy. But, like for so many things, local action makes a huge difference. This year’s National Tree Week theme is to Grow a Tree in 2023. Check out their website for ways to get involved.
Out and about
It was great to be back in Milton Keynes (the location of our past Annual Conferences and a wholly parished city!) speaking at the Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Association of Local Councils Planning Conference — Planning, love it, like it, or hate it – it’s happening in a parish near you. The conference heard from Milton Keynes Council leader Cllr Peter Marland about their support for councils and ambitious plans for a new city plan for 2025. Neighbourhood plans were described as a game changer for the sector, and we heard from Newport Pagnell Town Council about their latest draft plan (they are now on their third!), which includes an allocation for an Aston Martin heritage centre. One clarion call from the event was for NALC to press the government to keep planning simple, and we’re on the case, as you can see from our numerous consultation responses, which you can find on the NALC website.
We’ve had the pleasure of attending the Association of Democratic Services Officers (ASDO) Annual Conference and Awards, which Keith attended as their guest on 23 and 24 November 2023. The event also saw the publication of joint research with the Local Government Information Unit on The changing role of the monitoring officer. I’m pleased to continue our links with ADSO, given our work on the campaign for remote council meetings and the critical role monitoring officers play, particularly in the standards regime.
Gary Barker, solicitor in the member services team, remotely attended an Oxfordshire Association of Local Councils councils’ meeting, where he gave an update on various legal issues, including remote meetings, the biodiversity duty and the Building Safety Act 2022.
Joint Panel on Accountability and Governance
The Joint Panel on Accountability and Governance (JPAG) met on 28 November 2023 to confirm the 2024 Practitioners’ Guide changes. These updates were proposed by the technical working group based on feedback from practitioners, councils and auditors. NALC has now begun writing those changes, which include clarifications to make the guide easier to use, plus an updated section on gov.uk domain names, in preparation for the guide’s release in March 2024.
And finally…
This month’s Rural Insight Forum – which brings together officials from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) with national organisations with a rural interest – reflected on the recent Cabinet reshuffle with the appointment of Steve Barclay MP as Secretary of State and former Alnwick Town Council councillor, Robbie Moore MP, as Parliamentary Under-Secretary. The forum discussed the Autumn Settlement, noting positive elements for rural areas, including reducing VAT on energy efficiency measures, for example, in village halls, and rate relief on hospitality. Other measures, mainly decreasing financial support for principal councils, would put more pressure on services in rural areas. The forum also heard about progress with implementing the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act, which includes a new duty to have regard to rural areas and is the subject of active discussions between ministers and officials in Defra and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. It was also noted that the Levelling Up Advisory Panel includes a sub-group to consider the design and delivery of levelling up in rural areas.
Mid Sussex Polling District and Polling Station Review
Mid Sussex District Council launched its statutory consultation on the 20 November on the proposed scheme of Polling Districts and Polling Places for UK Parliamentary General Elections.
The aim of the review is to ensure that electors have reasonable facilities for voting, and that the polling places are accessible to all electors. Every person should be able to vote without any unnecessary barriers. A polling place should be accessible for those with a disability, having good access, lighting, and provisions for those needing assistance. The location of the polling place within the polling district, and transport links, should be taken into account.
In addition, in its proposal the Council seeks to simplify the Polling Districts (after they had been “split” due to the Boundary Commission’s ward boundary changes in 2022/23), aligning all Districts with Ward boundaries and reducing overall the number of Polling Stations (now proposed to be 67 for Parliamentary General Elections). The proposed scheme has also been devised applying the principle that voters (where possible) should be able to vote at a Polling Place that they are familiar with voting at.
MSDC Green Spaces Contract
Information from Simon Hughes at MSDC regarding the Green Spaces Contract
Further to my briefing at the parish and town meeting I’d be more than happy give you information on progress with the Green Spaces Management contract.We have done our due diligence in accordance with the public procurement process and Notification to Award Contract was issued ton the (21 November. This means we have now re-entered a period of Standstill. This will last for 10 days.
During this time the name of our Preferred Bidder has been released to all those who submitted a bid, but this information remainshighly confidentialand will not be released into the public domain until Friday 1 December, when Standstill ends. We’ll ensure you are notified along with other parish and town councils.
MSDC Community Grants are now open for application. Please see further information below from MSDC
At Mid Sussex District Council we recognise the importance of community projects, and the vital role these initiatives play in the growth of a vibrant community. We are committed to ensuring that local groups feel supported in the delivery of their projects and events. We recognise that distinct groups within the community bring unique perspectives and talents. By providing a platform for all to bid, we embrace the diversity that enriches our district and the potential for grassroots change.
We look forward to collaborating with you. If after reading the information below, you need any assistance or are unsure of what you need to do or provide, please get in touch with one of the team by emailing communities@midsussex.gov.uk
This round opened on 1st November and the closing date is 2nd January 2024. Information on the website at the following link
NALC heads to Yate Town Council for the 2024 study tour
After the resounding success of the 2023 study tour hosted by Newport Pagnell Town Council, I’m pleased to announce we’ll head to Yate Town Council in Avon for our annual study tour between 21 and 22 May 2024 as part of our work to support larger local (parish and town) councils and share good practice. This unique experience promises a closer look at what makes Yate one of England’s most dynamic towns. Situated in the south-west of England, Yate is located 11 miles north-east of Bristol in the county of South Gloucestershire. Yate boasts a strategic location surrounded by countryside, providing easy access to Bristol and Bath by bicycle, car, or public transport. The town’s rich history dates back over 1,000 years and is mentioned in the Saxon Chronicles and the Domesday Book! The tour promises an array of highlights, including a guided bus tour of Yate Town Council’s youth engagement services, exploring the renowned Armadillo Youth Cafe to understand how the council effectively manages this local youth hub, immersing yourself in the allure of Kingsgate Park, featuring a lake, play area, coronation bench, and outdoor gym, learning about the council’s sustainable management of this vital green space, plus much more. Places are limited to just 11, so please register promptly to secure your spot and avoid disappointment!
NALC calls for tighter land management company regulation
In our response to the Competition and Markets Authority’s housebuilding market study, we’ve urged the government to tighten up the regulation of land management companies and to make provisions for the regulation of fees charged by management companies to both freeholders and leaseholders of residential properties. This follows years of management companies increasing fees to residents of parished areas to maintain facilities such as children’s playgrounds without carrying out maintenance work in many cases. We also advocated that local councils’ right-to-manage public open spaces and amenities be in legislation, both at the point of delivery and in perpetuity. NALC has received support within the sector from national stakeholders in trying to get local councils first in line, if they choose, to take on new play areas in developments.
NALC Management Board
NALC’s Management Board met on 21 November 2023, its last meeting of the year and before our committee elections results are announced. NALC’s chair, Cllr Keith Stevens, took the opportunity to thank his councillor colleagues for their contributions over the previous two years. The board agreed on some proposals to improve the way our National Assembly and committees work and provide support to members. The board agreed on an events strategy for the next two years, focussing on a continuation of online events but exploring a national face-to-face conference in 2025, and the introduction of explainer events for NALC’s resources such as advice and guidance. The board also noted progress with developing a national employment contract to be launched before the year’s end and the new website, which we will be launching in 2024.
National Network: Super councils
NALC’s national network for super councils met remotely on 15 November 2023 to discuss several items, including our Peer Challenge programme, the work of the newly formed Office for Local Government (OFLOG), and an upcoming survey for the network. The network heard from Luke Trevaskis, the clerk at Morecambe Town Council, about the council’s experience participating in the Peer Challenge earlier this year. The challenge helped the council make the case for ensuring it had the capacity and capability to deliver its priorities, improve brand identity, and enhance communication with residents and other stakeholders. The network also heard from Ruby Dixon from the OFLOG about their plans to develop the Local Authority Data Explorer tool for principal authorities. Additionally, the network discussed an upcoming survey for super councils to shape the network’s future and work programme and also received an overview of NALC’s analysis of council tax levels of local precepting authorities.
Improvement and Development Board
The Improvement and Development Board met on 16 November 2023, led by its new independent chair, James Alexander. Matters discussed included the future direction and structure of the board, along with the development of a new improvement strategy. Members also received an update on the Civility and Respect Project.
On the blog: White Ribbon Day
I’m pleased to say we’ll be publishing two blogs this week to celebrate White Ribbon Day, which takes place on 25 November 2023. The first blog, written by our communications officer, Daisy Petrow, discusses the crucial takeaways from the White Ribbon conference. NALC attended the White Ribbon Conference in Birmingham on 26 September 2023, where we learnt from the UK’s leading charity engaging men and boys to end violence against women and girls. The blog shares speakers’ essential stories and three key takeaways from the conference. The second blog from UN Women lists 10 ways to end violence against women. Violence against women and girls affects more than one in three women. This is why tackling violence is necessary on White Ribbon Day, the 16 days of activism, and all year round. This blog provides practical tips, advice, and guidance for readers to follow and inspire change.
Martyn’s Law event
We held a joint event on 16 November 2023 with the Society of Local Council Clerks (SLCC) to discuss the current legislative status of Martyn’s Law. The panel featured our policy manager, Chris Borg, Shrewsbury Town Council’s chief executive, Helen Ball, and Lauren Renshaw and Christian Stensrud from the Home Office. The event highlighted where the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Draft Bill (formerly Martyn’s Law) is in its legislative journey, outlined the potential actions that local councils might need to adopt if the law is passed and shared practical insights into how councils can contribute to keeping people safe and preventing terrorism in their local communities. Chris highlighted NALC’s concern about the additional pressure the new legislation will place on local council budget and resources, stating, “NALC are particularly concerned that the draft bill’s impact assessment overlooks local councils and only includes principal councils”. The Home Office representatives discussed policy principles, scope, tier requirements, the extensive process of transforming policy into law, upcoming stages, and available support. They reassured councillors not to be alarmed, emphasising that the policy implementation process is gradual, and support is currently accessible and will remain so. Helen noted Martyn’s Law is one of the most significant developments for local councils since the General Data Protection Regulation and will impact everyone and stressed the need for consistent training and support on counter-terrorism.
Out and about
On 15 November 2023 I attended the Leicestershire and Rutland Association of Local Councils Annual General (AGM) Meeting and Conference. There was a great turnout with an impressive line-up of sponsors and partners. It was good to hear about their excellent work on carbon net zero, liaison with the police and promoting civility and respect. I briefed colleagues on NALC’s work, especially around our parliamentary advocacy during the passage of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill Act. Questions focussed on improving standards and encouraging more people to get involved in local councils. I was able to similarly brief the Dorset Association of Parish and Town Councils AGM on 18 November 2023 from the comfort of my home office, and the discussion centred again on how to get more people to stand for election and how to extend the sector into un-parished areas. The AGM also heard about the importance of the armed forces covenant, to which many councils and county associations are signatories. Between 50 and 100,000 veterans in Dorset would benefit from the covenant. And on the same day, Keith and our head of member services, Charlotte Eisenhart, attended the Kent Association of Local Councils’ Annual Conference and AGM. The day’s theme was health and well-being, and again it was good to see the event had a thriving marketplace with organisations and agencies from across the county.
NALC article in The MJ magazine on planning reform
Following our submission to the government on their local plans consultation, it was good to be invited by The MJ magazine, the UK’s leading weekly magazine for council chief executives, to write an article to share our views with their extensive readership across local government. Through a light-hearted analogy of the 1980s television series The A-Team, our head of policy and communications, Justin Griggs, covers the more serious subject of the leadership role of local councils in the planning system, the elements of the kind of planning system we want to see, our views on reform to plan making, and a concluding clarion call on resourcing, support, protection and partnership working. You can read the article on the MJ website (login required).
Smaller Authorities’ Audit Appointments
The Smaller Authorities’ Audit Appointments (SAAA) board met last week on 17 November 2023 and received the Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March from auditors Knill James LLP, giving the company a clean bill of health. The accounts will be published later in the year.
LGiU Cllr Awards
NALC’s colleagues at the Local Government Information Unit (LGiU), a local government think tank and non-partisan membership organisation, held their Cllr Awards on 16 November 2023 at London’s Guildhall. Sponsored by NALC’s partner CCLA, the awards recognise and celebrate the achievements of councillors from principal authorities. Justin Griggs, our head of policy and communications, was among the wide range of councils, councillors, parliamentarians and other organisations at the event to join the celebrations and extend our congratulations to all the finalists and winners. Of course, the event was simply a warmup to the most important awards in the local government calendar, as next week we’ll be presenting the winners of NALC’s Star Council Awards 2023 at our parliamentary reception! I’m looking forward to returning the invitation to LGiU colleagues and welcoming them, along with representatives of county associations, parliamentarians, stakeholders, and partner organisations, to what will be a fantastic occasion to celebrate our wonderful part of local government.
And finally…
On behalf of NALC’s national network for young councillors, we launched a survey on 17 November 2023 to help shape the network’s future. The survey is designed to provide insight into the experiences of young people within the local council sector and how they would like to shape the delivery of the network. I’d urge you to complete the survey by 20 December 2023 to submit your views, and please share the survey with any young councillors you know!
I recently wrote a letter on behalf of SLCC to the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, about the progress of the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) draft Bill, also known as Martyn’s Law. We have now received an official response via the Home office, emphasising the government’s commitment to improving the safety and security of public venues, and you may have listened to the King’s Speech on 7 November, where this was reaffirmed. The Home Office is due to launch a further public consultation on the standard tier (premises with a capacity of between 100 – 799) ahead of the Bill’s introduction. This will ensure that new measures strike the right balance between public protection and avoiding disproportionate burdens on premises.
We are continuing to work closely with the National Association of Local Councils (NALC) and the Home Office on this new legislation, including a recent meeting with civil servants. Tomorrow we are co-hosting a joint webinar: ‘Martyn’s Law: where are we now’ together with NALC, from 12:00pm to 1:30pm.
I would like to draw your attention to our upcoming Practitioners’ Conference, sponsored by CloudyIT, which will be taking place at the Chesford Grange Hotel in Kenilworth on 31 January and 1 February 2024. The conference, which is designed by clerks for clerks and their councillors, will contain a mixture of engaging speakers, interactive workshops and networking opportunities.
Among our many speakers will be Alex Atherton, Leadership Coach and Mentor, on understanding generation Z, particularly recruitment, retention and motivation; Becky Walsh, Personal Development Trainer, on using ChatGPT and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to speed up council tasks (Becky is also carrying out a women’s only session on avoiding burnout and developing a powerful mindset); Jon Evens, Senior Associate at One West, on effective investigation of disciplinary and grievance workforce issues; and Richard Watkins and Allan Wilson, co-founders of Save Our Shropshire, on the delivery of climate change targets.
Level 4 Certificate of Higher Education in Community Governance
If you’re looking to further your career and knowledge within the local council sector, our Level 4 Certificate of Higher Education in Community Governance may be for you. This professional qualification awarded by De Montfort University (DMU), which builds on the knowledge gained in the Certificate in Local Council Administration (CiLCA), is available to all local council staff, councillors and county officers, and looks at the way in which people and organisations work together and independently, making decisions for the benefit of a local community.
There are many benefits to signing up to this course. Apart from the quality assurance provided by the esteemed reputation of DMU, as the only provider in England and Wales of sector-specific qualifications for local council clerks, SLCC continues to uphold its commitment to tailored, practical, and relevant learning. By arming council clerks with a deeper and broader set of skills, SLCC enhances their professional standing and employability, thus fostering their commitment to their roles and the communities they serve. The SLCC teaching team consists of educators who are dedicated, knowledgeable, and committed to providing high-quality education in a supportive and student-centred environment.
All students studying for a Community Governance qualification are also now entitled to a 50% discount on any SLCC webinar and Themed Summit.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
I would like to thank you for inviting me to join the Remembrance Sunday Parade and Service in East Grinstead yesterday. It was an honour and a privilege to represent the Lord Lieutenant of West Sussex, Lady Emma Barnard, at such an important and special event.
The service was extremely moving and it was wonderful to see not only everyone involved in the Parade, but also the residents of East Grinstead both young and old, come together to remember those that sacrificed their lives for our future.
I would be grateful if you could pass on my warmest thanks to everyone that made me feel so welcome especially the Parade Marshall, Flt Lt Hudson, and the Town Mayor, Cllr Visser, and to those that had meticulously planned the whole event and gave up their time to ensure it went so smoothly.
With thanks and best wishes,
Julia Aisbitt DL JP
Christmas Jumper Day – 7 December 2023
The town council will be signing up for Christmas Jumper day on Thursday 7th December. This is annual and in aid of Save the Children, please wear your jumper, take a pic and send to Sarah M so that we can add them to the newsletter. There will be a text code which we will share closer to the date. Thank you.
In March on behalf of WSCC, MSDC published a Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP). This focuses on our key population centres and areas of growth, identifying where the greatest benefit could be achieved through new and improved active travel infrastructure.
West Sussex County Council have now developed the County-wide LCWIP and Active Travel Strategy based on all the LCWIPs from across the County which addresses the longer, more strategic connecting active travel routes needed from 2023 to 2036. This has been published for consultation and is open, until 11.55pm on 15th November, for your comments and feedback on the routes they have identified as high priorities for the next decade.
This Council at its meeting in September agreed to write to the WSCC Leader emphasising this Council’s concerns over the lack of active travel networks between our towns.
Given the importance of active travel in achieving our commitments to net zero I would encourage all of us to respond to this consultation. Further information and the consultation survey are available on the WSCC website , where you will find the Active Travel Strategy and County wide LCWIP .
I would be extremely grateful if you could share this with you network to secure as much feedback as possible.
Louise Duffield – Director of Resources and Organisational Development Mid Sussex District Council
This year, London Gatwick’s Annual Public Meeting will take place on Wednesday 6 December, in the Ascot Suite of the Hilton Hotel at London Gatwick’s South Terminal. Welcome refreshments will be available from 13:30, with proceedings starting at 14:00. The annual meeting is an opportunity for members of the local community to hear more about the wider noise mitigation initiatives and operation of London Gatwick, and a chance to ask questions of industry partners. There will be noise monitor demonstrations, as well as the latest information on our newly opened STEM centre. Places are available on a first come first served basis. If you wish to attend, please email NMB@gatwickairport.com.
Voter ID – Levelling-Up Committee Chair writes to Government on voter turnout concerns
Clive Betts, Chair of the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (LUHC) Committee has today written to Baroness Scott of Bybrook OBE), Minister in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to raise concerns about the impact of the introduction of voter ID on some voters and on the capacity of local council electoral staff to manage the voter ID requirement (letter available here).
The Chair’s letter refers to figures from the Electoral Commission report which showed voter ID had a significant impact on some people’s ability to vote at the local elections in May 2023.
The Committee’s correspondence states that while the Electoral Commission’s post-poll report (published in September) noted 14,000 people were recorded as being unable to vote due to the requirement for voter ID, the Electoral Commission has warned they believe the actual number to be far greater.
Clive Betts, Chair of the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (LUHC) Committee, said: “The Electoral Commission have found that voter ID had a significant impact on some people’s ability to vote at the local elections in May. The Government needs to spell out how it will act on the Electoral Commission’s recommendations and the steps it will take to ensure the proportion of those unable to vote due to voter ID is not considerably higher at a future general election.
“It is particularly concerning that the Electoral Commission found unemployed voters and disabled voters were more likely to be unable to vote due to the voter ID requirement. The Government should set out what it will to do to change this and to ensure specific groups of individuals, including unemployed or disabled individuals, are not disproportionately impacted by this requirement in future elections.”
The Chair’s correspondence calls for the Government to confirm if it plans to expand forms of accepted ID. The letter also highlights concerns about the recruitment and retention of electoral staff, a long-standing problem but which, evidence suggests, has been exacerbated with the roll out of voter ID.
The Levelling Up Committee has been reviewing the implementation of voter ID in connection with the local elections as part of its inquiry into electoral registration.
The Council have been advised by MSDC that they have booked a separate room to deal with voter ID before the public get in to the polling station proper for next years police and crime commissioners election, when the general election is called this will require further discussion.
NALC News
The Kings Speech 2023
On Tuesday 7 November, during the State Opening of Parliament, His Majesty The King opened the 2023/24 Parliamentary session, setting out the Government’s legislative plan ahead of the next general election. The speech covered three key themes of strengthening society, growing the economy and keeping people safe, with 21 separate Bills announced. There are several areas of relevance to local government including proposed legislation on restricting the sale of tobacco and vaping products to young people, creating a legal framework for self-driving vehicles, supporting renters, and digitalising local traffic regulation orders. The legislative programme also includes proposals aimed at protecting public premises from terror attacks through the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill, also known as Martyn’s Law, which NALC wrote to the prime minister about last week. The government has also announced that ahead of introducing the Bill in Parliament, there will be a further consultation on the Standard Tier to ensure the Bill’s measures strike the right balance between public protection and avoiding undue burdens on smaller premises. This consultation is welcome as NALC’s written evidence to the Home Affairs Committee set out our concerns about the impact of the legislation on our councils. We will of course be responding to the consultation and engaging further with the government and Parliamentarians in both Houses on the Bill and wider legislative programme.
NALC briefing on the national salary pay scales
We have published a new employment briefing on the national salary pay scales for clerks and other employees who are employed under the terms of the model contract or Green Book terms. The briefing includes updated pay scales in line with the 2004 NALC and the Society of Local Council Clerks national agreement for the sector. These pay rates are applicable from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024. You can find the briefing under the Employment section of the Briefing webpage in the member’s area. If you have any queries, please contact your local county association.
NALC committee election voting is open!
County association representatives on NALC’s National Assembly can now vote for the vice-chair (member services) post and for NALC’s Management Board. We are also calling 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 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 seats on the committee as well as 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.
Extra tickets were released for the sold-out funding event
This week’s blog is from the Health Foundation. The blog provides recommendations for what councils can do to tackle food insecurity in their communities. Affording and accessing enough nutritious food to lead a healthy life should be possible for everyone, but this is not currently the case in the UK. Local government has a crucial role in building healthy, thriving communities. The building blocks are interconnected; any missing or weakened threaten the whole structure. Preventing food insecurity is an important cornerstone that will help shore up the health and resilience of everyone in a community. Read the blog to find out more!
Celebrating 75 years of the Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Association of Local Councils
It was good to join colleagues from the Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Association of Local Councils and local councils from across the county and city at their 75th anniversary event and Annual General Meeting on 1 November in Aylesbury. NALC’s head of policy and communications, Justin Griggs, joined the celebrations where he presented the Long Service Awards to Councillors at the Excellence Awards before giving a short speech which culminated in a toast to local councils and the continued development and support offered by the county association.
Local Government Strategy Forum
Our senior solicitor and legal manager, Jane Moore, attended the Local Government Strategy Forum in Cheshire between 1 and 3 November 2023. The packed event had a varied programme, including presentations and group sessions looking at improvement and more efficient ways of working across local government, particularly within budgetary constraints. The event also heard positive stories on housing regeneration projects and organisational transformation, including the use of digital technology, with high-level speakers from principal authorities across the country.
Our next national network meeting for Super Councils will take place on 15 November 2023. The agenda includes an update from officials from the Office for Local Government including their consultation on the next set of draft metrics, a presentation from Luke Trevaskis from Morecambe Town Council on lessons learned from their recent peer challenge, and NALC’s annual analysis report on local council precepts. They will also discuss a network survey designed to provide insight into the super councils and how they would like to shape the delivery of the network in the future. The meeting will also include an open forum where members can share best practices and issues they are facing and receive mutual support.
And finally…
Are you weather ready? The Met Office has recently launched its WeatherReady winter campaign, which focuses on weather challenges and tips for the public. Local councils can find a full range of resources in the Met Office’s online partner toolkit, including top tips in seven languages, social media posts, email signatures and printable posters.
Gatwick DCO Relevant Representation Process update
Following our News Flash Item on 29th October we have now heard from the Planning Inspectorate with their revised procedure for submitting a representation for the Gatwick DCO process.
Note particularly if you submitted your representation on the 29th by email as a result of the website failure then you must re-submit using the online form.
Important Update from the Planning Inspectorate
As you will be aware, due to a technical fault with the Planning Inspectorate’s online Relevant Representation form, users were not able to make submissions on the final day of the representation period. The fault has now been resolved, and we apologise for any inconvenience this caused.
As a result of the premature closure, the Applicant has extended the period for submission of Relevant Representations until 23:59 on Sunday 19 November 2023. You can submit a representation and register as an Interested Party by navigating to the project webpage of the National Infrastructure Planning website: https://infrastructure.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/projects/south-east/gatwick-airport-northern-runway/.
If you previously submitted a representation via email due to the website fault, you will need to resubmit this via the online form by the above deadline in order for it to be valid.
If you have already submitted a representation via the form, please do not resubmit it unless we have contacted you directly about your submission.
West Sussex County Council to appoint full-time Chief Executive
A full-time chief executive is to be recruited by West Sussex County Council as it concludes a highly successful local leadership partnership with its neighbour, East Sussex.
Becky Shaw has been chief executive of both West and East Sussex County Councils since January 2020, in an innovative partnership set up by their leaders Cllr Keith Glazier (East Sussex) and Cllr Paul Marshall (West Sussex).
The partnership has seen both councils thrive and deliver important services for the residents, businesses and communities of both counties which are now well run with strong, stable and transparent governance, management and business planning and ambitious to meet the priorities of the people they serve.
Given the importance of strengthening and deepening local relationships and the range of opportunities and challenges facing both councils, the councils have decided now is the right time to increase the senior officer capacity and for West Sussex to recruit a new chief executive, with Becky Shaw returning to East Sussex full time once the new person is in place.
The working relationships between the councils and with local partner organisations were strengthened during the pandemic and those strong foundations are helping the councils respond to the challenges of cost of living rises, recruitment and retention and the increased demands for council services.
The county councils will continue to work closely together supporting economic growth, promoting the Sussex visitor economy, working with the NHS, lobbying for the needs of East and West Sussex to be understood and met by Government and other bodies and making the very best use of resources.
Cllr Paul Marshall said: “West Sussex County Council is in good shape to face the significant challenges and uncertainties ahead and we are proud of all the team has achieved since 2020. We are grateful for the significant contribution Becky and the East Sussex team have made to West Sussex and we look forward to continuing to work in partnership once we have recruited a new chief executive.”
Cllr Keith Glazier said: “The local improvement partnership between us was the first of its kind between upper tier councils. It has been very effective and will continue to evolve. I know the timing is right for this next step with strong foundations and huge ambition and we look forward to carrying on working well together.”
Becky Shaw said “The role at West Sussex is a great opportunity for the right person to lead the officer team at the thriving and ambitious county council. It has been a huge privilege to work across both councils and I am very proud of all we have achieved. The teams in East and West Sussex share a huge ambition for local people, businesses and communities and I know will continue to go from strength to strength working closely together on common issues. I look forward to being part of it.”
National Health Service & Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing Association Elizabeth Cycle Project EG
For information regarding the long awaited cycle improvement scheme between Elizabeth Crescent and Meridian Way (private road). WSCC Highways Officer Nick De Sousa has advised they aim to start Mon 6 November 2023.
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission have installed a new marker in the Mount Noddy Cemetery to mark the graves of WW2 which are in the currently closed Queens Road Cemetery. QRC is hoped to be reopened for the public to visit but in the meantime those wishing to pay respects to all of East Grinsteads War Victims can do so in Mount Noddy.
Please note it has been brought to our attention that the Annual Town Meeting in the diary for Wednesday 27th March 2024 clashes with a Mid Sussex District Council meeting. We are looking to move the meeting to Tuesday 26th March and this will be brought to the Council meeting on 8th January 2024.
Planning – updated
Gatcom News and AGM
The next meeting of GATCOM will be held on Thursday 2 November 2023 commencing at 2.00 p.m. The agenda papers for the meeting are attached for your use. The agenda papers are also available on GATCOM’s website.
Please note the meeting will be held virtually, via MS Teams. Members of the public are welcome to observe the meeting. To register your interest to observe the meeting please contact the GATCOM Secretary by no later than close of business on 31 October 2023 secretary@gatcom.org.uk
Our Annual General Meeting (AGM) held remotely on 24 October 2023 supported two important policy motions. Representatives from our 43 county associations backed the Shropshire County Association of Local Councils call for government to recognise the value of local (parish and town) councils as effective delivery agents of government policy and open funding opportunities to direct access rather than through principal authorities. The AGM also called on all political parties, as the general election approaches, to commit to implementing the proposals of the Committee on Standards in Public Life including introducing sanctions for poor behaviour of councillors and enacting that within the first year of forming the new government These motions underscore our existing manifesto objectives of direct access to government funding and a strengthening the standards regime. The AGM also reappointed Baroness Ros Scott of Needham Market as president; and Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle, Cllr Sue Baxter, Andrew Gwynne MP, The Earl of Lytton and Lord O’Shaughnessy as vice-presidents. They were thanked for their help in raising the profile of NALC and the sector, with Baroness Scott commended for her work on the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill. The AGM also approved our Annual Report, setting out successes over the last year and future plans. The affiliation fee for 2024/25 of 7.94 pence per elector, capped at £2,037 for larger councils, was also approved.
Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill and remote meetings
The Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill has been in its ping pong stage over the last week. This is when amendments to and fro between the House of Commons and the House of Lords. Following the disappointing vote by MPs on 17 October 2023 to overturn a Lords amendment giving councils the flexibility to hold remote council meetings, the Bill was back again in the Lords then the Commons. On 23 October 2023, Baroness McIntosh of Pickering tabled a revised and pragmatic amendment which would provide for a minister via regulations to specify circumstances in which remote meetings would be allowed. In a thread on Twitter/X, NALC’s head of policy and communications, Justin Griggs, covered what happened, including the vote where Peers backed the amendment by 208 votes to 199. The Bill then went back to the Commons on 24 October 2023, but despite continued cross-party support, the government set out their continued opposition, with MPs again striking out the amendment by 292 to 177. Justin has the full summary on Twitter/X in another thread. I hope councils will acknowledge and recognise the efforts NALC and others have gone to on our remote meetings campaign, and like you, we are bitterly disappointed the government still steadfastly disagree, despite the overwhelming evidence of the extensive benefits. Rest assured this is an issue we will continue to lobby on, including in the run up to the General Election by calling on all political parties to include this in their manifestos.
NALC National Network: Climate emergency
Our national network on climate emergency held its latest online gathering on 19 October 2023 to discuss the Great Collaboration website, the Local Net Zero Forum Task and Finish Group and biodiversity. The network received an overview of the Great Collaboration, a website developed by the Herefordshire Green Network that features up to 60 actions individuals can take in response to climate change and nature recovery. It was explained that the Place Based Initiative would take over the website and aims to extend its use extended nationwide. A further update was provided on the Department for Energy, Security and Net Zero’s recent Local Net Zero Forum Task and Finish Group meeting, which was in the process of setting up at least four sub-groups to help achieve net zero. Network members were also encouraged to seek out the climate officer at their principal authority and to look out for NALC’s 2024/25 events programme as climate change would feature on it. If you have any issues you’d like the network to be discussing or considering, or ideas for speakers at their meetings, do let us know at policycomms@nalc.gov.uk. And do join the network if you haven’t already!
Legal bulletin
We have issued our bi-monthly legal bulletin update to county officers. The bulletin includes updates on whether a councillor who resigned before signing their declaration of acceptance of office could be employed as the clerk, the secret filming of council meetings by a councillor, a recent elections legal case, the Building Safety Act 2023 and information on the revised request for legal advice forms.
An introduction to the Local Council Award Scheme event
We’ve launched another free event on the Local Council Award Scheme (LCAS), which introduces the core principles of the scheme and helps councils have the confidence to put in an application. It is open to councillors, clerks and other council staff interested in the scheme. The event will detail the benefits of applying, how to apply, how the scheme works, tips on making the best application possible, how to make the most of achieving accreditation, and an opportunity to ask further questions about the scheme. Please find out more about this event and all our other events.
On the blog: Utility Aid
This week’s blog is from NALC’s partner, Utility Aid and lists the benefits of fixing energy costs for local councils. A few benefits are that councils can plan their budgets with more certainty, have greater control over their expenses, and help them be more sustainable and efficient. The blog also lists the benefits of joining Utility Aid’s National Charity Tender, including discounted rates achieved through the scheme. Visit Utility Aid’s website to learn more about the National Charity Tender.
Surrey Association of Local Councils AGM and Conference
Last week, on 19 October 2023, NALC’s senior solicitor and legal manager, Jane Moore, attended the Surrey Association of Local Councils AGM and Conference held at Dorking Halls in Dorking. The 120 attendees heard from Ellie Vesey-Thompson, the deputy police and crime commissioner, Emma Armstrong, head of services of domestic abuse refuge charity I Choose Freedom, Chris Moon from the Surrey Local Resilience Forum, and Surrey County Council.
Smaller Authorities’ Audit Appointments
The Smaller Authorities’ Audit Appointments (SAAA) board met on 18 October 2023. It is still developing as a new board and considering its future strategic direction and operating model. It welcomed its new chief executive, Annie Childs, and thanked departing general manager Howard Midworth for his outstanding contribution. The board also noted that at the end of September 2023, 179 smaller authorities still needed to submit an exemption certificate or Annual Governance and Accountability Return (AGAR) for review. It was noted, however, that half of those non-submissions were by parish meetings.
Making Music event
One of NALC’s strategic objectives is to raise the sector’s profile with other national bodies and membership organisations to raise awareness and encourage more people to get involved in their local council and make a change. This week, our vice-president, Cllr Sue Baxter, One Voice Wales chief executive, Lyn Cadwallader and the town clerk of Bridport Town Council, Will Austin, spoke at an event organised by Making Music, which represents around 228,000 musicians. We set out what local councils do and how they can support local music groups and musicians and encouraged the attendees to contact their local councils. Discussions focussed on how these groups could promote their work to local councils and access grants and other support. Our attention was also drawn to Make Music Day, an annual celebration of music held every year on 21 June, which councils may consider supporting.
Association of Liberal Democrat Councillors online conference for parish and town councillors
Following our attendance at the recent political party conferences, we were pleased to continue our engagement through involvement in the Association of Liberal Democrat Councillors (ALDC) inaugural online conference for parish and town councillors on 21 October 2023. We want local councils and councillors of all political stripes and none to be as effective as they can in making a change in their communities. Which is why in our session The Art of the Possible – what can you achieve on your council and hosted by Justin, shared some examples on how to do just this with lightning talks from Bridport Town Council, Sevenoaks Town Council and Yate Town Council. Other sessions covered being an effective councillor and finance and budgets plus social media and building a positive culture delivered by our partners, Breakthrough Communications. Of course, we’d be more than happy to run similar sessions for other political parties at any of their own events for parish and town councillors!
Shared Intelligence free online event on climate change
Our colleagues at Shared Intelligence are holding a free online event on developing town and parish council actions on the climate change and nature depletion agenda on 9 November 2023. You may recall Shared Intelligence wrote a delivery framework to support parish and town councils, they have since been working with Friends of the Earth on identifying some key steps for principal local authorities in their report Road to Zero Carbon: council action on green jobs and skills and are keen to broaden the thinking to the most local level of local government. The webinar will explore how councils can identify and plan action towards net zero, address nature depletion, consider a range of levers available, and how to move beyond a menu of possibilities and into action. Speakers include Tony Blake, director, Shared Intelligence, Sandra Bell, senior sustainability analyst, Friends of the Earth and a NALC speaker to be confirmed.
And finally…
Last week, colleagues from the Suffolk Association of Local Councils (SALC) launched guidance for local councils on Nationally Strategic Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs) developed collaboratively between SALC and Suffolk County Council (SCC). The guide was produced using funding from the Department for Levelling Up Housing and Communities, obtained through the SCC NSIP Centre of Excellence Programme. The guide brought together the expertise of both organisations and is designed to assist those representing the views on these significant projects impacting the community. A massive well done to everyone involved!
