Latest News
New Good Councillors Guide 2017 Published
The all new Good Councillors Guide is now published (see link below) and is recommended for all local council Councillors as essential reading. Its also great for Clerks!
As always, delegates attending LRALC Chairman's training and Councillor training will receive free hard copies, but councils will also be able to order hard copies from us shortly (an online order form will be added here shortly).... Read More »
Posted: Fri, 28 Apr 2017 10:10 by Jake Atkinson
General Election and Purdah Rules
A General Election will take place 8 June 2017, this follows an announcement by the prime minister on Tuesday and a vote in the House of Commons on Wednesday. Purdah for the General Election is likely to start on the day that Parliament is dissolved – expected to be 3 May – and continue until after polling day.The purdah period before General Elections is not regulated by law, but governed... Read More »
Posted: Tue, 25 Apr 2017 13:30 by Jake Atkinson
Standards Day - The Code of Conduct and Standards Arrangements event
Your Chief Officer is attending a Code of Conduct and Standards Arrangements event today in London (hosted by CCLA) which is discussing the eternally thorny subject of the national Standards regime for parish and town councils.
There are times when Code of Conduct complaints, once investigated, point more towards internal council issues (governance, accountability, transparency, and even on occasion... Read More »
Posted: Thu, 06 Apr 2017 13:33 by Jake Atkinson
Parish Councils and Grant Giving
Unfortunately from time to time a case arises nationally where it is clear that a Parish Council has given a grant to an external body with "no strings attached", i.e. no form of written agreement or conditions specified, even in terms of simple reporting back by the beneficiary of the grant. Virtually every other source of grant funding nationally and locally comes in the form of a contractual agreement,... Read More »
Posted: Wed, 05 Apr 2017 11:03 by Jake Atkinson
New Governance and Accountability guide published
Finally the Joint Practitioners Advisory Group (JPAG) has published the new Governance and Accountability Guide. At their February meeting JPAG approved some modest amendments to the wording of the guide and while the content is not greatly changed a minor error affecting parish meetings has been corrected and some of the explanations in Part 5 have been made clearer.
This new 2017 edition of the guide... Read More »
Posted: Mon, 03 Apr 2017 21:35 by Jake Atkinson
NALC Devo Plus Toolkit - PCs Taking On Devolved Services
Follow the link below for the new NALC Devo + Toolkit
www.nalc.gov.uk/library/our-work/devolution-1/2328-devo-plus-toolkit-december-2016/file
Posted: Tue, 28 Mar 2017 11:37 by Jake Atkinson
NALC Purdah Guidance
In advance of the upcoming mayoral combined authority, county and parish elections (in some areas) NALC has reissued its legal briefing L02-17 Code of Recommended Practice on Local Authority Publicity [England] (March 2017) which includes guidance on purdah.
Posted: Mon, 20 Mar 2017 10:28 by admin
Leicestershire County Council Election Purdah Period
The pre-election 'purdah' period for the Leicestershire County Council elections has now begun (as of 13th March). All parish and town councils in Leicestershire need to be aware of the rules around purdah. The briefing here provides guidance.
Posted: Tue, 14 Mar 2017 22:56 by Jake Atkinson
Grant Thornton Annual Return and External Audit 2016-17 Briefing
Last week at the LRALC External Audit briefing Grant Thornton announced that the Annual Return and associated information will be sent out later than usual this year (end of March/early April) due to responsibility for issuing the Annual Return nationally shifting to SAAA (Smaller Authorities' Audit Appointments Limited).
Please see the slides below for the full session content.
UPDATE FROM GRANT THORNTON... Read More »
Posted: Mon, 13 Mar 2017 10:04 by Jake Atkinson
LRALC Strategic Plan 2017-2020 Now Published
At the Monday 6th LRALC Executive Committee meeting the 2017-2020 Strategic Plan was adopted following a period of consultation with member councils and other stakeholders.
The plan can be found below.
Posted: Fri, 10 Mar 2017 09:46 by Jake Atkinson
