Training courses are available to book via the portal (login required).
The Training Bulletin is issued monthly, and courses are available to book via the portal. If there is any specific training which you feel would be valuable, and we don’t currently offer it, please let us know and we will investigate. The latest Training Bulletin can be found on the LALC website.
Clerks – when booking training for your councillors, please ensure that their email address is correct. If not, they will not receive the booking confirmation or any joining instructions.
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Position |
Closing date |
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Clerk/RFO |
No closing date |
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Clerk/RFO |
No closing date |
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Clerk/RFO |
10th July |
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Temporary Clerk |
No closing date |
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|
Clerk/RFO |
No closing date |
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Clerk/RFO |
12th May |
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Clerk/RFO |
26th May |
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Administration Assistant |
16th June |
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Handyperson |
5th June |
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|
Clerk/RFO |
No closing date |
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Deputy Clerk |
23rd June |
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|
Clerk/RFO |
Not specified |
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|
Clerk/RFO |
No closing date |
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|
Clerk/RFO |
No closing date |
|
|
Clerk/RFO |
10th July |
|
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Deputy Clerk |
4th July |
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|
Clerk/RFO |
7th July |
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Clerk/RFO |
30th July |
If we are advertising your vacancy in the eNews and on our website, please let us know when the vacancy has been filled, so that we can remove it. If your vacancy has not yet been filled and you are continuing to advertise, please let us know of any revised closing date. If you no longer specify a closing date, please let us know so that we can update the vacancy adverts.
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.
The NALC Recruitment Manual (developed as part of the Civility & Respect project) is now available via the portal. Go into Knowledgebase and click on the ‘Employment’ card and enter ‘recruitment’ in the search box.
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Health & Safety, Fire Safety, Risk Assessment Training - Places still available
Don’t miss the H&S, Fire Safety and Risk Assessment Training coming up on Tuesday 11th July. This all day (9:30 – 16:30) training will be held at Cranwell Village Hall (NG34 8DF) and will be delivered by MB Fire Training and BHIB insurance respectively.
There are a few places left so please book via the portal.
This is essential training covering Health & Safety legislation, employer/employee duties, risk assessment, accident reporting, manual handling, working at height, basic fire safety legislation, understanding fire, fire hazards, fire precautions, workplace risk assessments from an insurance perspective, including risk assessment of events.
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Recent BBC News article: Councillors quitting over in-person meetings, survey suggests
Forcing councillors in England to attend meetings in person is leading to some quitting, councils have warned.
A legal requirement to hold full council meetings in person was temporarily dropped during the pandemic but reintroduced in May 2021.
A survey by the Local Government Association (LGA) found one in 10 councils had seen members stand down since then due to the change.
Read the full article here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-65996576
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LALC Summer Conference 19th July – An event not to be missed
Don’t miss this opportunity to network with fellow councils, get some new ideas and listen to informative speakers.
The LALC Summer Conference will be held on Wednesday 19th July at the Bentley Hotel, South Hykeham, featuring:
• Guest speaker - Clive Wilson from United Nations Association Greater Lincolnshire, promoting new thinking and actions by local councils to promote the attainment of the UN2030 goals
• Q&A Panel – Police & Crime Commissioner, Deputy Police & Crime Commissioner, John Turner (local Integrated Care Board), Richard Davies (LCC Highways).
• Workshops:
o Amy Lennox – Grant Funding
o BHIB – Cyber Security
o Recruiting & retaining councillors - Breakthrough Communications
• Presentation of Long Service Awards
• Trade stands including: National Allotment Society, Pear Technology, CCLA, Blachere Illuminations, Breakthrough Communications, Kompan, BHIB, Lincolnshire Council for Voluntary Youth Services, Clear Utility Solutions
The conference fee will be £25 plus VAT. Bookings should be made via the portal. Please note this does not include the Evening Awards Dinner.
The LALC Shining Stars Awards will be presented at our Evening Awards Dinner starting at 5:30pm, following the conference. We will have guest speaker Alistair Jones from De Montfort University, presentation of the awards by our sponsors, and a celebration of 50 years of LALC.
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Has your council taken the Civility and Respect pledge yet?
“Civility and respect should be at the heart of public life, and good governance is fundamental to ensuring an effective and well-functioning democracy at all levels.
The intimidation, abuse, bullying and harassment of councillors, clerks and council staff, in person or online, is unacceptable, whether by councillors, clerks, council staff, or public members.
This can prevent councils from functioning effectively, councillors from representing local people, discourage people from getting involved, including standing for election, and undermine public confidence and trust in local democracy.” NALC Civility & Respect project.
To date, 1270 councils have taken the Civility and Respect pledge; of which 47 are Lincolnshire councils.
Unfortunately, bad behaviour in some councils nationally continues. A recent example in Norfolk hit the national press, with councillors resigning en masse in protest at the alleged bad behaviour of its remaining councillor:
https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/23592520.turmoil-geldeston-parish-council-quits-en-masse/
How do you avoid such a situation developing at your council?
• Sign up to the Civility & Respect pledge
• Make sure that the council has in place all the relevant policies and procedures
• Take steps to work together and seek help early to resolve grievances, complaints and disputes
• Sign up to relevant training for councillors and clerks, and don’t assume that just because someone has been on the council for years, they are fully up to speed with the way a council should be working
The NALC Civility and Respect online training via Nimble, is listed in the latest LALC Training Bulletin.
https://www.nalc.gov.uk/our-work/civility-and-respect-project
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New LALC Management Committee
The LALC 50th AGM held on 29th June was inquorate and as per the LALC constitution, was reconvened one week later, on 6th July.
At the reconvened AGM, the following Management Committee members were agreed:
Clerks
Steve Fletcher (Mablethorpe & Sutton Town Council)
Lynda Phillips (Louth Town Council)
Councillors
Reece Harrington (Washingborough Parish Council)
Chris Callan (Bracebridge Heath Parish Council)
Cathie Nicoll (Scothern Parish Council)
Karri Davey (Great Gonerby Parish Council)
The following honorary officers were elected:
President – Gary Ellis
Vice Presidents – Mike Passfield, Tony Howard
Treasurer – Mike Passfield
Auditor – Chris Hewis
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NALC Star Council awards – don’t forget to vote!
NALC has opened nominations for its Star Council Awards 2023 to celebrate the achievements of the local (parish and town) council sector.
The Star Council Awards are the only awards programme in England specifically designed to acknowledge the impact and contribution of local councils in their communities. The awards are open to all local councils, councillors, clerks, and county associations across England.
This year, there are five award categories for which entrants can apply:
• Council of the Year – Sponsored by Blachere Illumination
• Councillor of the Year – Sponsored by Breakthrough Communications
• Young Councillor of the Year – Sponsored by DCK Accounting Solutions
• County Association of the Year – Sponsored by CCLA
• Clerk of the Year – Sponsored by Cloudy IT
The award categories have been carefully selected to recognise excellence in different areas of local council operations and highlight the varied contributions made by councils.
Further details:
https://www.nalc.gov.uk/starcouncilawards?mc_cid=0a857b931f&mc_eid=55cf3210cb
The nomination period ends on 28 July 2023, and the winners will be announced at a ceremony in the House of Lords on 29 November 2023, where they will be presented with their awards.
BHIB Councils Insurance, Blachere Illumination, Breakthrough Communications, CCLA, Cloudy IT and DCK Accounting Solutions sponsor the awards.
LALC will put forward its Shining Stars winners as nominees for the NALC Star Council Awards.
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The devices in our homes are getting smarter all the time. How smart are you about keeping yours protected?
For many of us, today’s home is a very convenient and cool place to live, with more and more devices responding to a tap in an app or the sound of your voice.
However, every device that’s connected to your Wi-Fi is also transmitting data which could be of interest to criminals, not least your speakers, voice assistants, cameras, intruder alarms, cameras, door locks and security lighting. Or even your kids’ toys.
Not setting up and maintaining the appropriate security measures for your smart devices, their apps and your Wi-Fi network could lead to your information being stolen and even your every movement being observed.
Another consideration is that the data provided by your smart devices – or the information you supply when you set them up – could be used by manufacturers for unwanted purposes, including being sold on to third parties.
Top tips for your smart devices
• Consider that buying well-known, reputable brands means that more care has probably been taken in securing the products – for your and your family’s security.
• For smart devices for which you need to log in to connect, replace factory-set passwords with secure ones you create yourself. This is because default administrator passwords may be common to every device shipped, and potentially insecure. If in doubt, check manufacturers’ instructions on how to change passwords.
• Don’t use the same password for more than one connected device, nor share passwords with those you already use for other online accounts.
• Make sure your Wi-Fi network is secure. Read our advice page on Wireless Networks & Hotspots at www.getsafeonline.org
• Make sure that all your computers and mobile devices are protected with updated internet security software / app, and that access to these devices is safeguarded with a PIN or passcode.
• Check the apps associated with your connected devices and install updates as soon as prompted. Also, regularly check manufacturers’ websites for updates, as they can be slow to push these out via the app.
• Limit the amount of information you provide when setting up an app to what is absolutely necessary.
• Be aware that devices like voice assistants, smart speakers and cameras are always active and potentially recording unless you switch off or disable them.
Get the full story
For everything you need to know about securing your smart devices, please visit www.getsafeonline.org and search Your Connected Home.
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How to set up your new councillors on the portal (login required)
Following the May elections, you will now have a new council in place, and this is the ideal time for clerks to update your council’s records on the LALC portal.
We are continuing to receive emails from former councillors asking us to remove them from our mailing lists. Clerks – can you please ensure that your council’s records are up to date on the portal.
Once logged in, on your dashboard, go to Organisation Contacts.
To add a new councillor
Click on Add Contact. In the Create New Contact screen, add in the councillor details. Under Role(s), select ‘Councillor’. Then click ‘Create & Invite Contact’. (*You must have a role ticked otherwise it won’t let you save the record).
*Don’t worry if it doesn’t display ‘Councillor’ against this person when you view all your contacts – it is flagged correctly in the back-end system. Our software supplier is aware.
To remove someone who is no longer a councillor
Select the record and then ‘Edit’. Then click on ‘Remove Contact’.
Change of chair
If your previous Chair is still a councillor, edit their record. Untick the ‘Chair’ role. Tick the ‘Councillor’ role, if it is not already ticked. Then ‘Update Details’. (*You must have a role ticked otherwise it won’t let you save the record).
Your system will only permit one Chair, so you must untick the old Chair before allocating your new Chair.
On the new chair’s record, edit, tick ‘Chair’ then ‘Update Details’. *You do not need to un-tick ‘Councillor’.
Change of clerk
If the clerk changes, please notify LALC as we need to ensure that all relevant records have been updated correctly and that the new clerk is given access to the portal.
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Bids invited for £1 million defibrillator fund
The government is inviting community organisations to bid for funding for a defibrillator for their area:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/bids-invited-for-1-million-defibrillator-fund
• £1 million fund to increase the number of AEDs in public places where they are most needed
• Funding will provide an estimated 1000 new defibrillators in community spaces across England
Organisations across England are being invited to bid for a share of £1 million of government funding to buy life-saving defibrillators for community spaces like town halls, local parks or post offices.
The Department of Health and Social Care is inviting interested organisations to register expressions of interest for its £1 million Community Automated External Defibrillators Fund, aimed at increasing the number of AEDs in public places where they are most needed and help save lives.
An estimated 1,000 new defibrillators are to be provided by the fund, with the potential for this to double as successful applicants will be asked to match the funding they receive partially or fully.
As part of the grant award, applicants will be asked to demonstrate that defibrillators will be placed in areas where they are most needed, such as places with high footfall, vulnerable people, rural areas or due to the nature of activity at the site.
Examples could include town halls, community centres, local shops, post offices and local parks, to ensure that defibrillators are evenly spread throughout communities and easily accessible if someone is experiencing an unexpected cardiac arrest.
Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Steve Barclay, said:
We know, through inspiring stories of ordinary people, being kept alive thanks to the swift use of a defibrillator in public, that these extraordinary devices must be accessible to all.
I urge any organisation that may benefit from a defibrillator - whether you’re a sports club, local theatre or community hall - to register your interest for this fund so that we can get more of this life-saving technology placed around England.
Minister of State for Care, Helen Whately, said:
When a friend, family member, neighbour or even a total stranger is experiencing cardiac arrest, the quick use of a defibrillator in an easy to reach place can be the lifeline that keeps them with us.
If you run a space in your community that could benefit from one, please register your interest for our £1 million grant, and join our drive to widen the availability of this incredible technology.
Professor Sir Stephen Powis, National Medical Director for NHS England said:
When someone goes into cardiac arrest it’s crucial that they are given effective CPR and quick defibrillation to restart their heart.
This new fund is a great opportunity for grassroots organisations to ensure that their community has access to lifesaving equipment in their moment of need.
As the NHS turns 75, we will continue to adopt new technology and promote access to innovations, such as automated external defibrillator, which can improve care and treatment for patients and help save lives.
Cllr James Jamieson, Chairman of the Local Government Association said:
Councils are working hard to install new defibrillators where they are needed the most, such as in parks and community spaces as well providing funding for local organisations to do the same.
This new funding will help to support this vital effort, helping to potentially save the lives of thousands of people across the country.
The department will invest the funding through an independent partner, drawn from the government’s Crown Commercial Service list of approved suppliers, to manage grant applications from bidding organisations.
To accelerate the administration of the grant in advance of the partner being chosen, prospective organisations who wish to obtain funding for a defibrillator are now invited to register an expression of interest with the Department of Health and Social Care.
Organisations who submit an expression of interest will be notified once grant applications open to the Department of Health and Social Care’s £1 million Community AED Fund.
The funding is part of the government’s drive to equip the health system with the right technology to ease pressures, reduce backlogs and cut waiting lists, and to improve public access to care when they need it.
Organisations can submit an expression of interest:
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How to increase renewables, whilst maintaining community support?
We know we need to increase renewable energy capacity to address the climate crisis but how can we do this while maintaining public support? Public support for renewable energy is at an all-time high, yet why does this support often disappear the moment a planning application is submitted?
Research suggests it’s because:
• Communities feel they are not sufficiently involved in decisions and the trade-offs between different options
• People’s emotional attachment to their place and feelings for their local landscape are not taken into account
• Communities don’t benefit enough from hosting projects
In other words, most people understand the need to scale up renewable energy to phase out fossil fuels. At the same time, they want to meaningfully influence how and where this happens, and these expectations are not being fulfilled by current approaches. More nuanced public engagement is vital if we’re to increase renewable energy deployment.
CSE (Centre for Sustainable Energy) is rolling out a new bottom-up community engagement approach called Future Energy Landscapes (FEL). The Future Energy Landscapes approach is a way of involving local communities in how and where renewable energy gets developed around them, the types and scales of renewable energy which might be acceptable to them, the landscape impacts they’d accept and how they might benefit. It’s proven to harness the support we know is out there and can be used by local communities and local authorities to convene debate, influence policy and spin off possible projects.
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Why do parish councils matter?
Ahead of NALC's fringe session at the LGA Conference, representatives from the LGA's four political groups (Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrat and Independent) have written essays on why they think local councils matter. It includes their closeness to the communities they serve, their empowerment of local communities by involving them in decision-making processes, their ability to provide a rapid yet locally-led response to national events and to deliver essential local services and the vital role they play in environmental stewardship and in holding principal authorities to account.
You can read all the essays here:
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Eden Project — Community Nature Trails
The Eden Project is inviting local communities to get involved with their new initiative and create a Community Nature Trail this summer. A Community Nature Trail is a local map developed by the community for the community that highlights spaces, activities, events, and projects that helps bring people closer to nature and each other. The Eden Project partnered with RSPB, More Human, and members of the Community Action Collective to develop the project. More Human, a community events expert organisation, has made it easy for communities to build, promote, and share nature trails. This summer, you can get the neighbourhood involved in nature-related activities by creating your Community Nature Trail today!
See more: https://tinyurl.com/3y9fvx24
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Don’t forget Local Council Clerk Week: 10 – 14 July
Local Council Clerk Week (LCCW) is a week of celebration aimed at raising the profile of the role of the clerk and recognising the work clerks do for their communities.
#LCCW2023
See more: https://tinyurl.com/2ew3x8fw
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Filming and recording of council meetings – a reminder
The Openness of Local Government Bodies Regulations 2014 amended s.1 of the Public Bodies (Admissions to Meetings) Act 1960, permitting the filming and recording of meetings without the need to ask permission. If the public session forms part of the meeting, it can also be recorded. Press and public attending council meetings are attending a 'public' meeting. If the public forum is being filmed and individual members of the public do not want to be on camera, they can ask not to be filmed or can choose to leave the premises, however this does not apply to councillors as they are members of the public body. It is recommended that Council should have a policy that reminds the public that filming, recording is allowed and if they do not wish to be filmed, then to make council aware.
See Legal Topic note LTN 5E (available via the portal), specifically the section on 'Rights of Public and Press' which sets this out in more detail.
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