LALC ENews 20th March 2023

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.

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LALC Briefings – Elections, Engagement and Problem-solving

We are aware that clerks will have already published/will be publishing notices about the forthcoming elections on 4th May.

Some of you may have attended your District Council’s briefing sessions and LALC were in attendance at some of those. We do, however, realise that some would not have been able to attend, therefore, LALC has arranged two briefing sessions via Zoom on:

• Monday 20th March at 6:00pm

• Friday 24th March at 10:30am

These sessions will cover the following:

• How do we get enough candidates? Engagement tips

• The pre-election period

• What unforeseen problems could we face? E.g. Being inquorate post elections

• Preparing for the new council – which takes office on 9th May

Please book via the portal in the normal way.

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LALC re-convened EGM – Thursday 23rd March at 7:00pm (via Zoom)

The LALC EGM held on 16th March was not quorate as it did not achieve the required 10% of membership present. As per the LALC constitution, the EGM has now been re-convened for 23rd March at 7:00pm.

There is no quorum set for this meeting.

The meeting on 16th agreed:

“This consultation meeting recommends that the constitution as discussed and amended this evening goes forward to the reconvened EGM for adoption.”

The amended documents will be issued to all member councils prior to the re-convened meeting.

Votes by email will be accepted – please email your vote to Katrina no later than 5:00pm on the day of the meeting. (Only one vote per council will be accepted).

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85434935390?pwd=empORG96dnFZYTc2bjl2Rmh5TUlwZz09

Meeting ID: 854 3493 5390

Passcode: 406394

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Top 10 communications tips for local councils

NALC's communications and community engagement partners, Breakthrough Communications, have published their top 10 tips for local (parish and town) council communications in 2023. Discover strategies and tactics to make your council's communications more effective over the coming year!

https://breakthroughcomms.co.uk/top-10-tips-for-effective-community-engagement-in-2023/?utm_source=MEMBERS&utm_campaign=760259632f-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_06_08_03_15_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_206970988f-760259632f-379851572&mc_cid=760259632f&mc_eid=55cf3210cb

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Further clarification on the pre-election period

There still seems to be confusion in some councils as to what it can and cannot do in the pre-election period. The pre-election period starts with the publication of Notice of Election, and most councils will now be in this period.

You should not:

• Produce publicity on matters which are politically controversial

• Make references to individual politicians or groups in press releases

• Arrange proactive media or events involving candidates

• Issue photographs which include candidates

• Supply council photographs or other materials to councillors or political group staff unless you have verified that they will not be used for campaigning purposes

• Continue hosting third party blogs or e-communications

• Help with national political visits (as this would involve using public money to support a particular candidate or party). These should be organised by political parties with no cost or resource implications for the council.

You should also think carefully before you:

• Continue to run campaign material to support your own local campaigns. If the campaign is already running and is non-controversial (for example, on issues like recycling or foster care) and would be a waste of public money to cancel or postpone them, then continue. However, you should always think carefully if a campaign could be deemed likely to influence the outcome of the election and you should not use councillors in press releases and events in pre-election periods. In such cases you should stop or defer them. An example might be a campaign on an issue which has been subject of local political debate and/or disagreement.

• Launch any new consultations. Unless it is a statutory duty, don’t start any new consultations or publish report findings from consultation exercises, which could be politically sensitive.

You are allowed to:

• Continue to discharge normal council business (including determining planning applications, even if they are controversial).

• Continue to hold council meetings.

• Publish factual information to counteract misleading, controversial or extreme (for example, racist/sexist information). An example might be a media story which is critical of the council, such as a media enquiry claiming that the salaries of all the council’s senior managers have increased by five per cent. If this is not true, a response such as ‘none of the council’s senior management team have received any increase in salary in the last 12 month’s is acceptable. It is perfectly right and proper that the council responds, as long as it is factual.

• Use relevant lead officers rather than members for reactive media releases.

• Use a politician who is involved in an election when the council is required to respond in particular circumstances, such as in an emergency situation or where there is a genuine need for a member-level response to an important event beyond the council’s control.

Ultimately, you must always be guided by the principle of fairness. It is crucial that any decisions you take would be seen as fair and reasonable by the public and those standing for office.

The pre-election period will be covered as part of the LALC Elections, Engagement and Problem-solving briefings (see above).

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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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