NALC are they omnipotent ?

Question

Following on from the NALC "advice" on the model code of conduct it has to be pointed out that the local area office at HALC was the source of "advice" given to Ledbury council at the time that they were correct in bringing the sanctions against the councillor concerned. This came directly from the local self appointed "chief executive" who as far as I can find out has never been censured by NALC for the failure to provide "expert" advice to a council. So much for NALC laying down the rules for councils and providing accurate"advice" under a persona of having the answers to be blindly followed.

This reinforces the requirement of councils to seek advice for decision making from the widest possible investigation and not just the easiest.

Answer 1

NALC are useless, their members can do what they want and NALC just takes the subs and never objects
As my PC pays around £900 per annum I tried contacting them as an individual and they didn’t want to know

My PC ignores the bulk of NALC guidelines unless of course it suits their purposes

Comments

Did you contact them about you alleged  "behavior “ ?  They have no jurisdiction to act in a disciplinary manner over Cllrs. Are they a Public body? If so they are subject to the Freedom of Information Act, but they have argued that they aren't.  https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/asking_a_prospective_town_counci#incoming-1557215

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I’ve self reported myself to the Monitoring Officer to get this into the open, watch this space

Answer 2

Couldn’t agree more with both comments. NALC are utterly useless. I often read areas they are consulting government on and wonder who they ask.

If they’re not directly approaching councils such as the PC I’m on (one of the biggest in the UK) then I’m sure as hell they won’t be going to the smaller ones.

If I was a better person I’d say they rule on what their council members think should happen.
The local associations NEVER ask our opinions on matters to feed up the chain to NALC so not sure where they get their direction from.

Comments

I am glad to see that my misgivings regarding NALC and their "local" associate offices are not just my paranoia. The question is and I have yet to get any clear answers is who constitute NALC as a " National Association of local Councils"? Their county associate bodies who, charge councils a subscription of which a proportion is passed to NALC do not appear to have any constitutional basis for existing other than as some unlicensed franchise from NALC. Which government body or council body legitimised groups which, I cannot for the life of me  get information on, to dole out advice to legitimate constituted councils and tell them what they should and should not do and now formulate yet another  codes of conduct? Our county council in their infinite wisdom stopped subscribing to the county NALC office some years ago.
They are self perpetuating their own power like the Emperors new clothes. It needs a movement to shout out " you are naked and driven by self interest"

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Agree completely!!! So the simple answer is let's do it. I am aware of many Councillors who feel exactly the same.
I have said on previous threads how undertrained we are as Councillors and how the local associations are so, so out of touch, it's unbelievable. NALC and the local associations have never truly been challenged but that can only change if the 80,000+ Councillors say enough is enough!

Answer 3

NALC seem to have evolved into a self serving arms length colIective that collect money from Town & Parish Councils, and then ask them to pay out more for their own courses, get togethers and self created "awards" & certications. 

A  few years ago NALC admitted (after failing to respond to the question initially) that their Council of the week award is not subject to any form of evaluation or assessment. 

The NALC star Council awards do not seek any input from their paritioners.

The NALC Local Council Award Scheme seems to laud Councils that just about meet their legislative requirements and heap praise on those that don't who claim they will try to improve.

I suggest any Clerks and Cllrs following this post have a look at this link, and ask if their membership fees deliver good value for money, bearing in mind the Quality of service you get and the fact that these posts are probably largely salaried- and paid for from your membership fees.

https://www.nalc.gov.uk/about/team

How much does their Chief Exec earn?

Comments

Four Solicitors
I know my PC has contacted NALC about my “ behaviour “ but I’ve been told it’s privileged information so I can’t see what they were told

I also know twice my PC received advice from NALC which they didn’t like so they concealed it from us

Do NALC send updates out as I’ve never seen one and I’m not allowed access to their. Website ?

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If your parish council is a member of the NALC local association and pay them a fee then your clerk should have  a log in and password details which should be shared with councillors to allow them to access the local NALC county section. I assume that the same password etc would let you access the members section of the main NALC website as well. As a councillor you are entitled to full access as a member

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Thanks that purely by coincidence today  a fellow Councillor asked for the password