7 December 2023

No council tax referendum principles in 2024/25 

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.
• The work programme will comprise developing NALC’s current big themes (climate change, health and well-being, Make A Change, planning and young people) plus a new theme on community safety, data, workforce, financial resilience, sector risks, artificial intelligence, micro councils, and creation of new councils including in new garden villages and towns.

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.

Suzy Lamplugh Trust/WorkNest webinars  

Bullying and harassment are not common in local councils, but when they do occur, they are damaging and challenging. Through our Civility and Respect Project, we are working to identify ways to provide support and help. As part of that work, we’re organising a series of free online events open to all councillors, clerks and other council staff. Our partners, WorkNest, will run a webinar workshop on tackling toxic behaviour in local councils on 15 January 2024. And the Suzy Lamplugh Trust will lead a personal safety awareness-raising talk on 25 January 2024 and a stalking awareness-raising talk on 15 February 2024.

On the blog: Newport Pagnell Town Council 

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.