So now is a good time to start thinking about whether you have what it takes to represent your local community and be a county councillor.

People across West Sussex are being encouraged to consider putting themselves forward to stand for election as part of the nationwide ‘Be A Councillor’ campaign.

Local councillors come from all walks of life and with varying backgrounds, experiences and family lives. Some have full time jobs or caring responsibilities, some choose to represent a political party, others stand as independents. The most important thing is a desire to make a difference for your community.

The county council is organising a series of events across West Sussex for anyone wanting to find out more about what being a county councillor involves. The events provide an opportunity to talk to existing county councillors and learn more about what to do if you decide to stand for election.

There’s no need to book and you can join us at any of these events taking place between February and June this year:

• 20 February: Crawley Library
• 5 March: Shoreham-by-Sea Library
• 21 March: Littlehampton Library
• 11 May: Worthing Library
• 16 May: Burgess Hill Library
• 5 June: Horsham Library
• 18 June: County Hall, Chichester (this event can also be joined virtually).

You’ll find full details including times on our ‘Be A Councillor’ campaign page.

‘Rewarding experience’

West Sussex County Council Chairman Councillor Pete Bradbury said:  “Whatever your politics, there has never been a more important time to be a councillor and represent your local community.

“The county council needs councillors who are keen, energetic and engaged, with a commitment to local people and a passion for good local services. It’s truly a rewarding experience.

“Our work and the decisions we make help improve the lives of all of our residents as well as supporting businesses and communities across West Sussex.

“There are challenges too of course, not least the current financial pressures we all face. New councillors will have much to learn but, as councillors, we all have access to training, support and guidance to help us get things done making the best of the resources we have.

“If you would like to represent your community and make a difference in West Sussex, please come along to one of our events and find out more.”

More information

The West Sussex County Council ‘Be A Councillor’ campaign page contains full information including eligibility to stand, the role of a county councillor, how to stand, and details of all drop-in events.

Email democratic.services@westsussex.gov if you would like further information.

Our Council Plan is West Sussex County Council’s plan and outlines the priorities and outcomes we want to achieve for people who live and work in West Sussex.

Debate Not Hate is the national campaign to promote healthy debate and disagreement as part of democracy, while warning of the risks of abuse and intimidation.

Chief executive’s bulletin

25 January 2024

Jo Cox Foundation report of Civility Commission 

As you will have read in the open letter by NALC’s chair, Cllr Keith Stevens, promoting civility and respect is among his key priorities. One of the many organisations we have been engaging with over the last year is the Jo Cox Foundation and their Civility Commission looking at abuse and intimidation of elected representatives. I was pleased that NALC was invited to meet with the Commission to brief them on our Civility and Respect Project and the challenges our local (parish and town) councils face. The Foundation’s chief executive Su Moore joined our excellent meeting of the National Assembly in November to give an update on the Commission and its emerging proposals. This is why I was pleased to see our work and many of the issues we raised reflected in the Commission’s report launched in Parliament on 24 January, which NALC was at. The report is a call to action to promote “debate not hate” in local and central government, stressing that abuse and intimidation have no place in politics and have detrimental effects on democracy in the UK. In particular, it was good to see the report highlight our work including the Civility and Respect Pledge. The report sets out 28 recommendations for different sectors covering political literacy, social media and the media, police and security, Parliaments, local government, elections and political parties. In terms of the next steps, we’ll be considering the report in more detail and continuing to work with the Commission on taking the recommendations forward, including through our Civility and Respect Project.

Activity report 

This week, we published our quarterly activity report covering October to December 2023. The quarterly activity report details progress in delivering NALC’s strategic plan, including information on internal issues, parliamentary and government affairs work, events, finances, media coverage, publications and legal advice. This quarter’s report summarises the organisation’s strategic direction and significant milestones during the reporting period. Key highlights include NALC’s new councillor leadership and committee membership team, The Community Ownership Fund, Star Council Awards 2023 and parliamentary reception, and County association engagements. The subsequent report will cover January to March 2024, which we will publish in April 2024.

On the blog: GoCollaborate on neighbourhood planning 

This week’s blog from GoCollaborate and PlanSupport discusses digital engagement in neighbourhood planning. In recent years, the integration of digital tools and platforms has arguably helped revolutionise the way neighbourhood planning is conducted, fostering greater inclusivity, transparency, and efficiency. In this blog post, the authors share tips for successful digital engagement in neighbourhood planning in practice. Read the blog to find out more!

NALC launches latest suite of online events 

Following a bumper year again for NALC’s online events where most events sold out and with positive feedback, I’m delighted we’ve just published our online events for the April to September 2024 period here. These sessions cover themes of local government finance, climate change, artificial intelligence and neighbourhood plans. Bookings have already started to come in, so do join them and book here.

New NALC banking webpage launched 

In response to numerous complaints from local councils regarding various challenges of dealing with high street banks – such as a lack of understanding about what local councils are or do, issues with online banking, extended wait times for telephone banking, and difficulties in completing mandate forms over the last few years – we’ve launched a new banking web page. The page is designed to shed light on the complex banking environment within which local councils operate, addressing prevalent banking issues and their likely causes. It also outlines advocacy undertaken by NALC and other organisations in the sector in recent years. The web page features essential information such as contact details, initiatives involving engaged banks, relevant resource links, a summary of NALC’s 2020 banking research, a specific note for high street banks defining the roles of local councils, and updates on relevant news stories. We’ll keep the webpage and resources updated and continue engaging with UK Finance (the trade association for banks), high street banks and other organisations.

NALC Policy Committee

NALC’s Policy Committee held its first meeting of the year on 23 January via Zoom, highlights include:

• A motion was adopted from the Yorkshire Local Councils Associations (YLCA) asking NALC to lobby for the Fire and Rescue Service to be statutory consultees for the development of Battery Energy Storage System sites of one megawatt or greater.
• Another motion from YLCA supported was urging NALC to lobby the government for a change in national planning policy to make it mandatory for local planning authorities to engage with affected local councils regarding formal pre-application discussions for major developments.

• A third motion from the Dorset Association of Local Councils was also agreed, requesting NALC to lobby the government for changes to planning policy guidance to improve consistency between Conservation’s adherence to less effective standards and Building Regulation’s requirements for environmental and energy-efficient insulation methods and materials, whilst respecting the value of listed buildings.
• Councillors discussed a proposed draft work programme for the next two years aimed at delivering the priorities of National Assembly; this is being updated to reflect feedback from the committee before then being considered by our Management Board.
• Shelley Parker, policy and external affairs manager, Society of Local Council Clerks and Charlene Slade, chief executive officer at the Essex Association of Local Councils, were co-opted to the committee for 2024/25.
• The committee were joined by Samantha Banks, neighbourhood planning programme manager at Locality who gave a presentation covering neighbourhood planning, the government funded support programme including grant and technical support, toolkits and resources available, the advice service, quarterly newsletter and closer working with NALC. As I know the support programme is vital in helping our local councils develop their neighbourhood plans, it is good the Committee agreed to write to the government urging long-term continuation of support for neighbourhood planning.

NALC/LGA corporate peer challenge  

NALC works closely with the Local Government Association (LGA) on the joint corporate peer challenge scheme for our largest councils. Peer challenges help larger councils benchmark themselves against similar councils and identify what they are doing well and how they can improve. So far, Chippenham, Falmouth, Cirencester, and Morecombe have benefited from the corporate peer challenge. Cirencester Town Council had its peer challenge in November 2022, which I was pleased to be part of! They have now published the results of their recent follow-up review, and I am glad to report the team noted that good progress had been made on their action plan, demonstrating their ongoing commitment to improvement. A national programme of further peer challenges is being drawn up, and I will keep you informed of opportunities to get involved.

Fortnightly meeting with county association officers 

This week’s meeting of NALC and county association officers focussed on the new model and template contracts of employment that were recently released. We were joined by NALC’s national HR partners Worknest who updated us on key changes to employment law in recent years and how that impacted changes to those documents. If your council is hiring a new member of staff and would like assistance in putting together their contracts of employment then please do contact your county association who will be able to help, either through local arrangements or the national HR advisory service.

Updated legal guidance

We have updated Legal Topic Note 87 on procurement with the new public procurement thresholds that took effect on 1 January 2024 and are updated every other year. The thresholds apply to public works, public services and public supply contracts. You can find the updated guidance in the members area of the NALC website (login required).

NALC National Network: LGBT+ councillors 

NALC’s national network for LGBT+ councillors held its first meeting of the year on 22 January. The network aims to raise awareness of LGBT+ issues and improve the visibility of the community in the sector. The network shared events their councils will be holding in February to celebrate LGBT+ History Month – please email policycomms@nalc.gov.uk and let us know what your council is doing to highlight LGBT+ History Month. Also, the network began planning for Pride month, and discussed how NALC’s new website section for the group could better reflect the network’s aims and priorities for 2024. If you haven’t joined the network and would like to attend, you can sign up here.

And finally… 

Back in October 2023 at the Society of Local Council Clerks (SLCC) annual conference, our chair, Cllr Keith Stevens, took part in their podcast series, speaking about how NALC works and how he uses his role to promote the work of, and campaign for, England’s 10,000 local councils. The episode featuring Keith has recently been published, so do check it out.