Smaller councils are defined as those with an electorate of under 6000, and NALC’s Smaller Councils Committee exists to represent their needs. All members of the committee come from small local councils. The committee enables those councils to be given, via county associations, the tools and information to carry out their functions effectively with minimal cost and complexity. It also allows them to develop, formulate and respond to policy issues affecting smaller councils, including the ability to make recommendations directly to NALC’s Policy Committee.
At a meeting on 2 March, the committee agreed that its chair, Cllr Graham Ford, would write to all councils with an electorate under 6000 to ask what issues of relevance they would like the committee to address, and what services they would like NALC to provide.
The letter is available for download below, and directly invites relevant councils to share the issues that they are facing. Lately, the committee has been considering subjects including improving good governance, increasing take-up of the Local Council Award Scheme and CiLCA, practice regarding planning consultations and practical issues arising from smaller councils having limited capacity. You could comment on what help from NALC you would find useful, or whether there are particular issues that you feel NALC could be lobbying the government about that they aren’t currently (NALC’s current policy register is available here)
Relevant councils could consider this request as an agenda item at their next local council meeting; please reply to policycomms@nalc.gov.uk by 30 April 2022.