NALC
Ensuring a plan comes together
A genuine working partnership between central and local government is vital to the success of local planning, as Justin ‘Hannibal’ Griggs explains.
Parish poll sparks fresh modernisation call
Ministers have been urged to ‘modernise the archaic 40-year-old system’ of parish polls after what is thought to be the first on a tax rise.
Whitehall urged to engage more with towns and parishes
Parish councils and principal authorities should agree a ‘duty to consult’ across tiers of local government to boost the levelling up agenda, a report has found.
District warning over parish push
Making it easier to establish town and parish councils could be a ‘recipe for confusion, higher costs and slowing down the transformation of public services,’ the District Councils’ Network (DCN) has warned.
The case for virtual meetings
Jackie Weaver – star of Handforth Parish Council’s viral meeting – argues the case for stepping out of the dark ages and allowing councils to hold their meetings online.
Time to connect the disconnected
With a recent focus on the handing of powers to a collection of high profile regional mayors, Sue Baxter urges the next Governement, whichever hue it may be, to push devolution down to the grass roots.
Parishes call for council tax referendum probe
Plans to force parish councils to have referendums for council tax rises are ‘a centralist sledgehammer to crack a nut’, leaders have claimed.
A re-organisation too far
MP Alec Shelbrook’s proposals for local government reform risk destroying the ‘local’ in local government, warns Professor Colin Copus
Missing a trick on reorganisation
Calls from backbench MP Alec Shelbrooke for far-reaching local government reform have failed to address the real opportunities available, argues Cllr Ken Browse
‘Don’t strip communities’ access to justice’
Plans to close dozens of courts across the country have come under fire from councils who claim they will strip communities of access to justice.
CA staffing fears put council’s lift plans on hold
A town hall lift has become the latest casualty in the combined authority push.
What a relief
Regular readers of Diary will know we like nothing more than a good toilet story to flush away all the bad news.
Call for devolution in Queen's Speech
Town hall bosses from across the United Kingdom have joined forces to call on the next government to make devolution an urgent priority.
Parishes answer planning problems
James Derounian and Elisabeth Skinner advocate local authority and community involvement – all at modest cost, requiring no new legislation or invention of mechanisms.
Cut cash and risk harming local relations NALC warns
The chairman of the National Association of Local Councils (NALC) has warned plans by Shropshire Council to cut funding for town and parish councils could damage local relationships.
Parishes could pioneer e-voting
Parish council referendums should be used to pioneer the use of electronic voting in UK elections, the National Association for Local Councils (NALC) has urged.
Parishes demand funding fairness from ministers
Parish and town council leaders have met government ministers to press their claim for a fairer funding settlement for first-tier councils.
A quiet revolution
Jonathan Owen, chief executive of the National Association of Local Councils wants parish councils to cover the length and breadth of England. Jonathan Werran reports on his first-tier ambitions
Ministers publish parish council proposals
Ministers have today published three key measures aimed at making it easier for communities to set up town and parish councils.
NALC vows to improve parishes' finance training
The chair of the National Association of Local Councils (NALC) has pledged to improve training and guidance to local councils, after the Audit Commission reported 11% of parish councils – 1,015 in total - had their accounts qualified in 2013/14.