Please forward this email to elected members for news on training offers and key messages for the sector.
If you are reading this and wish to subscribe to the weekly e-news just click here:
PRECEPTS | The 31st January deadline for submissions is fast approaching - don't forget to get it submitted and if you foresee an issue please shout up sooner rather than later!
COUNCILLORS' NETWORKING EVENT 9 MARCH 2023 | Registration is now open for the event at Kingston Maurward. We have a number of guest speakers that will be providing updates and insightful presentations. The 'Working Together' theme and discussion continues.
We are pleased to say that Cllr. Spencer Flower, The Leader of Dorset Council will be present and do a Q&A. The Chair of NALC, Cllr. Keith Stevens and Justin Griggs will join a panel to chat on working relationship between unitary councils and parishes. Tony Blake from Shared Intelligence will present his report commissioned by the LGA about 'Local Service Delivery and Place Shaping'....please read as it will no doubt provide you with questions you might like to ask. In addition we will be joined by a number of the Dorset Council place based teams for elected members to chat to and meet. This is a Dorset Council area event only and you can register now to secure your place. The cost per delegate is £75.00 (normal booking terms apply) and the event runs between 10am and 3pm. REGISTER NOW
BCP ELECTIONS MAY 2023 |We are working with the elections team at BCP Council to support clerks and elected members over the coming weeks and months in the lead up to 4 May. Each council will get a guidance pack with all the key dates and actions required. This will be with you imminently - look out in your mailbox.
CHANGING CHAIRS TRAINING | We are offering a number of dates for chair training for both new and existing councillors picking the chair role back up. Ideally timed in readiness for the period after annual meetings of council. For more information on dates and times click this link: CHANGING CHAIRS
NEW CLERK INDUCTION TRAINING| 13th February - training specifically for new clerks with less than 9 months experience in the role. For more information please click this link: NEW CLERK INDUCTION
DORSET COUNCIL MANAGER'S FORUM | This week I made a short presentation to around 130 managers across Dorset Council. This was an opportunity we didn't want to miss, specifically as we work through the various actions from our AGM in November. I took the opportunity to encourage team managers to use parish and town councils across the Dorset Coundil area to support the work they do or have planned. Making full use of officer and elected member insights and knowledge of their local area. One aspect we encouraged was the use of the 'Working Together Webinars' on a regular basis to ensure member councils get advanced information about projects and changes impacting their communities. rs over the coming week
I also tackled the point often raised about getting issues logged and return phone calls and emails. In the panel further down you will see information relating to a dedicated telephone number and email address where you can log an issue or query if you are unable to get it resolved via the standard process - or need to get an issue into the right team and are unsure where to go. We will keep this in the e-news for a few weeks and will issue some direct communications about this too.
You can watch my presentation (13 mins): DAPTC PRESENTATION VIDEO. We will continue to keep parish and town councils on the radar of managers and teams across Dorset Council - encouraging as much collaboration as possible.
WORKING TOGETHER WEBINARS | Following our presentation to Dorset Council this week we have some other topics that will be added to the schedule:
7 February 4pm | Dorset Council 20 mph policy - REGISTER NOW
On Hold | Electric Vehicle Charging Points - REGISTRATION TEMPORARILY CLOSED
23 February 4pm | Digital Inclusion - REGISTER NOW
20 April 4pm | Libraries Strategy Update (registration not open yet)
Climate, Ecology and Environment (To be confirmed) - will be online and present at 9 March event announced above
Armed Forces Covenant (To be confirmed)
Bus Service Improvement Plan (To be confirmed)
Youth Councils (To be confirmed)
Planning (To be confirmed)
Just click on the 'register now' wording above to book your free spot. Have a great weekend and let's hope the rain disappears some time soon!
Clerks, Chairs and Parish Councillors - not getting a response to an issue raised with Dorset Council?
1. In the first instance please trust the standard process for reporting issues to the teams responsible.
Dorset Council's website can help you log an issue or problems that have occurred in your community. As a clerk or local councillor, making yourself familiar with the website content and navigation will help you and help others in your parish or town.
Just one great example often used, is when you or a resident wants to report a problem on a road or pavement. Highways team have a dedicated webpage that allows you to report the matter direct to the team. ROADS, HIGHWAYS and MAINTENANCE
Please trust the process in the first instance and allow the teams to review what has been submitted. It is not possible to supply parish and town councils with an accurate and permanently updated staff and team directory, so using the website for the vast majority of issue reporting will get your concern to the right team.
2. If the problem hasn't been resolved within the timeframe anticipated and you are struggling to get an update or reply; the following email address and telephone number is how you can escalate the issue.
Please don't use this the first time you raise the issue unless you are unsure of the team that needs to be made aware. In using the information below it will allow the customer service team to identify issues that want escalating because:
You've not found the right team through your use of the website and need assistance to to do just that;
The issue has been logged, but as yet the matter hasn't been resolved and it's now becoming urgent.
For Clerks (or Chairs of council if between clerks or covering holiday):
DAPTC work with Chris Moses, of Personnel Advice & Solutions Ltd, to deliver HR training. Chris also produces a newsletter on practical HR matters that can affect all parish and town councils. The topics included in this months newsletter are:
~ Check employees entitlement to work in the UK. Does your council have evidence of every employee's entitlement to work in the UK, regardless of their national origins?
~ Conduct Health and Safety training Councils are obliged under the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 to protect
employees from harm at work. What are the requirements for all councils?
~ Register with HMRC and have a pension scheme.
~ Check the Employment status of Contractors. Are your Contractors really employees?
~ Have a secure, encrypted memory cloud storage base, if the Clerk works from home. Can your council access
confidential or important information if the Clerk is ill or the laptop fails?
~ Statutory Payment rate from April 2023 including Maternity Pay, Statutory Sick Pay & Minimum wage.
** NEW ** 2. Do you know how to us Contracts Finder?
Lytchett Matravers Parish Council has a large project which means that the parish council needs to put contracts out for tender using Contracts Finder. Tim Watton, the Clerk at the council, and his councillors are unfamiliar with the system and are looking for some help and advice on how they can continue with their large procurement project. Have you and your council experience of using the system and would you be prepared to give some help to Tim? He and the parish council would be really grateful for any pointers. You can contact Tim Watton directly on 07824 829491 or by email at lytchettmatravers@dorset-aptc.gov.uk
** NEW ** 3. Read the results of the first national survey of the local council sectors in more than 30 years.
SLCC has collaborated with the Local Governance Research Centre (LGRC) at De Montfort University (DMU) to conduct and important survey of parish, town and community council clerks across England and Wales; the first comprehensive, national survey of the local council sector in more than thirty years. It reveals how these local councils, the tier of government closest to the people they serve, have changed, taking on so much more and being central to the running of their communities. Click here to read The Future of Local Councils survey.
** NEW ** 4. Getting ready for the Coronation events and celebrations.
We are now starting to receive information on timetable and events that are being prepared for the new King's Coronation in May. We will cover this topic in further detail over the coming months, but to get you going here are some links to whet your appetite and get you and your councillors thinking about what you can get your towns and villages involved in.
~ There is now a page dedicated to resources on NALC's website and this will be updated with more information as it
becomes available. Find the NALC Coronation page here. Corfe Castle Parish Council have already started the ball rolling and information on their plans can be found on the NALC page. ~ The official news website for the Royal Family and the coronation is https://www.royal.uk/.
~ Information on the actual weekend plans, including the ceremony, concert,, Big Lunch and Big Help Out, were
announced on 21st January 2023.
~ The Coronation Big Lunch, coordinated by The Eden Project, has launched a range of resources to help organise
celebrations and street parties over the coronation weekend.
** NEW ** 5. Are you interested in a Queen Elizabeth Memorial Bench?
We have been informed by FuturForm that they still have a number of Queen Elizabeth Memorial Benches available to purchase. Contact Rob Dimambro at rob.d@futurform.co.uk
NALC will celebrate International Women’s Day on 8th March 2023, a global day celebrating women’s social, economic, cultural, and political achievements.
NALC would like to make a video to showcase women’s achievements in the local council sector to celebrate International Women’s Day and encourage more women to stand as councillors. By showcasing women’s achievements in the local council sector, we hope to inspire more women to stand as councillors.
Colleagues at other County Associations are working together to build a picture of how much the 10,000 parish and town councils in England spend each year on solicitors for things like land transfers, lease agreements, contracts and procurement, legal disputes, and general legal advice.
If your council spent funds on legal services during the financial year ending 31 March 2022 please can you report the data via the survey here. Please respond by 5pm 31 January 2023 if possible. The data will be used purely for illustration; no personal information is being collected and no contact will be made with individual councils.
NALC On-Line Events
** NEW EVENT ** Standards Matter - 3rd March 2023 12pm - 1.15pm Click herefor more information
** NEW EVENT ** Tackling the housing crisis the local way, with custom and self-build homes - 15th March 2023 12pm - 1.15pm Click herefor more information
** NEW EVENT ** What local councils can do about emergency planning - 29th March 2023 12pm - 1.15pm Click herefor more information
Links to useful NALC Webpages:
NALC Committees - if you are interested in the work that NALC does through it's committees, you can view the latest Agendas and Minutes here.
