If any Clerks want to join the Clerks’ eGroup, or any councillors want to join the Councillor eGroup, contact enquiries@lalc.co.uk.
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This fortnightly newsletter is provided to member councils through the clerk and should be circulated to all councillors. This eNews can also be found on the LALC website under News.
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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 www.lalc.co.uk/training-2-1.
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.
꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰ ꙰꙰
|
Position |
Closing date |
|
|
Clerk/RFO |
18th November 2023 |
|
|
Clerk |
16th August 2024 |
|
|
Clerk/RFO |
30th July 2024 |
|
|
Clerk/RFO |
29th July 2024 |
|
|
Clerk/RFO |
No closing date |
|
|
Deputy Clerk |
26th July 2024 |
|
|
Clerk/RFO |
No closing date |
|
|
Clerk/RFO |
31st August 2024 |
|
|
Operations Manager |
23rd August 2024 |
|
|
Clerk/RFO |
No closing date |
|
|
Assistant Parish Clerk |
6th September 2024 |
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 £75. 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
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Latest News
To see the latest NALC news: https://www.nalc.gov.uk/news
To see the latest SLCC news: https://www.slcc.co.uk/news-publications/
(No login is required).
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Are you interested in becoming a LALC internal auditor?
We are looking for suitably experienced people to join the LALC Internal Audit team. Preference will be given to officers or councillors with relevant experience of local council accounts and admin procedures.
In the first instance, please register your interest at enquiries@lalc.co.uk.
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Looking for expressions of interest in the new LALC committees
LALC is looking to set up a number of committees who will investigate key topics in the sector:
• Climate change
• Recruitment of clerks and appropriate pay structure
• Engaging younger councillors
We are also open to suggestions for further topics/committees. If you are interested in being involved in one of these committees, please contact us at enquiries@lalc.co.uk, stating what you are interested in.
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Enhancements to the LALC portal
A number of enhancements have recently gone live on the LALC portal:
Bookings information.
When logged into the portal, you will now see two new cards: Bookings and Event Stats.
Under Bookings you can view all your council’s event (course) registrations, filter them, sort them and export them - as well as cancel qualifying bookings (as long as the cancellation policy for the event allows this). You can also access the Event Stats card from here.
Under Event Stats you can break down your bookings by event, filter, sort and export.
Picking up contact information
When making a booking for an event (course), we have found that users often enter incorrect email addresses for the attendee. This means that the automatic email notifications (confirming registration, sending out reminders and the training link, if remote) are rejected as the email address is unknown.
Under the new enhancement, if you have set your councillors up (under your Organisation), you will now see all their email addresses in the drop-down list when making a booking. Just select the correct one.
If you do not have any councillors set up, the drop-down list will be blank, and you will be able to type the email address in.
If you do not have the email address set up for the particular councillor you want to book on, you will be able to type the email address in.
Please note that manually typing in an email address in the booking does not automatically set up the councillor under your organisation.
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LALC Internal Audit Service – rates for 2024/25
LALC’s Management Committee has now agreed the new internal audit fees for 2024/25. The standard audit fee for the council’s relevant electorate banding applies, plus the fee for any of the bolt-on areas, if applicable:
|
Electorate banding |
Approx hrs |
Standard Audit Fee |
Bolt-ons |
|||||
|
Allotments |
Burials |
Markets |
Community Buildings |
Other |
Charity Trustees |
|||
|
0-250 |
4.5 |
137.50 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
|
251-500 |
5 |
165 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
|
501-1000 |
6 |
220 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
|
1001-2500 |
7 |
275 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
|
2501-5000 |
8 |
330 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
|
5001-7500 |
9 |
385 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
|
7501-10,000 |
10 |
440 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
|
Over 10,000 |
11+ |
495 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
The fee covers 1 mid-year full audit plus end of year mini audit and completion of the AGAR Internal Audit form.
For any council requiring 2 mid-year full audits plus end of year mini audit and completion of the AGAR Internal Audit form, the fee will be doubled.
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REMINDER: NALC Star Council Awards nominations are open
Nominations are open for the NALC Star Council Awards 2024 to celebrate the achievements of the local (parish and town) council sector.
The Star Council Awards are the only awards programme in England specifically designed to acknowledge the impact and contribution of local councils in their communities. The awards are open to all local councils, councillors, clerks, and county associations across England.
Entrants can apply for six award categories: Council of the Year, Councillor of the Year, Young Councillor of the Year, County Association of the Year, Clerk of the Year, and Climate Response of the Year. The award categories have been carefully selected to recognise excellence in different areas of local council operations and highlight the varied contributions made by councils.
This year, we've introduced a new award dedicated to climate response. This award will recognise the proactive efforts of councils in addressing climate change, emphasising the importance of their role in mitigating impacts, adapting to new conditions, and building resilience for both people and nature. By highlighting successful long-term strategies and community engagement, it aims to inspire other councils to take similar actions for a sustainable future.
NALC chair, Cllr Keith Stevens, commented, "We are excited to honour and celebrate the remarkable achievements of parish and town councils and individuals who have gone above and beyond in their dedication to supporting their communities. Their exceptional efforts and unwavering commitment deserve recognition and applause."
The nomination period ends on 6 September 2024, and the winners will be announced at a ceremony in the House of Lords, where they will be presented with their awards.
Clear Councils Insurance, Blachere Illumination, CCLA, Cloudy IT and Facilitating the Future sponsor the awards.
Find out more: https://www.nalc.gov.uk/starcouncilawards
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NEW: Employment law briefing announced for October
September 2024 sees the introduction of new statutory obligations for Councils to prevent sexual harassment of their employees. Furthermore, October will see the introduction of new entitlements for locums and other staff working on fixed term contracts, to request that the contract be extended for a longer period or made permanent.
To enable councils to respond to these new entitlements, as well as bring them up to date with new employment laws that are planned for 2025, Chris Moses will be conducting a 1 hour Zoom meeting to provide members with the information they need to know.
When: Thursday 10th October 2024, 10:00 – 11:00
Please note that this training will use a Zoom link provided by Chris and not the usual LALC Zoom link. The link will be sent out in advance of the training.
Please book via the LALC portal in the usual way.
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CLARIFICATION – Are Councillors volunteers?
There may have been some confusion caused recently in material originating from third parties, suggesting that councillors are unpaid volunteers.
LALC would like to clarify that councillors are not volunteers in the common use of the word. They are elected representatives of the council and holders of public office. Councillors are summoned to attend meetings, have specific responsibilities, are bound by laws and are required to meet specific standards. Whilst many are unpaid, in some councils, councillors can receive an allowance.
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LCC Town and Parish Council update
In the latest LCC Town and Parish Council Newsletter, LCC is starting to prepare for the winter gritting season and is asking local councils to check the grit bins in your parish and report any that are less than half full or are damaged – these can be reported via FixMyStreet (www.fixmystreet.com).
LCC are also offering all town and parish councils delivery of a one tonne bag of salt for this winter. Measuring 1.2m x 1m x 1.2m the bags ideally need to be stored off the ground to remain dry.
To get the salt, please request one before Monday 30 September: https://tinyurl.com/2dnx89pk
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Groundwater issues in Cemeteries and Burial Grounds
During the recent LALC Conference some parish and town councils raised concerns that rising groundwater was an increasing issue in some parishes affecting their cemeteries, churchyards and burial grounds.
If you have a cemetery or burial ground and it suffers from high groundwater levels with risk of flooding please contact Lincolnshire County Council’s Flood Risk Team on Innovative.Resilience@lincolnshire.gov.uk. The Team will then potentially have a wider sample to undertake investigations into this issue.
If your council is affected, please state the location of the graveyard (address, postcode, what3words etc), if you have undertaken any investigations and what mitigation measures have been put in place so far. The Flood Risk Team will collate it for their hydrogeologists and go from there. If there have been no investigations/mitigations so far please state this – just explain what the groundwater flood risk issues are.
Your assistance with this project is appreciated.
Vicky Jones
Flood Resilience Programme Co-Ordinator
Lincolnshire County Council
County Offices, Newland, Lincoln LN1 1YL
Mobile: 07436 057029
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Gallagher – Latest Community Matters
The latest edition of Gallagher Community Matters can be read here: https://tinyurl.com/yaa4ybz8
Featuring:
• Understanding the hazards in green spaces.
• Navigating the fire hazard of e-bikes.
• Top tips on promoting your events in your local community and risk management tips for summer events.
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GRASSroots scheme
Several projects in East Lindsey have been awarded grants in the latest round of funding from Lincolnshire Community Foundation’s GRASSroots scheme.
The projects include:
• Coningsby Town Council - Revitalisation of skate park.
• Burgh Le Marsh Town Council - Restoration of historic features within the town, including heritage railings, the replacement of the Tinkers Green entrance gates and new sheltered seating.
• Binbrook Parish Council - Renovations to green spaces and improvements to encourage physical activity for residents, including exercise equipment and play equipment for young people.
Another round of funding is now open. The themes of the fund are focussed on the betterment of community buildings and spaces, and to bring pride of place to communities. The closing date for applications is 1 September.
Read all about it here: https://tinyurl.com/bdh3pj8y
Details and applications: https://lincolnshirecf.co.uk/grants/grassroots/
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Opportunity for Community Centres in the Hatton area
Volunteers running community centres and village halls in the Hatton area can now apply for funding to make their facilities more energy efficient, thanks to a £162,500 grant from National Gas to East Lindsey District Council. This funding aims to support energy efficiency improvements and train local volunteers as community energy champions. Cllr Graham Marsh said, "Village halls and community centres are vital for village life. This funding helps ensure they're warm in winter and reduce energy costs." Interested volunteers within 10 miles of Hatton, please contact our Sustainable Development Officer, Dean Hempsall, at dean.hempsall@e-lindsey.gov.uk by Friday 30 August for more information and to apply.