Our Annual General Meeting provides our member councils with and opportunity to review DALC’s performance in the past year, and steer the strategic direction of DALC in the future. Catch up on this year’s discussions and continue to feed back what is important to your council.

On 27th September, parish and town councils descended upon Exeter Racecourse for the Annual General meeting.  The AGM is not just a formality.  At its heart is our Annual Report which showcases a year of remarkable achievements by parish and town councils, and the wide range of support DALC provides to councils to create effective local governance and thriving communities.

At this year’s AGM, directors demonstrated commitment to providing a quality service to member councils, recognising our core purpose and priorities to be the provision of advice, information and training services, but also partnership working and member engagement for effective representation of the sector.  All of which required a greater level of resource to ease pressures on DALC’s small staff team.

Directors presented proposals for subscription increases, to boost income to support of our members services.  Feedback from participants reflected the value DALC brings to councils, and the need for it to be properly resourced.  Participants gave widespread support for DALC to reconsider proposals with a view to generate further subscription income -the current proposal was too deemed too modest.

Widespread support was also expressed for improved member engagement, enabling councils of all sizes and experience to be able to contribute to DALC’s discussions on matters of importance to councils.  It was acknowledged that the previous County Committee structure was an ineffective use of resources.  DALC will utilise a range of tools in future, such as polls, surveys and open meetings, and look to provide more face-to-face networking opportunities, like our AGM & Conference.

Catch up on this years AGM

• Read the minutes
• View the presentation slides

Listening to our members

Our AGM this year included a member engagement session. We wanted to learn what was important to our members and how we can help. We asked 5 key questions:

1. What are the top 3 issues facing your council?
2. What is the most challenging and what is most satisfying about your role?
3. Do you have a good relationship with other authorities?  and what could be improved?
4. How could DALC help you achieve your goals?
5. What topics would you like to explore further through DALC networking opportunities?

We would like to give every member council an opportunity to join in and have their say, so please share your views with us. The survey is open to councillors and officers from any of our member councils; please do take a moment to share your thoughts!

Next steps

DALC staff team and directors will review all submissions and use this information to help shape our emerging business plan.  We will share our findings and future plans with all member councils.

Read more

All our members are invited to read our Annual Report 22.23, which contains all the news on what we’ve been up to the in last year and a selection of the fantastic projects our member councils have been working on.

Minutes from previous AGMs can be found on our governance page, along with details of our Board of Directors.

Keep an eye out for our new Connect Events, bringing councils together and connecting you with DALC, with other councils, and organisations whose work impacts our communities.

**Save the date for next year’s AGM which will take place on 2 October 2024**

Join us for our annual flagship event. A full day of speakers, workshops and exhibits as well as opportunities to engage with town and parish councils across Devon.

Firstly, thank you to everyone who came to our AGM today.  It was never going to be quite the same as our usual set up – no networking, coffee and biscuits!  But it was great to see our member councils represented in our virtual meeting room.

Cllr Ken Browse, Shadow Board Chairman, provided the welcoming address to the meeting.  He highlighted the journey DALC has been on over the past 2 years and the work the Shadow Board has been doing to develop a new business plan.  He also praised parish and town councils across the County for the support they have been offering their communities during such an unprecedented time.

Annual Report 2019/2020

Cllr Ken Browse presented the Annual Report 2019/2020.  The report provides an overview of DALC’s year, highlighting a range of our activities such as training and representing our members, through to member stories including Belstone’s first election in 30 years and Great Torrington’s youngest mayor.

Cllr Ian Cowling, Honorary Treasurer also reported on the Annual Accounts in which we saw improved income and reduced expenditure through 2019/2020.

AGM appoints a new Board of Directors

Thank you all who stood for election. Our newly appointed Board members are:

• David Chalmers,
• Elizabeth Brookes-Hocking
• Elizabeth Hitchins
• Glyn Richards
• Ian Cowling
• Ken Browse
• Michael Hocking
• Phillip Dredge
• Teresa Bowers.

AGM agrees subscriptions rates 2021/2022

The meeting agreed to a 2.9% increase on member subscriptions for next year. This includes a 3% increase on the NALC element (agreed by NALC) which forms part of your overall subscription fee