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 If any Clerks want to join the Clerks’ eGroup, or any councillors want to join the Councillor eGroup, contact enquiries@lalc.co.uk.

 ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ 

This fortnightly newsletter is provided to member councils through the clerk and chair and should be circulated to all councillors. This eNews can also be found on the LALC website under News (LALC News). Other important information which comes up in between eNews publication dates is also shared on the website under News (Our Blog).

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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 Training Bulletin can be found on the LALC website here.

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. If you have set up your councillors on the LALC portal, you will be able to select their correct email address from a drop-down list when booking the training.

If you update your council email and are already booked on training, please let us know so that we can update your booking to ensure you receive the automatic reminders.

If one of your councillors resigns, and they were booked on LALC training, please cancel their place, so that others can book on. Failure to do so may not only deprive other councils from attending but could result in a non-attendance charge (see below).  

Please note our training cancellation policy:

• For part day courses – please ensure we receive cancellations at least 48 hours in advance

• For full day events – please ensure we receive cancellations at least 5 working days in advance, as we need to pre-order and pay for lunches

Due to persistent non-attendance at booked events, it is unfortunate that LALC have had to amend the way we impose our cancellation fees. All members are charged 50% of the training cost when insufficient notice is received (as above) for non-attendance at training events. No shows will be charged at 100% of the course fee. All charges are regardless of whether the council is a member of the ATS or not.

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Vacancy advertising

LALC can advertise your vacancy on our website and in the fortnightly eNews. This is a free service. If you 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.    

We also offer a paid advertising service, which ensures that your advert also appears on Lincolnshire County Council’s website, Facebook, and LinkedIn (in addition to the LALC website and eNews).  The current fee for this is £80. Please complete the Vacancy Template (as above), ensuring that all requested information is completed, and then contact us at enquiries@lalc.co.uk. You will be invoiced for this service.

Please note that Lincolnshire County Council require a closing date on their advert, as well as salary information (these are mandatory fields). LCC will remove your advert once the closing date has passed, so please consider the date carefully as you will have to pay again to re-advertise if your vacancy hasn’t been filled by then.

We recommend all councils advertise their vacancy, job details, method of application and up to date contact details on their own website too.

Please let us know when the vacancy has been filled, so that we can remove it from our website/eNews. 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.

The NALC Recruitment Manual (developed as part of the Civility & Respect project) is now available via the portal.  Go into Knowledgebase and click on 'Recruitment Manual' in the 'Employment' menu area. 

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Sign up to the LCC Town and Parishes newsletter – email: 

lcctownandparishnews@lincolnshire.gov.uk

The latest newsletter can be found here.

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Latest News

The latest NALC news can be found here  (NALC login required)

The latest SLCC news can be found here (No SLCC login required)

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LCC: 6th Form School Consultation 

Lincoln St Peter and St Paul Catholic Voluntary Academy is consulting to close their 6th Form provision.

Consultation period:  08/12/2025 to 16/01/2026

The consultation will be hosted on the school’s website:St Peter and St Paul Sixth Form Consultation - Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Multi-Academy Trust

This notification is in accordance with section 1.47 & 1.48 - School Admissions Code (2021)

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Now booking – Allotments training

Allotments Management Covering Tenancy Agreements and Policies

When: 12th May 2026, 10:00 – 11:30

Where: Zoom

Price: £40 plus VAT*

This webinar on the Tenancy Agreements and Policies aspects of Allotment Management will cover:

• Types of allotment, and the basics of legislation

• Newer trends, including the inclusion of allotments in new developments

• Land acquisition

• Management options and responsibilities

• The pros and cons for the self-management of allotments by Local Authorities

• What to include within the tenancy agreement

• Standard clauses in line with allotment legislation

• Templates available

• Issues that can arise

• Practical tips, using examples from day-to-day problems

Allotments - Site Facilities and Health & Safety

When: 19th May 2026, 10:00 – 11:30

Where: Zoom

Price: £40 plus VAT*

This webinar about the Site Facilities and Health & Safety aspects of Allotment Management will cover:

• Site accessibility

• What types of facilities can be included on site?

• What policies and procedures need to be covered?

• The importance of plot cultivation and inspection

• Health and Safety risk assessments, insurance and implications for volunteers carrying out maintenance on site

• Security for sites

• Practical tips, using examples from day-to-day problems

Book in the usual way via the portal (login required).

*Each session costs £40 plus VAT however if you book on both sessions, you will receive a £10 discount and will only be invoiced for £70.

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LCC Admissions Policy Consultation 2027-28

The following schools are consulting on their 2027-28 Admission Policy:

This notification is in accordance with section 1.47 & 1.48 of the School Admissions Code 2021. 

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Lincolnshire Show 2026

The Lincolnshire Show 2026 takes place on Wednesday and Thursday 17 Jun 2026, 08:00 – 18 Jun 2026, 19:00.  

LALC had a marquee at the Show in 2025 and is considering its plans for 2026 if there is enough interest from member councils to support it.  

If any Parish or Town Council in Lincolnshire might be interested in having a stand within a LALC marquee we would like to hear from you.  

Likely commitment is expected to be a fee of £300-£500 (amount to be confirmed) and one or two persons to be present over the two days to man their stand.  Each stand will probably need a display, leaflets and free gifts / prizes to give away.  Set up must be completed on site Tuesday 16th June 2026 during the day.  Exit from the site can take place after 7pm on Thursday 18th June. The fee would include entry fee for up to two persons per day to the show.

Early notice is being given in case you need to include this in your budgets and also LALC need to consider if the event is feasible early in 2026 when we finalise orders/booking. 

If interested, please get in touch by email: enquiries@lalc.co.uk 

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Personnel Advice & Solutions Ltd (Chris Moses) – Christmas closure

The office will close on Tuesday 23rd December 2025 at 12.30pm and re-open on Monday 5th January 2026.  We will be available via email only for emergencies over this period.

Due to the Christmas Break, some December receipts may be late being posted out.

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LCC have published details of what can be recycled this Christmas.

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SLCC: Open Consultation – Electric Vehicle Charging: Changes to Permitted Development Rights

The government has launched a consultation on further proposed changes to Permitted Development Rights to allow for:

• multiple units of equipment housing or storage units for electric vehicle charge-points in non-domestic, off-street car parks

• the installation of cross-pavement solutions and associated domestic charge-points

The consultation runs until 21 January and can be found here.

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NALC partners with LGA on a new national campaign to boost parish and town council recruitment

NALC have partnered with the Local Government Association (LGA) to launch a landmark government-funded national recruitment campaign to attract fresh talent into parish and town councils.

The Make a Difference, Work for Your Local Council campaign will run throughout 2026 with a high-profile advertising push across billboards, radio, podcasts, social media channels, and popular websites, giving parish and town councils unprecedented national visibility at no cost to individual councils.

Read more on NALC website.

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SLCC: Promoting Electronic Invoicing Across UK Businesses and the Public Sector

The government has published its response to a consultation on the introduction of e-invoicing across UK businesses and the public sector. The UK will introduce mandatory e-invoicing for all VAT invoices from 2029. This will give business time to prepare. The government intends to work closely with businesses, representative bodies, tax professionals and software providers to develop the detail of the UK’s VAT e-invoicing regime to ensure that it delivers the intended benefits. It will begin detailed stakeholder engagement in January 2026 to ensure stakeholder views and concerns are considered throughout the policy development process and can feed into developing both the roadmap and the full regime.

Read more here.

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The cold weather's here: Top tips for dealing with ice and snow, and what to know about driving

Now the cold weather’s hit our county, there’s a good chance that we will see snow and ice build-up on paths and roads.

The LCC expert gritter teams are out in all hours to make Lincolnshire routes as safe as possible but there’s things that you can do too to ensure that the slippery stuff is kept to a minimum.  

So, if you’re going to head out to clear a footpath or roadside area from the deluge then here’s some good tips to know so that we’re all safe and sound whilst upping the grip levels on our own bits of this terrific county.

Read the top tips here.

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SLCC: Rollout of the New Local Plan-making System

The new local plan-making system will be in force early in 2026. Local planning authorities (LPAs) are being encouraged by the government to start to prepare a plan as soon as possible in the new system to get an ambitious and up-to-date plan in place.

These will clearly impact on the planning framework affecting parishes within the LPA jurisdiction.

Regulations underpinning the new system will be published shortly. Before this you can read:

• an explanation of what the regulations will require for plan-making

• guidance on preparing a plan under the new plan-making system

The government intends to publish a revised version of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) for consultation soon. They will respond and publish an update once the consultation has been concluded and the necessary analysis of responses completed, which government anticipates completing in Summer 2026.

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Professor Ed Page of the London School of Economics reported back on our joint survey (NALC login required) of parish and town council involvement in emergency planning. He noted that the sector has good experience of supporting communities during emergencies, signposting residents to support and providing direct help as well. Engagement with local resilience forums was less positive, and only about 30% of respondents had emergency planning.

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One You Lincolnshire

If you would like One You Lincolnshire to visit your group/venue in early 2026 to run an informative drop-in session to share what services they have to offer contact molly.ireland@oneyoulincolnshire.org.uk 

January and February are often a time where many are enthusiastic to set themselves healthy lifestyle goals, so it’s a great opportunity for them to get out into the community and let people know about how the support they offer can help reach these goals.

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SLCC: New Rates of Statutory Payments

The government has announced that the statutory payments of sick pay and others from 6 April 2026, will be:

Currently, employees earning less than £125 per week do not receive statutory sick pay but forthcoming legislation will mean that those affected will receive the lesser of the statutory sick pay amount or 80 per cent of their average earnings.

The above limits, however, still apply for the family leave pay.

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SLCC: VOA Publishes Updated Future Rateable Values for England and Wales

The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) has published new future rateable values for all commercial and non-domestic properties in England and Wales — now updated to include the Welsh Government estimator.

The new values come into effect on 1 April 2026. Revaluations are carried out every three years in England and Wales to reflect changes in the property market.

Read more here.

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SLCC: Budgeting for Pay Increases in Local Councils

Understanding how to budget for staff pay is a challenge faced by many town and parish councils, particularly where staffing costs represent a significant proportion of expenditure. One of the common questions that comes to us concerns the budgeting for increases in the pay rates, when implemented. This always exercises minds to various extents.

This article sets out some of the key considerations when planning ahead for local council staff salaries, including national wage changes, council policies and incremental progression. While every council’s position will differ, the points below provide a helpful starting guide for building pay assumptions into your next financial year. These apply for the NJC Green Book increases.

Key factors to consider when budgeting

In considering this the following are items to take account of when deciding: 

1. National Minimum Wage. The increase in the national minimum wage – the percentage increase will have a bearing on staff terms and conditions. For this year (from 1st April 2026) the increase is 4.1% for those over 21 years old but is more for the younger ages.

2. Local Council Policies. Any particular resolutions or policies introduced by your Council. There may be policies and procedures in place which allow for higher (or lower) increases to be made.

3. Spot salary v incremental points. The single point salary or spot salary can be increased in a straightforward way but any incremental points will have an impact on the money to be set aside. If for example you and/or a colleague is due an incremental step, then this will have a greater effect on the cost. The step through the range plus the pay increase due will have an extra effect on the cost to be set aside in the budget process.

Budgeting for Inflation

Budgeting needs to make allowance for general levels of inflation to allow for growth in costs driven by the economy. The Office for National Statistics provides a running average for wage growth in the latest quarter. Using the ONS figure as a guide, it would be reasonable to budget on the basis of 5% growth as a baseline for 2026. This compares to using retail inflation as the basis of uplift in the costs of goods and services. The comparative figure – Consumer Pricing Index, excluding housing costs (CPI) is currently closer to 4%. This is again published by ONS.

Estimating Future NJC Settlements

It is hard to estimate correctly and try and foresee what settlement will be achieved in that year’s pay settlements, but we hope this gives some pointers.

Budgeting for staffing costs is rarely straightforward and, while pay awards may not be confirmed until later in the year, early consideration of these factors can help you plan more confidently.

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SLCC: Revised National Planning Policy Framework Published for Comment

The government has published a revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), together with associated documents, for comment.

The NPPF is a key planning document as it sets out the government’s planning policies for England and how these are expected to be applied.

The revised document states that the twelve most significant reforms are, in summary:

1. a permanent presumption in favour of suitably located development

2. building homes around stations

3. driving urban and suburban densification

4. securing a diverse mix of homes

5. supporting small and medium sites

6. streamlining local standards

7. boosting local and regional economies

8. supporting critical and growth minerals

9. embedding a vision-led approach to transport

10. better addressing climate change

11. conserving and enhancing the natural environment

12. taking a more positive approach to the use of heritage assets

More information about the consultation can be found here. Please note the consultation closes at 11.45pm on 10 March 2026.

Both NALC and SLCC will be responding to the consultation.

Responses can be made online here or via email to PlanningPolicyConsultation@communities.gov.uk 

LALC have arranged for Andrew Towlerton to deliver a briefing session on the proposed changes to NPPF – 28 January, 18:30 – 19:45, via Zoom. Book via the portal in the usual way.

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New Disciplinary Policy model template

NALC have just released a new Disciplinary Policy model template. This has now been uploaded to the LALC portal (login required). Open Document Templates and search for ‘Disciplinary’.

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Age-friendly towns and parishes event

The Centre for Ageing Better are holding a virtual event on 29 January, 10:00 – 11:15 about why and how first-tier councils can improve life for older residents. Find out more.

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Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement 2026/27 to 2028/29

The government has published its Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement 2026/27 to 2028/29 before parliament rises for its Christmas break. The settlement and consultation include core proposals from the previously published written ministerial policy statement that parish and town councils should be exempt (this time over a whole three-year period) from referendum principles on excessive council tax increases.

Read more and respond here. This consultation closes on 14 January 2026.

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Elsewhere in the country: Devolution to parishes 'could save millions'

The deputy leader of Shropshire Council has said that plans to devolve power to town and parish councils would keep services going and may mean smaller authorities do a better job.

Shropshire Council has invited them to take over services such as road cleaning, street lighting and public bins.

The potential move comes as Shropshire Council is seeking to make significant cuts to its budget, to avoid the risk of overspending and potentially becoming effectively bankrupt.

A third of the 153 town and parish councils have so far said they would be willing.

Read the full story here.

Source: BBC

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