Training

We still have availability at the following sessions. Book now to avoid disappointment! (Places can be booked via the member portal – login required. Usually this will be via the Clerk).

***Training venues are booked once a number of bookings have been received. This allows LALC to book venues based on where the majority of delegates are travelling from. If there are less than 10 bookings on any course, the course will automatically be held at the LALC Office, 8 Market Rasen Road, Dunholme, Lincoln, LN2 3QR*** 

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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 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.

S.137 amount for 2023-24

The Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC0 has set the sum for section 137(4)(a) of the Local Government Act 1972 for parish and town councils in England for 2023-24 at £9.93 per elector.

The amount is as a result of increasing the amount of £8.82 for 2022-23 by the percentage increase in the retail index between September 2021 and September 2022 under Schedule 12B to the 1972 Local Government Act.

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UK Shared Prosperity Funding and Rural Prosperity Funding available

LALC are in the process of holding presentations to promote the recent announcement of grant funding to support parish and town council areas in Boston Borough, East Lindsey and South Holland districts use some of the £12million available to your local communities. Projects of £1,000 and above may be eligible. These free events will allow councils to learn more and ask questions.  

Advance notice was previously given in the eNews.   The final currently scheduled session is:

• 22nd February 7pm-8.30pm at South Holland District Council Offices, Priory Road, Spalding both online and face to face.

Capacity is limited at the venue, so booking is essential. When you register for online access we will send details how to join remotely.

Further information about the grant funding available in each borough/district can be found at these online locations.

• https://www.boston.gov.uk/article/23150/Council-invites-eligible-Boston-organisations-expressions-of-interest-in-2-62million-Prosperity-Funding 

• https://www.e-lindsey.gov.uk/article/23151/Council-invites-eligible-East-Lindsey-organisations-expressions-of-interest-in-6-14million-Prosperity-Funding

• https://www.sholland.gov.uk/article/23152/Council-invites-eligible-South-Holland-organisations-expressions-of-interest-in-3-39million-Prosperity-Funding

The full bidding guide for the funding and the expression of interest form is accessible through the above links.  Parish and town councils are eligible to submit expressions of interest for the grant funding for their local projects alone or in partnership. For booking to attend the online or face to face events please register through your clerk on the LALC website – Training/Events Home | Lincolnshire ALC (lalc.co.uk). 

We look forward to assisting as many local councils obtaining grant funding and delivering their projects for their communities.

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CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development) Survey

https://www.cipd.co.uk/knowledge/work/trends/goodwork/my-working-life/my-job?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=Good-work&utm_content=3Febgoodworkstoriesintro 

Is your job as good as it could be? 

What are the best and worst parts of your job? What makes it good and what could make it better? Would you or someone you know like to share your story?  

The CIPD is calling on people from all occupations and job levels to take part in research interviews that seek to understand the highs and lows of working life in the UK. As the professional body for experts in people at work, the CIPD will use these case studies to help build evidence on what makes for ‘good work’ across a range of industries. As we did last year with our Good Work Stories 2022 case studies. Whether you’re a plumber, pilot or police officer, the CIPD wants to hear from you.  

Work should be a force for good for everyone. When jobs are designed and managed well, work enhances our overall wellbeing and benefits people as much as it benefits businesses.

Too many working people in the UK suffer from poor job quality, with common issues including a lack of work–life balance, stress and low pay. The CIPD’s Good Work Index reveals stark differences in job quality between occupations, and this further research will help the CIPD to build a better understanding of what it will take to make work better for everyone.  

To register your interest in taking part, please complete our screener questionnaire.

If you're selected to take part, our researchers will invite you to a phone or video interview, which will last no more than 90 minutes, and you’ll receive £55 for your time. You can choose to be named (identified) in your case study or keep your identity anonymous – the choice is up to you. In any case, your personal information will be treated in accordance with strict data protection procedures.

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VAT on Sporting Fees – update from the Parkinson Partnership

Summary: HMRC conceded last week that charges for local authority sports facilities are a non-business activity and outside the scope of VAT.  Affected councils may be able to reclaim additional VAT relating to the last 4 years.

Detail: 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.

In Chelmsford City Council [2020] UKFTT432(TC) the First Tier Tribunal determined that such services are provided under a ‘special legal regime’ and can be treated as ‘non-business’, providing that does not give rise to significant distortions of competition. 

HMRC unsuccessfully appealed the first part of that decision, as they did not accept the reasoning that local authority sports services are subject to a ‘special legal regime’. The Upper Tier Tribunal [2022] UKUT149(TCC) dismissed that appeal in March 2022. 

On 26 January 2023, HMRC advised Chelmsford City Council that they will NOT be pursuing the ‘significant distortion of competition’ argument and accept that local authority sports services can be treated as non-business and outside the scope of VAT. 

HMRC have yet to issue any further guidance as to the basis on which they accept no significant distortion of competition would be caused, how far the interpretation of “sport and leisure services” extends or what steps councils should take to recover VAT. 

We suggest that councils consider the following steps in relation to sports facilities, bearing in mind that HMRC have not issued any guidance and might refuse claims or require them to be submitted in a particular way: 

1. If you’re VAT registered and charging VAT on your sports services, you should: 

a. stop doing so as soon as possible and certainly before 1 April 2023

b. compile and submit a claim to HMRC for a refund of such VAT declared for the past four years

c. consider whether you will refund that VAT to the bodies charged for sports

2. If you’re not VAT registered and have avoided reclaiming VAT on sports facilities because you thought they were taxable supplies, you should reclaim any such VAT incurred over the last 4 years. 

3. If you treat any sports services as VAT-exempt and include VAT incurred on those activities in your partial exemption calculation, you should: 

a. take that VAT out of the 2022/23 calculation

b. if you had any irrecoverable VAT in the 2018/19 to 2021/22 calculations, review them to see if you can now reclaim some or all or of that VAT 

c. if you have done a 7-year average calculation for any of those years or to forecast a future year, review it to see if you can recover any further VAT 

Please note that VAT126 reclaims must be submitted within 4 years of the end of the month in which the supply of goods or services occurred, so a council can still claim for purchases in February 2019 until the end of this month. 

For VAT-registered councils, adjustments cannot be made more than 4 years after the due date of the VAT return that is being amended, so the oldest return that can be adjusted is the one for the January to March 2019 quarter, unless you submit monthly returns or have non-standard VAT quarters. 

In reclaiming any VAT charged, councils must avoid “unjust enrichment”, which might occur if you reclaim the VAT and keep it, rather than refunding it to your customers. Where council facilities are subsidised and operate at a loss due to low charges, or where charges were made VAT-inclusive rather than being increased, HMRC are unlikely to consider that unjust enrichment. 

Please note that the tribunal decisions only relate to charges for sporting services and should not be applied to meeting room hire, or other taxable or exempt business activities at this point. If you are in any doubt as to whether an activity is affected by this change, please consult your county association of local councils in the first instance.

Change in Procurement Thresholds

Summary: The Government increased the £25,000 threshold for Contracts Finder to £30,000 from 21 December 2022.  (SI 2022/1390). This puts us back to the position where it is effectively contracts over £25,000 plus VAT (rather than £25,000 including VAT) that are advertised. 

Detail: Public contracts, with an estimated value (including VAT, from 1 January 2022): 

over £213,477 (previously 189,330 ex VAT) for goods or services or

over £5,336,937 (previously £4,733,252 ex VAT) for public works (construction), 

must comply with the full requirements of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. These include specific tendering methods and timescales, as well as a requirement to advertise on both the Contracts Finder website and Find-a-Tender (the UK e-notification service).

Where a contract will run for several years, it is the total (not annual) value that matters.

Where the estimated total value (including VAT) is below these thresholds, but exceeds £30,000 (after 21 December 2022), a council is required to advertise the opportunity on Contracts Finder if they publish an open invitation to quote/tender. If they are inviting specific firms and not opening up to wider competition, they don’t have to advertise the opportunity on Contracts Finder (Public Contracts Regulations 2015, Reg. 110(5)(b)).

However, a council must comply with its own Standing Orders and Financial Regulations and if those regulations require an open invitation and a formal tender process, the council should follow them. Tendering processes ensure fair competition, achieve value for money and avoid anti-competitive behaviour. They protect the council and taxpayers.

If a council simply chooses specific firms to invite, it must avoid allowing non-commercial considerations (defined in Part 2 of the Local Government Act 1988) to influence its decisions. If a council invites some suppliers and not others, it should record its reasons.

If the council genuinely believed the value would be under £30,000 but the tenders came in above that, the Regulations do not require it to go back and start again.

Regardless of whether the opportunity was advertised, Regulation 112 requires a council to publish the award of a contract over £25,000 prior to 21 December 2022, or £30,000 thereafter, on Contracts Finder within a reasonable timescale. There is no specified timescale for parishes, but we suggest within 3 months.

Disclaimer 

This bulletin is only intended as a brief guide about a developing situation and councils should ensure they follow the Regulations and guidance on www.gov.uk, read the tribunal decisions and seek professional advice if they are in any doubt. The Parkinson Partnership LLP accepts no liability for any loss arising from situations where councils have not followed the applicable law and guidance.

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Elections Briefings

NKDC are running a series of briefings for Town and Parish Councillor candidates and interested Clerks in NK. These are:

• Wed 22 February at 6.30pm in North Hykeham Town Council offices

• Thurs 23 February at 6.30pm online on Teams

• Mon 27 February at 6.30pm in the Civic Suite at NKDC, Sleaford

To register, email nk-corporatecivicsupportteam@n-kesteven.gov.uk stating Election Briefing and Date and include number of attendees with contact details for each. (NKDC councils should have already received this information).

SKDC briefings for candidates and clerks in SK are: 

• Monday 27th February at 6pm – SKDC, Bourne 

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

Places should be booked directly via SKDC. 

WLDC councils have been contacted direct about their election briefings.

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Spalding and Peterborough Transport Forum (South Holland area)

The Spalding and Peterborough Transport Forum is looking for more members.

Forum achievements to date include redevelopment of the Spalding railway station, additional trains from Spalding, and further developed existing cycle paths.

They now need additional help to tackle bigger issues such as highways, speeding and lack of rural transport, all of which are common across parishes. Collectively they hope to have a louder voice which the relevant authorities will listen to, helping them to achieve more.

The current Forum members represent a cross-section of the public. Local MP Sir John Hayes is an active member.

Further details:

Spalding and Peterborough Transport Forum – A Rail, Road and Bus Service Campaign Forum (spaldingtransportforum.co.uk)

spaldingtransportforum@gmail.com

Or contact the Forum Secretary, Val Gemmell: valerygemmell@btinternet.com

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Coronation Events

Coronation weekend events have now been announced. The King’s Coronation will take place at Westminster Abbey on Saturday 6th May.  On Sunday, 7th May, a special Coronation Concert will be staged and broadcast live at Windsor Castle.

The Coronation Big Lunch, at which neighbours and communities are invited to share food and fun together, will take place across the country on the same date. The Coronation Big Lunch will be overseen and organised by the Big Lunch team at the Eden Project. The Big Lunch is an idea from the Eden Project, made possible by The National Lottery, that brings millions of people together annually to boost community spirit, reduce loneliness and support charities and good causes. Free downloadable resources will also be made available online by the Big Lunch team at CoronationBigLunch.com, to help people and communities start their Coronation Big Lunch planning.

On Monday, 8th May 2023, members of the public will be invited to take part in The Big Help Out, which will encourage people to try volunteering for themselves and join the work being undertaken to support their local areas. This event is being organised by The Together Coalition and a wide range of partners such as The Scouts, the Royal Voluntary Service and faith groups from across the United Kingdom. The Big Help Out will highlight the positive impact volunteering has on communities across the nation. The aim of The Big Help Out is to use volunteering to bring communities together and create a lasting volunteering legacy from the Coronation Weekend.

For further information see:

Coronation (nalc.gov.uk)

https://www.royal.uk/coronation-weekend-plans-announced

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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.

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Rural Services network

Rural Services Network commissioned research last year that shows rural areas are struggling more with the rise of cost of living than urban areas.

You can help them understand more about rural household budgets by carrying out the below survey, which will allow RSN to engage more effectively with Government Departments, MPs and other policy makers. 

The survey closes on 31 March 2023.

Please access the survey at: https://loom.ly/CvWfGqs