Author and Publisher by Ruth Redgate Certhe CEG, MILCM

VOLUME 13 FEB 11

STAFFORDSHIRE

BRANCH LINES

Author and Publisher by Ruth Redgate CertHE CEG, MILCM

VOLUME 13 FEB 11

THREE DAYS

Thank you to those of you who attended the meeting in Lichfield on January 15, 2011. This was the first time the Branch had met on a Saturday and the event was well attended – we would appreciate feedback on your preferred meeting times and any suggestions for venues.

A silver paper knife with a rosewood handle was presented to Steve Hopkins, recently retired from Staffordshire County Council, in recognition of his support over the years.

Reading ‘The Clerk’ (November 2010) I noted an article entitled ‘Three clear days can cause complication’. The article referred to the fact that the Clerk is required to give Councillors and the public three clear days’ notice of Council Meetings. This was followed by a letter to the Editor (January 2011) indicating that the writer often included Sunday as one of the three ‘clear days’.

The Local Government Act 1972 Schedule 12 paragraph 10(2) requires the Clerk to send a summons to each Councillor and display a public notice in a conspicuous place, at least three clear days before the meeting. It is always been my understanding that three clear days does not include the day of the meeting or the day on which the summons is sent out. My interpretation of the law would be that it is also good practice to exclude bank holidays and weekends.

I hope to see you at the branch Annual General Meeting in April.

Christine Heelis - Branch Chairman

Author and Publisher by Ruth Redgate CertHE CEG, MILCM

VOLUME 13 FEB 11

ARTICLE FROM THE BRANCH SECRETARY

The Staffordshire Branch has a healthy membership with 67 Clerks but we are always keen to increase our numbers and will be keeping open the offer to pay the fee for any new members joining the Society at the Annual General Meeting. So if you are aware of any Clerks who may be thinking about joining us please encourage them to do so.

The Annual General Meeting will be held in April on a date yet to be arranged. I have two or three offers of venues (thank you to those Clerks/Councils who have kindly offered to host) and as you know have asked for preferences from Members on whether we meet at a lunchtime or evening. The voting seems to be for a weekday rather than a Saturday. I will make the arrangements and forward details to you all by the end of February.

BRANCH OFFICERS
CONTACT E-Mail addresses:
Christine Heelis, Chair

Mary Danby, Honorary Treasurer

Ruth Redgate, Publicity & Membership Officer

Christopher Moulton, Honorary Secretary

ARTICLE FROM NEC AND ILCM BOARD REP

The next NEC meeting on 15 February will see the presentation of the ILCM Constitution and Charitable Trust. At the same time a full report is being presented regarding the communications

strategy which incorporates comments from Clerks. Arising from one specific suggestion, a full index is being prepared of the first two years’

editions of the national branch newsletter which will be included as a supplement to the April edition, so it will be much easier to find past articles.

A thank you to those Clerks I have approached to help me evaluate a Small Councils Eforum – I look forward to catching up with you and your feedback.

Author and Publisher by Ruth Redgate CertHE CEG, MILCM

VOLUME 13 FEB 11

The following articles are from the National Branch Newsletter. You will note that some of the items have some tight deadlines for comments etc. For a full copy of the newsletter please check out the SLCC website.

PUBLICISING EXPENDITURE OVER £500

Last autumn the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (CLG), Mr Eric Pickles, wrote to local authority associations and individual principal authorities requesting that all public bodies publish on their websites from 1st January 2011, details of every payment made by them over £500. It was made clear that councils were expected to comply with this request and if they did not, the Secretary of State could consider using his reserve powers to require compliance.
The Local Government Association subsequently issued a draft Code of Practice on how councils should comply with the request. This guidance was specifically aimed at principal councils and was not particularly helpful for local councils. Some commentators have taken this and a Government statement that “144 out of 354 councils had complied” to mean that the request does not apply to town and parish councils. This is not the understanding of SLCC after discussions with the officials in

the government.

CLG Minister, Robert Neil, in answer to a Parliamentary Question on 4th November 2010 said “we are requesting them (town and parish councils) to publish details of expenditure over £500”. The CLG Transparency Unit has also advised SLCC External Affairs Officer, Sam Shippen, that “sector bodies” can expect to be consulted “very shortly” on specific guidance as to how town and parish councils should comply. As soon as more information becomes available we will present it on the SLCC website and on the e-forum. Sam has already posted several messages updating members on this matter and articles have appeared in the October and December issues of the Branch Newsletter.
In the meantime it is the advice of SLCC that, where members are able to comply with the request they should do so without incurring too much time or expenditure. Many current accounts packages will readily allow for details of items of expenditure over £500 to be posted on websites. We are, however, very aware that many members, particularly those serving smaller councils, do not have access to accounts packages or websites and compliance will cause a number of problems. We will seek to address all these issues in our response to the consultation.

the government.

Author and Publisher by Ruth Redgate CertHE CEG, MILCM

VOLUME 13 FEB 11

Author and Publisher by Ruth Redgate CertHE CEG, MILCM

VOLUME 13 FEB 11

NEW ACCOUNTS AND AUDIT REGULATIONS (ENGLAND)

DCLG have published draft new Accounts and Audit Regulations which are available on their web site at

They very usefully consolidate the various amendments that have been made over recent years so it should be easier to know what the current requirements are. They are intended to come into effect on 31st March 2011, i.e. in this financial year; that will mean that they will have an almost immediate impact.

As far as local councils are concerned that impact will be in two main areas.

Firstly the threshold for “smaller relevant body status” is increased to £6.5m. This is clearly significant for those councils who currently have to comply with FRSSE, who will now have the option of not doing so, and secondly there will not be any requirement to undertake an annual review of internal audit, although the need to maintain an adequate and effective internal audit remains.

The regulations apply, of course, to all councils so a read of them is advised. Comments on the draft can be made direct to DCLG or they can be sent to Steve Parkinson, the Hampshire NEC rep, at , who will be coordinating the Society’s response.

Author and Publisher by Ruth Redgate CertHE CEG, MILCM

VOLUME 13 FEB 11

Author and Publisher by Ruth Redgate CertHE CEG, MILCM

VOLUME 13 FEB 11

LOCALISM BILL - ENGLAND

National External Affairs Officer, Sam Shippen, has prepared a full summary of all those aspects of the Bill of interest to local councils together with a commentary on the current policy and/or position of the SLCC with regard to each element. Both SLCC and NALC are making representations on various aspects of the Bill, much of which will require secondary legislation or statutory guidance to come into effect. Sam’s summary can be viewed by logging in to the members' area of the website, clicking on 'External Affairs' and clicking on 'The Localism Bill'

Author and Publisher by Ruth Redgate CertHE CEG, MILCM

VOLUME 13 FEB 11

WIN A TRIP TO THE IIMC CONFERENCE IN NASHVILLETENNESSEE
IN MAY 2011!

Don’t forget there is still time to enter

All members of SLCC and ILCM may participate provided they have not previously been awarded an international experience bursary. Participation will be by entry to the competition which will take place between 10th January 2011 and 7th March 2011. Entries should arrive at the SLCC main office in Taunton no later than Midday on Monday 7th March. Entries will be judged by a panel appointed by the National Executive Council and winners will be notified by the end of March 2011. All entrants must certify that they will, if they win, participate in the programme and pay their own accommodation and incidental travel costs. Entrants should submit the application form, (which is available to download from SLCC International Programmes page on the SLCC website) together with a written article which, if of sufficient quality may be published in future editions of “The Clerk.” The article should be between 600 and 1000 words long and address one of the following topic areas.

a)Describe an interesting project which you have been involved in with your council,

b)Explain an unusual skill or technique which you employ in your work.

c) Provide a novel or entertaining insight into some new development in our sector (e.g. the Localism Bill or clustering).

d)Discuss “the benefits of international experience as a part of continuous professional development”.

The winners will be those who, in the judges opinion, have provided the most informative, amusing and/or well written article. See the application form for tips on providing a winning article.

Author and Publisher by Ruth Redgate CertHE CEG, MILCM

VOLUME 13 FEB 11

AUDIT FEE REBATE

There has been some discussion in the press and on our forums about possible rebates for audit fees potentially arising from surplus funds that the Audit Commission may have when it is disbanded.

It is the understanding of National Financial Advisor, Rod Latham, that principal councils will be receiving some rebates this year, but this is because of changes in government policy relating to Comprehensive Area Assessments, and scored Use of Resources judgments no longer being required. Local councils are not affected by this.

Regarding the redistribution of any residual surplus the Commission may have, it is worth noting what the Commission’s CEO has said on the matter, when responding to a recent press statement by the LGA: “We have already announced that councils will receive a £7million rebate this financial year. But the costs of abolition have to come from the public purse and the remainder of the Audit Commission’s reserves will contribute to meeting some of those costs. There will be no reserves left at the end of this financial year and the Department for Communities and Local Government will meet any outstanding liabilities relating to redundancy and premises that cannot be covered by the reserves.

'The Audit Commission board will consider responses to its consultation about fees for 2011/12 at a meeting on 15 February. The consultation proposes that the 2011/12 scales of audit fees are based only on what the Commission needs in order to recover the costs of audits and its other activities in 2011/12.

This would result in a saving of £6.3million for councils in that financial year”.

RECOVERING VAT

Following some recent incorrect advice on the e-forum about the circumstances in which a parish council could help a village hall committee reduce the VAT burden when expending a grant from the county council, Steve Parkinson, the tutor for our CPD courses on VAT has commented as follows:

The Principal Authority could buy the tables, give them to the village hall for free and reclaim the VAT. (I'm not sure why they don't just do this)
Likewise, the principal authority could give a grant to the PC, who could buy the tables, give them to the village hall committee and reclaim the VAT, provided that the PC does not receive anything in return (including free use of the hall) from the village hall committee. Giving something away for free is a non-business activity and as such, para. 7.1 of VAT Notice 749 applies. The council must: Place the order, receive the supply, receive a tax invoice addressed to them and pay from their own funds (including any grant awarded to them).
It is not a scam; it is a mechanism to ensure that the council taxpayer does not have to meet the costs of VAT.
For those that didn't get the answer right, this year's SLCC VAT courses are:
4 April - Colchester, Essex
4 July - Bristol
12 September - Swansea
7 November - Hook, Hampshire
More details here:

CLG VANGUARDS SCHEME

A key element of the new planning framework proposed in the Localism Bill is the increased importance of Neighbourhood Plans. The Department for Communities and Local Government has allocated funds in 2011/12 to offer local planning authorities (LPA) grants of up to £20,000 to assist with the production of pilot, or “vanguard” Neighbourhood Plans. The deadline though is tight – 14th February!

We know from the recent Larger Councils Network meeting in Nottingham that Thame Town Council in Oxfordshire hope to progress a Neighbourhood Plan but anyone else wanting to do so must contact their LPA immediately.

Full details of the scheme can be found at:

ENERGY PERFORMANCE CERTIFICATES

There has been some confusion in postings to the e-group recently concerning the applicability of energy performance certificates to parish council buildings. We therefore asked Vic Quayle, the Surrey branch secretary and editor of Health and Safety for Local Councils, for his views on the matter.

Vic advises that The Energy Performance in Buildings (Certificates and Inspection) (England and Wales) Regulations 2007 (as amended a couple of times) require public authorities to have Display Energy Certificates (DEC) for public buildings with a useable floor space of at least 1,000m2, This might include community buildings such as sports halls, village halls and other public roofed spaces.

A DEC shows the actual energy use of a building based on the energy
consumption whether it is gas or electric. When a DEC is prepared it is
accompanied by an Advisory Report that details effective measures to
improve the energy rating of the building and thus the operating costs.
This report is valid for seven years, however a DEC is only valid for one
year and must be updated. Energy assessments must be carried out by
accredited assessors, and failure to have an assessment and display a valid
DEC may lead to an investigation by Trading Standards.