LALC ENews 6th March 2023

If you need your vacancy advertising and do not have a pre-prepared advert to send us, please complete our Vacancy Template, which can be found in the Members Portal under Document Templates.

꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰꙰꙰ ꙰꙰꙰꙰ ꙰꙰꙰

LALC Extra General Meeting - 16th March 7:00pm (via Zoom)

On Monday 27th February an email invitation was sent out to all member councils inviting them to an EGM called by LALC’s County Committee. There was an agenda attached with the proposals and a copy of the proposed constitution, along with a control change document and the proposed new structure.

We appreciate this is a busy time for councils, with end of year fast approaching and the forthcoming elections in May. However, in line with the current constitution an EGM may be called with two weeks’ notice. Following the County Committee meeting held on 2nd February 2023, whereby it was agreed to call the meeting, the documents were prepared allowing for comments from the Executive Committee prior to them being circulated to all councils.

The reason for the EGM being held in March, is due to the elections being held in May. If the proposals for the new management structure are accepted by the majority of the members, the intention is to call the AGM earlier for 2023 only (suggested date 29th June 2023). This will allow for all newly elected councillors and those returning to settle into ‘council life’, to attend their Annual Parish Council Meetings and have time to consider if they wish to apply for one of the four vacant positions (2 councillors, 2 clerks) on the LALC Management Committee. It will also allow time for their respective councils to approve/propose the nomination. The candidates will be appointed by the AGM and remain in post for the four-year period. The current Chair and Vice Chair will remain in post for continuity if they are re-elected/returned to their respective councils. This will allow for continuity in the first year of the new structure. The posts of Chair and Vice Chair will be re-elected on an annual basis as per the current arrangement.

As there is only one vote per council, it is not necessary for there to be more than one member of each council present, although everyone is welcome of course. Should no-one be able to attend from the council but wish to pass comments we are happy to accept and will also consider email votes. However, we do require a quorum to be present which is 10% of the membership, otherwise the meeting will have to be called again for the following week.

The proposed changes to the Constitution allows the Association to streamline the management structure from 24+ members on the County Committee which includes an Executive Committee within the structure, made up of the President, Treasurer (both ex-officio positions), Chair, Vice Chair (councillors) and the Chief Executive to a more manageable Management Committee of the executive members, plus the Deputy Chief Executive, two further councillors and two clerks.

Regular reports currently received by the County Committee, will be submitted to the new Management Committee and available for all members, other than any confidential reports. The Management Committee will have the authority to appoint a sub-committee if necessary.

꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰꙰꙰ ꙰꙰꙰꙰ ꙰꙰꙰

King Charles III Coronation – BHIB Risk Assessment

BHIB have produced a risk assessment template that you might find helpful in planning and risk assessing your events.

We have converted it into a Word document, and it can be found in Document Templates in the LALC portal for download and amendment.

Search for ‘Coronation’ to find the document.

꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰꙰꙰ ꙰꙰꙰꙰ ꙰꙰꙰

YMCA Lincolnshire – Village Halls Competition

Village Halls video competition to win a top prize of £250 + 2 runner up prizes

Win £250 for your Village Hall video.

Could you be the next Steven Spielberg or Kathryn Bigelow? Do you have the ambition to do for your Village Hall what Rightmove did for your neighbour's house?

As part of our celebration of Village Halls Week we’re launching a competition to find the best video tours of a local hall. In conjunction with Keystone Sound, YMCA Lincolnshire is offering cash prizes of £250, £150 and £100 for the best videos.

Our aim is to encourage village halls to capture the facilities they have on offer, allowing potential hirers to see the hall and to assess everything from kitchen equipment to disabled access, from parking space to staging. Rather like the use of guided tours on property websites, a growing number of halls are finding this a helpful way to market their premises and allow people to take a look round.

All that we are asking you to do is to film a short, hand-held video on your phone. You can find some hints and tips to help you below. We’re inviting submissions that not only show how things are at the present but capture some of the aspirations you might have for future improvements and describe the range of activities you can accommodate. Remember, the emphasis is upon the facilities you have to offer – it shouldn’t feature those taking part in activities.

This may be a great opportunity to involve members of your community in helping to capture your video and present your hall in a positive light.

So get filming and show us your cinematic creativity!

Entries need to be submitted to kirk.thomson@lincsymca.co.uk and we’ll be revealing the winners in our very own Village Hall Oscars ceremony at our Village Hall Cluster meetings in March.

Hints & Tips for your Video

Video Length

The videos must be 2 – 3 minutes maximum in length and can be taken on your mobile phone.

Which Way Up?

Please record clips using a 16:9 aspect ratio (landscape/horizontal) video, not vertical. That often means you'll have to flip your phones sideways to achieve this.

Audio quality

Make sure to speak clearly, and slow down as much as you can to ensure you're heard. Try to minimise the background noise as much as possible.

Lighting

When you're recording a video, it's important that you face the light rather than have it behind you. If you’re appearing in the video, make sure that you don't have the sun behind you as you will be very hard to see.

File Format

When submitting your videos, please ensure that the videos have been recorded either in MP4 or MOV file format.

Resolution

When submitting videos, please ensure that it has been recorded with a resolution of a minimum of 720p (1280 wide, 720 pixels high). Larger sizes are fine (for example 1080p or higher).

Editing

If you need to edit your video you can go to an app store or Google Play and download Capcut which is a free online video editor.

Here’s One We Made Earlier

You can see a sample video of one Village Hall’s tour by going to…..https://youtu.be/Y_TKMA51Jf8

There will be a shortlist of the best five video clip entries and then all halls will have an opportunity to vote for the best 3 clips.

The closing date is Monday 20th March 2023 and winners will be announced on Friday 24th March 2023.

All clips, photos and newsletters will potentially be shared via all our social media platforms and local, and potentially national, media.

For further details, please email kirk.thomson@lincsymca.co.uk or david.payne@lincsymca.co.uk

꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰꙰꙰ ꙰꙰꙰꙰ ꙰꙰꙰

SPAM emails

We’re aware that some councils may be receiving spurious emails which claim to be from LALC. In these cases, please check the email address it has been sent from. Anything which has NOT come from a lalc.co.uk email account is SPAM, and please delete it. LALC’s IT provider is aware, but unfortunately there is nothing more we can do to prevent these.

꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰꙰꙰ ꙰꙰꙰꙰ ꙰꙰꙰

NALC Cost of Living support page

NALC have launched a Cost of Living Support page: https://www.nalc.gov.uk/our-work/cost-of-living

There is also a link to this from the LALC Cost of Living page.

꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰꙰꙰ ꙰꙰꙰꙰ ꙰꙰꙰

When can we hold the Annual Meeting of the Council in May this year?

The following advice has been received from NALC:

Annual council meeting dates for councils with elections and the Coronation bank holiday

Further to our guidance in the October 2022 legal bulletin, we now know that Monday 8 May will be an additional bank holiday to mark the coronation of HM King Charles III. The 2023 local election date is Thursday 4 May and councillors would ordinarily take office on Monday 8 May. Our view is that councillors will now take office on Tuesday 9 May making the relevant 14-day meeting period for the purposes of paragraph 7 (2) of Schedule 12 to the Local Government Act 1972 Wednesday 10-Thursday 25 May inclusive.

This an area where we are aware there have been different interpretations of the computation of days and we have not counted Sundays in our 14-day calculation.

The Local Government Act 1972, Schedule 12, Part II – Parish Councils states:

7(1) A parish council shall in every year hold an annual meeting.

(2) In a year which is a year of ordinary elections of parish councillors, the annual meeting of a parish council shall be held on, or within fourteen days after, the day on which the councillors elected at that election take office, and in any other year the annual meeting shall be held on such day in May as the parish council may determine.

(3) The annual meeting of a parish council shall be held at such hour as the council may fix or, if no hour is so fixed, 6 o’clock in the evening.

Notices can be posted on noticeboards and the websites as usual. If your council’s election is contested and your annual meeting falls in the period 9th to 12th May, Proper Officers will not know who to send the summons to until the result of the election is known so it may be unachievable to give the required three clear days’ notice:

10. (2) Three clear days at least before a meeting of a parish council—

(a) notice of the time and place of the intended meeting shall be fixed in some conspicuous place in the parish and, where the meeting is called by members of the council, the notice shall be signed by those members and shall specify the business proposed to be transacted at the meeting; and

(b) a summons to attend the meeting, specifying the business proposed to be transacted at the meeting and certified by the proper officer of the council, shall be sent to every member of the council by an appropriate method.

(3) Want of service of any such summons as is referred to in sub-paragraph (2)(b) above on any member of the parish council concerned shall not affect the validity of the meeting.

If the election is contested it would be advisable to delay the annual meeting until the following week so that the summons can be delivered to elected councillors. This is not necessary if the candidates are elected uncontested.

You will know by 6th April if a contested election is taking place, and so can the review your Annual Meeting date accordingly.

꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰꙰꙰ ꙰꙰꙰꙰ ꙰꙰꙰

Levelling Up in Lincolnshire

NALC Chief Executive was pleased to join NALC’s chair, Cllr Keith Stevens, and the chief executive of the Lincolnshire Association of Local Councils, Katrina Evans, at an event in Parliament this week hosted by Lord Porter of Spalding about levelling up in South and East Lincolnshire. Attended by many stakeholders including Parliamentarians from across three district council areas, NALC Chief Executive was pleased to hear all the speakers emphasise the importance of place and partnership and stress the role all partners - including councils at all levels – had to play in working together to improve prosperity in the sub-region.

https://twitter.com/NALCchiefexec/status/1628353687801274372?s=20&utm_source=MEMBERS&utm_campaign=ea068c38de-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_06_08_03_15_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_206970988f-ea068c38de-379851572&mc_cid=ea068c38de&mc_eid=55cf3210cb

꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰꙰꙰ ꙰꙰꙰꙰ ꙰꙰꙰

Updates from the Civility and Respect Project Team

The March edition of the Civility and Respect newsletter is out now - https://www.nalc.gov.uk/library/our-work/civility/3847-civility-newsletter-march-2023/file

The project team has made some significant progress over the last few months and we are delighted to share with you some of the resources which have been specifically developed to address the issues of civility and respect across our sector.

The March newsletter includes articles on:

• Councillors responsibilities as employers podcasts

• Launch of civility and respect e-learning

• Sector specific guidance on the LGA code of conduct

• Second early day motion

• Update on the Pledge

• Training workshops still available

Visit the NALC and SLCC websites to find out more information on the project resources, to download the documents and for details of how your council can sign up to the Pledge and training.

Look out for the regular project updates in our NALC and SLCC news bulletins and on social media.

꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰꙰꙰ ꙰꙰꙰꙰ ꙰꙰꙰

Elections Briefings

The final scheduled SKDC briefing for candidates and clerks in SK are:

• Monday 6th March at 6pm - SKDC Offices, Grantham

Places should be booked directly via SKDC.

LALC will be holding two Elections Briefing & Engagement sessions via Zoom:

• Wednesday 15th March at 6:00pm

• Monday 20th March at 6:00pm

Further details will be published on the LALC website.

꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰꙰꙰ ꙰꙰꙰꙰ ꙰꙰꙰

Top 10 communications tips for local councils

NALC's communications and community engagement partners, Breakthrough Communications, have published their top 10 tips for local (parish and town) council communications in 2023. Discover strategies and tactics to make your council's communications more effective over the coming year!

https://breakthroughcomms.co.uk/top-10-tips-for-effective-community-engagement-in-2023/?utm_source=MEMBERS&utm_campaign=760259632f-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_06_08_03_15_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_206970988f-760259632f-379851572&mc_cid=760259632f&mc_eid=55cf3210cb

꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰꙰꙰ ꙰꙰꙰꙰ ꙰꙰꙰

Civility & Respect project launches a new suite of e-learning

The Civility and Respect Project has launched a new suite of e-learning courses for local (parish and town) councils.

https://www.nalc.gov.uk/news/entry/2379-the-civility-and-respect-project-launches-a-new-suite-of-e-learning?utm_source=MEMBERS&utm_campaign=79f495e186-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_07_03_10_21_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_206970988f-79f495e186-379851572&mc_cid=79f495e186&mc_eid=55cf3210cb

The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) has recognised that webinars and training courses only sometimes suit the busy schedules of local councils. E-learning allows councils to respond quickly to learners' needs, with flexibility and without having to organise physical training with fixed dates and times.

The e-learning courses are on standards in public life, respectful and positive social media for councils and councillors, leadership in challenging situations, and personal resilience.

One of the project's key aims has been to deliver training support for councillors, clerks and council staff who experience difficulties with bullying and harassment and to address some of the causes of poor behaviour.

Please contact LALC to register for one of these e-learning courses.

꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰꙰꙰ ꙰꙰꙰꙰ ꙰꙰꙰

COUNCIL NEWS

MARCH 2023

Could the Four Day Week Solve the Skills Shortages for Town and Parish Councils?

Recruitment problems have become an increasing issue for Town and Parish Councils, particularly for skilled posts. Finding CiLCA Qualified Clerks and/or financially trained RFO’s has become a real challenge across England.

Its not just these jobs either. Recruiting suitably qualified technical staff, whether for external work or managing facilities such as Community Centres or Sport Centres is not easy.

Its not just recruitment that’s a problem, retention is also a big issue. With Employers of all descriptions offering an increasing range of inducements to attract recruits, staff retention is another big issue, which resource strapped Town and Parish Councils struggle to compete with.

To address these issues Councils have tried a variety of options, such as appointing Members to fill posts on an unpaid basis, or paying locums for long term support. In many cases these can only be temporary fixes.

Could reducing working hours, but maintaining current pay levels solve the problem?

A recent six month study involving over 3000 Employees, conducted by Autonomy, the University of Cambridge and Boston University College (US) found that reducing working hours, but keeping pay unchanged, resulted in significant improvements in the following areas:

1. Improved productivity.

2. Recruitment. Participating Employers were more attractive to recruits.

3. Improved innovation and ideas from staff who suffered less pressure and stress.

4. Retention. Having enjoyed the benefits of reduced hours, staff were less likely to leave.

5. Sickness and absenteeism were also reduced.

The study involved full time staff reducing a five day week to four days. However most Employees in Town and Parish Councils are part time, so would these benefits transfer to this sector?

The benefit was not necessarily in having one less day to work, but of having more personal time during the week, regardless of the hours worked. In addition there was the perceived trust placed in staff by their Employers, who demonstrated in reducing working hours that Employees could still be relied on to perform the whole job, in exchange for 20% more time at home. Having such trust in the workforce was clearly rewarded for the Employers, as demonstrated in the improved productivity results.

So how does it work?

1. Change, no matter what it is, can raise suspicion from some staff. Communication is essential. Staff need to be fully aware of the benefits, particularly to the Council, to remove any anxiety about Trojan Horses. The scheme also needs promoting to Elected Members as well as the community, and for them to understand what the benefits are so that they support the idea.

2. Conduct an initial trial period for approximately 3 to 6 months to give sceptical Employees and Councillors an opportunity to test the idea, prior to deciding whether to implement it permanently or not. Staff could be issued with a Fixed Term Amendment notice to their contracts, which clearly spells out that the could revert to their previous full time hours, should the Council decide to do so once the trial has ended.

3. Conduct a roll out. Start by implementing the scheme department by department, rather than all at once. Also, to gain Employee support for the scheme a Council could start with their Operatives, Community Centre Staff, Grounds Maintenance Staff, etc, rather than senior staff, such as the Clerk/Deputy Clerk/RFO. This helps to remove the criticism from Employees this this is just “benefits for the bosses”.

4. Ongoing monitoring is important. Although it may be difficult to objectively measure performance and output, key indicators such as staff sickness, the number of leavers, and responses to vacancy adverts can be measured, especially during a trial period. An improvement in these criteria alone would be a significant benefit to most Councils.

There is, however, some possible criticism of the study. It was only conducted over 6 months. During that time the Employees may have still been appreciating the fact that they were working less hours for the same money. Will that response still exist in 2 or 3 years, once the reduced hours have become the norm, and the novelty has worn off?

PROFILE

Chris Moses LLM Chartered FCIPD is Managing Director of Personnel Advice & Solutions Ltd. He is a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, and has a Master’s Degree in Employment Law. If you have any questions regarding these issues please feel free to contact him on (01529) 305056 or email

p.d.solutions@zen.co.uk

www.personneladviceandsolutions.co.uk

꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰꙰꙰ ꙰꙰꙰꙰ ꙰꙰꙰

13th Edition of Arnold-Baker on Local Council Administration

The comprehensive and authoritative guide to local government law has been extensively revised for its 13th edition.

List price: £164.99

Price through LALC - £131.99, which is a saving of 20%.

Please contact Lindsey to order a copy.

꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰꙰꙰ ꙰꙰꙰꙰ ꙰꙰꙰

in LALC News