WIREDGOV

In partnership with ourselves, the National Association of Local Councils (NALC) is publishing a new suite of good practice guidance materials for local councils entitled ‘Continuing Effective Engagement for Town and Parish Councils‘.

The materials cover four specific areas related to the work of local (parish and town) councils:

• guidance and case studies for new local councils;
• case studies on principal local authorities delegating services to local councils;
• guidance on double-taxation for local councils; and
• advice for smaller local councils.

These materials follow directly on from the earlier ‘Securing Effective Engagement for Town and Parish Councils’ research, which looked at service delegation and local councils combining for service delivery.

The main findings from the research are:

• examples of real service delegation from principal local authorities to local councils are still not widespread enough, despite the huge potential of local councils to take on appropriate new services;
• new local councils face significant challenges after their creation, but they are often the most dynamic and enthusiastic in the local councils’ sector in terms of their willingness to grow, and promote their activities to residents;
• despite innovative local solutions to tackle the problem of double taxation, it remains an issue for local councils. It is hoped that the current Government’s commitment to paring back the local tax burden will free up local councils to promote the services they deliver for their residents more effectively and avoid duplication of services and payments; and
• smaller local councils are amongst the most dynamic and effective service delivery agencies in the country. There are well-defined case studies demonstrating that, despite their lesser capacity, they continue to deliver excellent value for money for residents in service delivery.

To access the guidance documents visit the NALC website.