The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government's (MHCLG) has announced its decision to cease funding for the neighbourhood planning support programme.

This decision is a significant setback for localism and the highly successful neighbourhood planning initiative, which saw parish and town councils at the heart of the 2,400 communities, with more than 1,000 plans approved at referendum.

Locality, the membership organisation commissioned by MHCLG to deliver the support programme, has published a statement and issued information to bodies receiving support.  Those councils that had a technical support package approved before 31 March 2025 will continue to receive agreed support until 31 March 2026.

The ALCA Clerks & Officers Network scheduled for Wednesday 18th June (13:30-14:30) has been rescheduled for Wednesday 25th June (13:30-14:30).  An updated meeting request has been issued to all Clerks & Officers.

On 15 May, MHCLG launched a consultation on a package of reforms to the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS).

The LGPS provides financial security in retirement to nearly seven million public servants. The majority of members are women, often working part-time and on low pay.

The consultation includes measures to:

This consultation closes on 7 August.

MHCLG has today (5 June) published the government response to the consultation on remote attendance and proxy voting. The response sets out a detailed analysis of consultation responses and outlines the government’s plans to enable remote attendance and proxy voting for councils.

Allowing remote attendance at meetings will give councils the freedom to operate more efficiently and make elected roles more accessible for more people. Introducing proxy voting will support council decision-making when councillors are away because of serious or long-term illness or becoming a new parent.

The development of legislation could provide local councils with the ability to develop their own local approach to proxy voting within a flexible legislative framework.

All final submissions of the 2024/25 AGAR must be made to BDO no later than 12pm on Tuesday 1st July 2025.  All local councils must have agreed the sign off at a meeting in June prior to submission.

The requirements for publication of statutory documents will depend on whether or not exemption from External Audit is being claimed:

NOT EXEMPT FROM EXTERNAL AUDIT

Before 1st July, you must publish:

• Notice of the period for the Exercise of Public Rights
• Sections 1 & 2 of the AGAR, approved and signed
• Declaration that the accounts are as yet unaudited
• Name and address of External Auditor
• Annual Internal Audit Report (recommended)

Before 1st October, you must publish:

• Notice of the conclusion of audit
• Sections 1 & 2 of the AGAR, including any amendments recommended as a result of the External Audit
• Section 3 of the AGAR - External Auditor Report and Certificate

EXEMPT FROM EXTERNAL AUDIT (Income OR Expenditure under £25k):

Before 1st July, you must publish:

• Certificate of Exemption
• Notice of the period for the Exercise of Public Rights
• Sections 1 & 2 of the AGAR, approved and signed
• Name and address of External Auditor
• Annual Internal Audit Report
• Analysis of Variances
• Bank Reconciliation as at 31st March

When considering exemption, it is important to note that total income includes ALL streams of income, not just the value of the precept for that financial year.

Please contact us for any support or further advice regarding the AGAR or publication of statutory information, as we will be glad to assist you further.

Discussions with SAAA have confirmed that the Upper Threshold for Local Councils is likely to change this year, possibly in the summer, from £6.5m to at least £10m.   We have been working hard with NALC for the government to confirm commitment for a review of the Lower Threshold with a view to increasing it from the current value of £25k for income or expenditure. Although this has now been given, there is no date by which the review will take place, but we hope further information will be available in the Autumn.

The Digital AGAR project is well underway and it is likely that the new portal will be operational for digital submissions in time for the submissions of the 2025/26 AGAR.

ALCA is pleased to announce the launch of its New Councillor Induction Training Programme, which will allow councils to book a recommended package of training courses with one click and at a discounted rate.  There will also be discounted packages aimed at those members that are serving on Committees for the first time, as well as longer serving councillors that would like to refresh or develop new skills.

The packages will all be available from 1st June 2025. For further information, please follow this link.

The Practitioners’ Guide is issued by the Smaller Authorities Proper Practices Panel (SAPPP) - formerly JPAG - to support the preparation of statutory annual accounting and governance statements by smaller authorities in England found in the Annual Governance and Accountability Return.

The 2025 edition (available to view or download on the NALC website) applies to Annual Governance and Accountability Returns (AGAR) for financial years commencing on or after 1 April 2025. The proper practices laid down in sections one and two of this edition must be applied in the financial year ending 31 March 2026, and the Annual Governance and Accountability Return (AGAR) for the year ending 31 March 2026 must be prepared following sections one and two of this edition of the guide. Note that the comparative figures (the figures for the year ending 31 March 2025 included in the 2025 AGAR) must be stated on the same basis as those for the year ending 31 March 2026.

The Local Government Association has informed NALC that the National Joint Council for Local Government Services (NJC) has agreed on pay rates applicable from 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025.

Some of the key information includes:

• With effect from 1 April 2024, an increase of £1,290 (pro rata for part-time employees) will be paid as a consolidated, permanent addition on all NJC pay points 2 to 43 inclusive.
• With effect from 1 April 2024, an increase of 2.50 per cent on all pay points above 43.
• With effect from 1 April 2024, an increase of 2.50 per cent on all allowances.
• Backpay for employees who have left employment since 1 April 2024. If an ex-employee requests it, we recommend that employers pay any monies due to that employee from 1 April 2024 to the employee’s last day of employment.
• When salary arrears are paid to ex-employees in the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS), the employer must inform its local LGPS fund. 

For further information, please visit the NALC website to read the Briefing Note that had been issued as part of advice to local councils. 

NALC has published an updated edition of The Good Councillor’s Guide for member councils, an electronic copy of which can be downloaded from the NALC website.

BT Group announced last week their intention to delay the date for the switching off of the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN).  The original date around which plans have been made was early December 2025.  BT Group announced today the rescheduled date of 31 January 2027.  This additional 13 months allows more time for Communications Providers (CPs) to safely migrate their vulnerable customers from the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN).

What does this mean for local councils?
You should by now have an inventory of all your lines and associated Service Provider(s). If you’re not already talking to your Service Provider, please make plans to do so ASAP.

Please continue to audit any safety devices on your estate, whether that’s a lift alarm, monitoring service or telecare device. Reach out to your device suppliers and get help and advice on the compatibility of these devices on a digital network.

The urgency for switching customers onto digital services grows by the day because the 40-year-old analogue landline technology is becoming increasingly fragile and harder to maintain service. We encourage you to continue with your current plans to switch to digital as soon as possible.

What about the vulnerable?
We’ve been working closely with CPs to develop a new ‘Prove Telecare’ service which would help to ensure that telecare devices still work after an engineering visit to upgrade an end customer to a digital service. This service will be trialled later this year.

BT Business plan to launch a new service (available until 2030) called ‘Pre-digital Phone Line’. BT Business are inviting CPs to register their interest to become resellers of this service to their customers. This service will give end customers an analogue type of voice service, with power on the line via their master socket. This is a temporary solution rather than a long-term alternative to digital.

Pkease check the BT Group updated FAQs here if you have any questions.

Essential reading for Clerks/RFOs when considering any findings and recommendations for their own council., particularly for Finance Committees, 

2022-2023 was the first year of the second five-year appointing period during which SAAA was responsible for appointing auditors to Smaller Authorities. In 2021, SAAA appointed four audit firms, BDO, Mazars, Moore and PKF Littlejohn, for the five financial years beginning on 1 April 2022. This report gives details of their work with Smaller Authorities for the financial year 2022-2023.

The full report can be accessed here: SAAA 2022 to 2023 Report

You can book the Essential Councillor and Planning in Plain English Trainers to come to your council at your own venue and at a time convenient to your council.

We will run the session for your all your own councillors or you can work with other councils (participant limit is 15 when working with other councils).

There is a set fee for the training of £275 for up to 15 Councillors, plus trainer expenses.

Please contact the Chief Officer at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for further details and to make bookings.

What is effective community engagement and what can be learnt from for local practice?

NALC policy consultation briefing to all member councils

Infrastructure Levy consultation NALC Briefing

Closing date 9th June 2023