Avon Local Councils Association
Minutes of the meeting held on 20th March 2014
At The Old School Rooms, Congresbury at 10.00 am
Present
Cllr Elizabeth Shepherd South Gloucestershire Area (Chairman)
Cllr. Malcolm Watson South Gloucestershire Area
Cllr.Tom Aditayo South Gloucestershire Area
Cllr. Bob Symons South Gloucestershire Area
Cllr. Rod Lees North Somerset
Cllr. Ivor Scoones North Somerset
Cllr. Noel Walter North Somerset (Honorary Treasurer)
Cllr. Eric Potter Bath & North East Somerset (Honorary Vice President)
Cllr. Tony Heaford Bath & North East Somerset
Peter Duppa-Miller Bath & North East Somerset
Cllr. Tony Crouch (President)
David Bell (Vice President)
Cllr. Mike Drew (NALC Representative)
Deborah White County Secretary
1. Apologies
Cllr. Pat Hockey South Gloucestershire Area
Hannah Saunders South Gloucestershire Area
Cllr Ange Hadden North Somerset Area
Elizabeth Shepherd proposed a vote of thanks to Pete Sewell, who played a vital role in holding ALCA together during the vacant County Secretary post. Congesbury Parish Council has decided not to re-join ALCA for 2014, and as Pete feels very strongly that councillors of non ALCA member councils should not be on the Executive Committee he has duly resigned.
2. Minutes of the meeting on 28th November 2013 were agreed as accurate record
3. Treasurers’ update
Given the current funds held in balances and the predicted excess of expenditure over income,ALCA will be able to sustain planned losses for 5 to 10 years
Deficit forecast for current year was £7,000, the deficit actual was in the region of £3,000 due to vacant County Secretary post for several months
There was some discussion on NALC finances, the need to scale back services or raise money elsewhere and the ownership of the London offices.
4. Management Group Report
County Secretary’s Line Management
Weekly meetings took place during first two months and there was also regular phone contact. The first probation report completed satisfactorily. A meeting for the three month probation period is being arranged.
Advice role of County Secretary
Peter Duppa-Miller is performing mentoring role to the County Secretary. Approximately two issues a month are being forwarded to NALC for further advice. There has been some ciriticism of NALC when unpalatable advice is received by a local council e.g. NALC advice to seek local solicitor support (or not) is not always valued, but is important, as it could save an individual Local Council a great deal of time and resources.
Staff development
It was agreed that ALCA would financially support the County Secretary to undertake CILCA, which will be undertaken in her own time. From time of registration, an applicant has two years within which to complete the qualification.
Website Development and Administration
It was agreed that the County Secretary will be the sole administrator of the ALCA website, however the password will be passed to the Chair of the Executive for safe keeping should it be required.
Difficulties of accessing NALC website were noted – Action County Secretary
- Training Working Group Report
The Training Team had met on 17th February, and a copy of the notes of that meeting had been circulated earlier.
Councillor Training
There is a natural decrease in demand for this service as the current four year term of office draws to an end, and the frequency of training sessions will reflect this. However, post 2015 local elections we anticipate a heavy demand for training for councillors. This will be factored into the training programme for 2015/6.
ALCA needs to promote that Local Councils have a councillor training budget and that councillors are aware of its existence.
Uptake of “At Your Place” training has been in Charfield and Peasedown St John.
Plans to develop Clerks training (this is likely to be less fluctuating). The first Clerks Training Group meeting is on 12th May 2014
Avon County Training Partnership
There is good support from South Gloucestershire Council with free venues and access to Ward Councillor Training places for Local Councillors.
The training provided by B&NES Council to its Members and Officers is very, very, sporadic - although it will intensify after May 2015, when PDM is booked in to implement part of the "New Member Induction Process". The Parish Charter is the mechanism used to inform Members and Officers of the way in which Local Councils operate.
There is a need to develop the training network in North Somerset.
Potential New Developments in Training
Tendering and contracts
The Accountability Act and Electronic Payments.
6. Area Groups - Annual General Meetings
South Gloucestershire Area Group AGM is scheduled for Thursday 29th May 2014 19:00 - 21:30 atThe Jubilee Centre, Bradley Stoke, BS32 8HL
Bath & North East Somerset Area Group AGM is scheduled for Wednesday 28th May 2014 19.30 to 21.30at The Saltford Hall, Saltford.
North Somerset Area Group AGM will take place on either Thursday 29th May or Thursday 26th June in Locking.
7. Representation at National and Regional Events - Agreed
- "What next for Localism" 26 March 2014 - Malcolm Watson
- SWCLCA 27th March 2014 – Mike Drew, Elizabeth Shepherd & CS
- NALC Full Council Meeting – Mike Drew
- "Making Localism Work" event on 18 September 2014 – Peter D-M & CS
- SW Regional conference 30th April 2014 – Malcolm Watson & CS
8. Report from the Constitution Working Party
The Constitution Working Party duly met in January 2014. The Working Party was made up of the Chair of the Executive, an Executive Member from each Unitary Area, a non-executive representative from each UA (a SG rep. was not found) and the County Secretary.
The draft revised constitution as drawn up and agreed by the Working Party was tabled and discussed.
Following discussion, an amendment to the draft revised constitution was tabled by David Bell and Tony Crouch. They proposed that an option to include the election of President and Vice President at the AGM be added.
The view of the Working Party had been that it is no longer appropriate to have a President and Vice Presidents as a “thanks for past service”
In addition the Working Party’s view was that all members on the Executive Committee should be from ALCA membership councils, with the exception of the NALC and QPC Accreditation Panel reps.
The Executive Committee endorsed the proposed revised draft constitution but requested that the option to co-opt a Vice President as an ex-officio member of the Executive to be taken back to the Working Group. The Chairman agreed to refer this item back to the Working Group for their comment.
The change of name from Avon Local Councils Association (ALCA) to West of England Local Councils Association (WELCA) was agreed.
A vote of “Thanks” was made by the Executive Committee to the Constitution Working Party.
9. West of England Local Enterprise Partnership Rural Sector Group
The County Secretary has taken over the ALCA seat on the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership Rural Economy Sector Group.
Support for The West of England LEADER Project Bid “in principle” was agreed
10. Any other business
David Bell said that he had written to NALC asking what the current position was with regard to the Quality Parish Council Scheme. He was awaiting a reply.
11. Next meeting
The date of the next meeting was fixed for Tuesday 24th June. A venue in B&NES will be sought.
Dates for meetings for the remainder of 2014 were also agreed, as follows
Executive Committee - Tuesday 23rd September– venue to be arranged
Annual General Meeting - Saturday 4th October – venue to be arranged in South Gloucestershire
Executive Committee – Tuesday 2nd December – venue to be arranged
Note - The dates of the Executive Committee meetings are set to take place 2 days before the meetings of the SWCLCA meetings in Halberton Village Hall. This will allow discussion on the agenda papers for these meetings and for our representatives to be briefed accordingly.