News
External Audit - Important Information
The latest version of the Practitioner's Guide was published this week, see here.
It sets out the "proper practices" for the preparation of parish and town council accounts and audits. A list of the changes from the 2022 edition, most of which are minor, is here.
Moore UK, the new external auditor for our area, sent out the annual audit instructions this week by email to every parish and town council... Read More »
Posted: Fri, 24 Mar 2023 10:50 by Jake Atkinson
NALC Update on the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill.
See below for an edited copy of the NALC CEO's update on the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill.
"Two sessions of the Committee Stage of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill were held on 13 March and 15 March, featuring several amendments tabled by Baroness Scott.
Wednesday's [15th] session featured seven amendments covering the suspension of councillors, carer's dependents allowance, review of neighbourhood... Read More »
Posted: Sun, 19 Mar 2023 18:38 by Jake Atkinson
Elections May 2023 - Parishes asked to promote the need for photo ID to voters
Election authorities are asking parish and town councils to help promote the new statutory requirement for voters to provide photo ID when voting in person. There is fear that the new arrangements are not yet widely known, and there are fears of chaos and anger at polling stations across the country when people are inevitably turned away.
The requirements will be on polling cards, but the easiest way... Read More »
Posted: Wed, 01 Mar 2023 17:50 by Jake Atkinson
Is your local council venue covered by Martyn's Law?
The government has updated its guidance on the proposed Martyn's Law (Protect Duty) which is due to ensure 'stronger protections against terrorism in public places' and will be applicable to all of the UK.
The proposed law is in response to the 14 terrorist attacks on the UK since 2017, and the aim is to keep people safe, enhance our national security and 'reduce the risk to the public from terrorism... Read More »
Posted: Wed, 01 Mar 2023 17:33 by Jake Atkinson
The March edition of the Civility and Respect newsletter is out now
Updates from the Civility and Respect Project Team
The March edition of the Civility and Respect newsletter is out now - see below to download the newsletter.
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... Read More »
Posted: Tue, 28 Feb 2023 11:42 by Jake Atkinson
LRALC attends the Net Zero Leicestershire conference - 28th February 2023
LRALC is in attendance at the Net Zero Leicestershire Conference today, along with all Leicestershire principal authorities. the National Forest. and many more partners and stakeholders.
This agenda is something that our sector, NALC, and LRALC are increasingly prioritising as there is widespread recognition that, with 9000 local councils in England alone, we can play a significant role in delivering... Read More »
Posted: Tue, 28 Feb 2023 11:06 by Jake Atkinson
IMPORTANT VAT UPDATE - Treatment of Sports Facilities
VAT on sporting fees - HMRC concede that charges for council sports facilities are non-business.
HMRC's existing guidance is that local authority sports and leisure services can either be taxable or exempt from VAT. This has been challenged in the courts, with test cases for England, Scotland and Northern Ireland going on for several years.
On 26 January 2023, HMRC advised that they will NOT be pursuing... Read More »
Posted: Mon, 13 Feb 2023 13:01 by Jake Atkinson
Government confirms the Section 137 expenditure limit for 2023/24
The Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) has notified the National Association of Local Councils (NALC) that the appropriate sum for section 137(4)(a) of the Local Government Act 1972 (the 1972 Act) for parish and town councils in England for 2023/24 is £9.93.
The amount is a result of increasing the amount of £8.82 for 2022/23 by the percentage increase in the retail... Read More »
Posted: Mon, 06 Feb 2023 21:06 by Jake Atkinson
LRALC EGM votes 60:1 to remove time maximum term for elected officers of the Association
The LRALC EGM voted overwhelmingly to back the motion submitted by the LRALC directors on the evening of the 2nd February 2023. The motion was intended to ensure that the pool of talent for critical roles such as Chairman is as large as possible.
Nearly a third of member councils attended or sent a proxy to the meeting, for which we are very grateful. This level of engagement is very important in democratically... Read More »
Posted: Fri, 03 Feb 2023 13:45 by Jake Atkinson
Proxy Voting Form For LRALC EGM Now Available On Event Page
The proxy voting form for the upcoming EGM is now available to download on the EGM event page.
Posted: Thu, 19 Jan 2023 17:23 by Jake Atkinson
