There are some weeks when I feel I've missed a golden opportunity and this was one of those weeks. Seeing Jackie Weaver my counterpart in Cheshire do a sketch with AC-12 and Jack Whitehall to open the Brit Awards, made me wonder how things could have been so different.
With that dream consigned to the bin it's back to reality and a few things to bring quickly to your attention. The guidance we issued last Friday on the return to physical meetings has resulted in a flurry of emails this week. Keep the emails coming or requests for phone calls, it's what we are here to do for you. I'd much rather that than a silence! The link is below in the next section if you missed it.
Our colleagues at Dorset Council have two/three opportunities for engagement of parishes coming up:
We emailed out this week two dates for 24th and 25th May on the topic of'Connecting Rural Dorset'- these hour long sessions will prove informative and help communities understand how they can get their residents and businesses connected with the latest funding and projects. Registration instructions on the above link.
COVID Recovery in Dorset - Briefing 3rd June 2021 at 4pm- Now that hopefully the peak of the pandemic has passed in the UK many organisations are thinking about the recovery from Covid 19. As part of the local resilience work Dorset Council and BCP Council have the lead role under the Civil Contingencies Act to drive the programme for recovery. For Dorset Council Cllr Noc Lacey-Clarke has been designated as the lead Member for Covid Recovery. John Sellgren the Executive Director for Place is the lead officer and also chairs the Local Resilience Forum Recovery Coordination Group. Noc and John recently presented to Dorset Council Members on the Recovery process and many commented that this presentation would be of interest to Town and Parish Councils. Join both John and Noc, hosted by DAPTC to find out more.REGISTER HERE
This last week we have been shipping out Star Awards certificates to councils who have exceeded our expectations in terms of a commitment to developing and training their elected members. Thanks for the positive responses and we'll be in touch shortly about the 2021/22 scheme.
I'll finish on training - we've had a few Neighbourhood Plan requestsand have now added some dates in September, plus we have some gaps oncommunications coursesfor councils in early June and it would be fab if we can fill them up!
Regards,
Neil
Please forward this update to elected members so they can also keep up-to-date and have an appreciation of what's happening in the sector.
INFORMATION | GUIDANCE | ADVICE
Don't forget to check out the links to Dorset organisations in the Other News section at the bottom of this newsletter, they are updated regularly.
1. Guidance on the return of physical meetings.
DAPTC have issued guidance to all our members to help councils with the return of physical meetings. The guidance can be found within the Resource Hub of the DAPTC website in the Governance section.
2. The Little Book of Big Scams from the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit
Please find here a copy of the Little Book of Big Scams– this fraud prevention resource has been created by the South West Regional Crime Unit to help raise awareness of the dangers of fraud and offer preventative measures to help keep everyone safe from financial crimes.
If you are interested in finding out more information on the SWROCU please check out their website here. Alternatively, please get in touch by email withAshley Joneswho is the Regional Fraud Protect Advisor.
Training in May: Webinars - DAPTC delivered 'Changing Chairs' for new Chairs, including refresher for more experienced Chairs **LIMITED PLACES**
Planning - Important Planning Concepts - part three of the trio of planning training. The trio restarts in June.
Training coming up in June: Webinars- DAPTC delivered 'Changing Chairs' for new Chairs, including refresher for more experienced Chairs **LIMITED PLACES ON 7 JUNE**
NALC's dedicated Coronavirus webpagenow includes updated information on the possibility of the return of face-to-face meetings, suggestions to help prepare, risk assessment considerations and some tips to help manage remote meetings.
NALC Launch a new publication on Trees
The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) has launched a new publication on local (parish and town) councils and the Tree Charter.
The publication which features a number of case studies captures the stories of local councils who were Charter Branches (local networks that signed up to the Tree Charter) and their actions from the Tree Charter as a resource of inspiration to other local councils.
Find out more and read the publication here.
NALC WANT TO HERE YOUR VIEWS ON A NUMBER OF CURRENT CONSULTATIONS AND SURVEYS
1. Consultation on Rural Broadband
NALC is calling for your views on Rural Broadbank. Details can be found in the policy consultationbriefing here. Responses need to be returned to NALC at the latest by 5pm on Tuesday 25th May 2021.
2. Consultation on Electronic Communications Infrastructure
Your views are sort for a consultation that NALC will be responding to on electronic communications infrastructure. Details can be found in the policy consultation briefing here. Responses need to be returned to NALCat the latest by 5pm on Friday 21st May 2021.
3. Survey on Young People
The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) is calling on local (parish and town) councils to complete its new survey on young people. The survey will explore what local councils are currently doing to support young people in our communities. Further information on the survey can be found here
Dorset Council funding is now available to help with projects and events for arts, museums, heritage, community, physical and play activities. Applications can be made for a grant of up to 80% of total project costs. Grants from £1000 to £5000 are available. Round One closes on the 11th June 2021 with awards being confirmed towards the end of July. For further details on eligibility and how to apply can be found on the Dorset Council website funding pagehere.
New government gigabit voucher scheme launched this week
A new government gigabit voucher scheme to help residents and businesses in rural areas was launched on Thursday (8 April).
Small and medium sized businesses can claim up to £3,500 and residents can claim £1,500 per household. To be eligible you must be rural (as defined by the Office for National Statistics), you must receive speeds of less than 100mbps and your area and must not be included in any future commercial roll-out plans. The Dorset Council top-up fund from the previous voucher scheme has rolled over into the new scheme. This will mean, while the funding is available, that businesses in Dorset can claim up to £6,000 and residents up to £2,500.
Under this voucher scheme, residents and businesses that currently receive less than 50mbps will have to take a new service of at least 50, and for those that receive 50 and above, will need to take a service of at least 100mbps.
Get the latest news from Dorset Council, including leisure centre offers, waste and recycling, libraries and more. Sign up to their various newsletters here.
Community Engagement - Website Content & Navigation
We are looking for more volunteers to join our group to help us review the structure of our content and website navigation to ensure it is user-friendly, accessible and easy to understand. Do you think you could help?
To get involved and join the group, please complete our quick survey here.
Vaccination Rollout
More than 729,000 COVID vaccine doses have been given now in Dorset. This video produced by Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group shows the incredible effort across Dorset to achieve this. You can view the Dorset CCG Vaccinations page here for further here.
Through our partnership with Dorset CCG, the communications team have asked that we share the attached social media assets which can be used on your website and social media profiles.
