To All Member Town and Parish Councils and Parish Meetings

Derbyshire Association dalc of Local Councils

The Old Loom Shop, Building 23, Cromford Mill, Mill Road, Cromford, Matlock, Derbyshire DE4 3RQ Tel: 01629 826655 e-mails: [email protected] [email protected] www.derbyshirealc.gov.uk

Circular No. 09/2017

To all Member Town and Parish Councils and Parish Meetings

GENERAL CIRCULAR

In this Circular:  DALC AGM  New General Data Protection Regulations  DALC’S new offices  Special Offer – Local Councils Explained for just £10

 HR Advice regarding statutory breaks for employees

 Report published – The Voice of the Councillor

 Legal briefing  £13 million Woodland Creation grant confirmed

1. DALC AGM

DALC’s AGM will be held on Wednesday 11 October, 2017 at the Gothic Warehouse at Cromford Mills. The start time will be 11am. Our speaker will be Mary Murtagh who is a PR consultant and trainer who will be sharing her expertise to help you communicate effectively in your communities.

Lunch is provided and we will organise a guided tour of the Cromford Mills World Heritage Site and Buildings for all those interested. Please do register for your place at this event so that we can ensure we have adequate catering. Councillors and Clerks welcome. The programme will be posted on our website shortly. We very much look forward to seeing you.

2. NEW GENERAL DATA PROTECTION REGULATIONS

DALC Circular 08/2017 Page 1 of 6 Data Protection Law will significantly change on 25 May 2018 when the EU Directive known as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) takes effect. This will effectively replace the 1998 Data Protection Act. Parish and Town Councils will be subject to the GDPR which imposes new obligations on data controllers and data processors and provides enhanced rights for individuals.

Compliance with GDPR will have resource implications and councils are being strongly advised to start getting ready for the introduction of GDPR without delay. We recommend that you follow the ICO’s easy to read guide entitled ‘Preparing for the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) 12 steps to take now available here

NALC have provided further information with respect to these regulations which can be viewed here.

DALC have organised a training session on Freedom of Information and Data Protection which will cover the General Data Protection Regulations, to be held on Monday 16th October at our offices in Cromford. This course is being led by the Data Protection Officer at the Peak District National Park. Please book your place early for this essential course.

3. DALC’s NEW OFFICES

Please see the attached location map X – yellow cross marks the spot!

4. SPECIAL OFFER – LOCAL COUNCILS EXPLAINED FOR JUST £10

During our office move we found 5 copies of the NALC publication ‘Local Councils Explained’. This is a comprehensive and user-friendly guide to local councils, written by NALC’s Head of Legal. It originally retailed for over £50 but we would like these copies to be used and are willing to offer them on a first come first served basis of £10 per copy. To see some sample pages look here http://www.nalc.gov.uk/library/publications/1434-local- councils-explained-sample-pages/file.

5. HR ADVICE REGARDING STATUTORY BREAKS FOR EMPLOYEES

Chris Moses has prepared an advice note for employers on the rules surrounding breaks and time off for staff and workers’ rights if these guidelines are not followed. Chris Moses is an independent HR advisor whose services are retained by DALC to ensure that we are always providing the most up-to-date HR advice for your Council. Chris will be leading a training course on the Essentials of HR for Parish and Town Councils on

DALC Circular 08/2017 Page 2 of 6 Wednesday 27th September at our Cromford offices. Please do book onto this course to keep yourselves up-to-date with all things HR related. 6. REPORT PUBLISHED – THE VOICE OF THE COUNCILLOR

De Montford University’s Local Governance Research Unit and The Municipal Journal have published the final report of the Councillor Commission which includes a chapter on England’s 80,000 local councillors. At the outset, NALC lobbied for local councillors to be included in the research and the results show key differences in your roles compared to those of principal authority councillors and the very specific issues that relate only to local councils, with recommendations including:

 A national independent inquiry be undertaken by NALC to fully understand the relationship between local councils and principal authorities with the aim of identifying best practice and producing a national framework for local council-principal relationships;

 The local council statutory right to be consulted on planning matters be extended to all statutory policies, strategies and plans resting with principal council executives;

 As far as possible local councils avoid appointing to a chair or vice-chair of a local council, councillors who also sit on principal authorities;

 The power of principal councils under the Local Government & Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 to conduct Community Governance Reviews is abolished. If you are interested in reading more it can be found here

7. LEGAL BRIEFING

Legal Topic Note (LTN) 54 has been updated and sets out guidance on local council powers in respect of ownerless common land and village greens. It can be viewed on our website here

8. £13 MILLLION WOODLAND CREATON GRANT CONFIRMED

DALC Circular 08/2017 Page 3 of 6 A £13 million fund to increase England’s woodland has been confirmed by the Forestry Minister.

The fund, part of the Countryside Stewardship scheme, will help landowners to plant more trees to protect wildlife, boost the timber sector and reduce flood risk. It will help plant more than 3 million tr8ees, creating 1,900 hectares of new woodland and contributing to the government’s ambition to plant 11 million trees, with a further one million in towns and cities.

Farmers, foresters and land managers across the UK will be able to apply for up to £6,800 per hectare to plant, weed and protect more trees when application forms for the next round of the government’s Woodland Creation grant are made available in September.

A range of grants are available to support the creation of new woodland and sustainable woodland management, with Forestry Commission online advice available on the application process.

Thérèse Coffey, Forestry Minister, said: “Our forests and woodlands are vital for providing timber, improving the environment and protecting our wildlife.

“Today’s announcement demonstrates the government’s ongoing commitment to the forestry sector and to biodiversity, which afforestation delivers. I hope to see as many applications as possible so this important industry can continue to thrive.”

Wendy Amis August 2017 Chief Officer

“Value for money, quality & responsive service to Member Councils”

www.derbyshirealc.gov.uk

DALC Circular 08/2017 Page 4 of 6 TRAINING & EVENTS DIARY

DATE SUBJECT CIRCULAR/ VENUE COST TRAINER REF

5 Sept CiLCA Taster Cromford FREE Jo Taylor 2017 Session (10am – 12noon) 6 Sept Councillor Woodville, Enhanced Sub Wendy Amis & 2017 Essentials * S Councils up to 3 Glen Ingham (6pm – Derbyshire free places/£40 8.30pm) 11 Sept Finance for 06/2017 Cromford £60 per Steve Parkinson 2017 clerks/ RFO delegate 3 hour session on budgeting and financial (10.00am control, which goes into – detail about using 3.30pm) spreadsheets, how the council tax base affects the budget etc. Aimed mainly at clerks but is suitable for councillors who need to understand preparation and setting of budgets. 11 Sept Finance for 06/2017 Cromford Enhanced Sub Steve Parkinson 2017 Councillors Councils up to 3 2 hour session outlining the essentials (6.00pm free places/£40 a councillor should be – aware of. 8.00pm) 12 Sept Health & 05/2017 Whitworth £40 per John Wayte - 2017 Safety & Risk Centre, delegate PDNPA (9.30am Assessments Darley – Dale 12.30pm) 27 Sept HR Essentials 06/2017 Cromford £60 per Chris Moses 2017 delegate (10.00am – 3.00pm) Sept/Oct CiLCA training £250# Jo Taylor 2017 (2 days) (TBC) 3 Oct Planning – 06/2017 Cromford £40 per Andrew 2017 understanding delegate Towlerton (10.00am the process – and the role of 1.00pm) local councils 16 Oct FOI/Data 09/2017 Cromford Enhanced Sub Michelle 2017 Protection & Councils up to 3 Sarginson, (10am – new GDPR free places/£40 PDNPA 1pm) implications * 6 Nov Grave Matters 09/2017 Cromford £60 per Alan Fairchild 2017 delegate Managing Memorials, Cemeteries & Closed (10am – Churchyards 3pm)

DALC Circular 08/2017 Page 5 of 6 30 Nov Grants & 09/2017 Cromford £60 per Steven Lugg 2017 Grant Funding delegate (10am – 1pm) Feb 2018 Law & Good 09/2017 Cromford £40 per Alan Fairchild (TBC) Practice of delegate Local Council Meetings

* Up to 3 delegate places free per council on the enhanced subscription scheme # for both days and follow up support; a further £250 is payable to SLCC for the examination and certificate

DALC Circular 08/2017 Page 6 of 6