East Sussex Association of Local Councils Limited
Agenda for a Board Meeting
To be held at Uckfield Civic Centre
Monday 17th April 2023 at 10.30am
- Apologies for absence
Apologies were received from Ruth O’Keeffe, Michael Garner, Philip Allard and Stephen Catlin.
- Minutes of the previous meeting
The minutes of the previous meeting were accepted as a true and accurate record.
- Financial update
Councillor Keith Stevens reported that at 1st April 2022 the bank balance was £55,287. As at the 31st March 2023 the bank balances were £63,3056 and this was made up of as follows: £13,253 in the current account, £25,103 in the reserve account and £25,000 in the CCLA account. From a cash flow viewpoint, this indicated a surplus for the year of £8069 but he suspected the figure may be slightly higher and he would report further once the accounts from Mulberry & Co. had been finalised.
Councillor Keith Stevens confirmed that all subscription affiliation fees had been sent out and the amount paid has been kept the same as last year. He advised that payments were already starting to be received and at the close of business on Friday, £20,700 was in the account. There was one outstanding payment that he was aware of which was to WSALC Ltd with regards to the elections campaign video. He also suggested that an adjustment should be made with this invoice to allow for the WSALC contribution towards Trevor’s mobile phone and laptop contribution.
The Board agreed to continue with the grants of £500 for each DALC and it was also decided that NALC’s first affiliation fees should be paid in May.
At the last meeting, Councillor Keith Stevens advised that the CCLA was covered by the Financial Services Compensation Fund but has since discovered it is not. The current rate of interest is 4.1% so on ESALC’s £25,000, over £1,000 for the year should be generated if rates stay the same. After discussion, the Board agreed to continue to keep the money with CCLA.
Councillor Keith Stevens also recommended that any interest accrued should remain in the CCLA account as opposed to being paid into ESALC’s current account to which the Board unanimously agreed.
- Planning, targets and the Government’s plan
- Planning Reform Consultation
- CIL Consultation
The CEO reported that the Levelling UP Bill invited parishes to respond to 58 questions, so our planning associate, Steve Tilbury, had provided model answers which parish councils could use as a template.
He advised there was a CIL Consultation which finished on 9th June and again, Steve Tilbury had been asked to provide a commentary on it and this had been circulated to clerks. Councillor David Young suggested that ESALC respond to the consultation as well to which the Board agreed.
There was extensive discussion with regards to planning, permissions, land supply and NPPF and it was unanimously agreed to keep applying pressure on the government through ESALC and NALC to ensure local parishes voices are heard.
- CEO update
The CEO reported that on the 15th March 2023 in the House of Lords, Lord Lytton raised issues about remote meetings the High Court’s decision that councils could not hold remote meetings to make decisions. This was supported by the NALC president and the leader of the Labour government in the House of Lords. Councillor Keith Stevens commented that he had not met one minister who did not agree but as a collective body the government would not agree to it. It was also noted that remote meetings allowed those with caring responsibilities to be able to join in.
Regarding clerk vacancies, the CEO said that ESALC had handled the recent recruitment at East Dean and Friston parish council who received only one application. Chalvington with Ripe advertised their vacancy for a parish clerk and received one application; similar with another East Sussex parish. It is apparent that if a council has a choice of candidates then they are very lucky and if they receive one candidate, they are doing well. Much of this is brought about by reputational damage and Hooe parish council and Chalvington with Ripe are case in points. The CEO also advised that at Lewes Town Council there was an interim clerk in post who would be there for the next three months until the new Council had formed and could decide what they wanted from their next clerk.
The CEO said that the next police focus groups would begin in May and clerks had been notified of the relevant dates. These groups had been very successful in the past and if a parish wanted to attend then the clerk should register their interest.
The CEO reported on his conversation with a Times reporter last week regarding potholes and an alleged class action from a number of East Sussex parish councils. The CEO said the real issue was that if East Sussex highways were to be brought up to an acceptable standard then it would cost £300m. In reality, they had a budget of £18m to spend each year. If parishes decided to take action against the County Council, a judicial review would be very costly.
- Elections
The CEO reported that Lewes Town Council had 41 candidates for 18 seats and at the other end of the spectrum, Udimore parish council only had 1 candidate for 5 seats. There were very few contested elections in non-town councils.
In 2015 and 2019 only 10% of Councils in Surrey and Sussex had contested elections. The CEO would calculate and issue the figures for 2023 in due course.
- Ashdown Forest
The conservators had applied to join ESALC, however, the CEO advised that this would be in breach of the ESALC constitution. The CEO suggested that Board members from West and East Sussex ALC meet with the conservators of Ashdown Forest a couple of times a year to discuss matters of common interest. WSALC had a Board meeting scheduled later in the week so this could be discussed then. This proposal was supported by the ESALC Board.
Marion Shepherd DL added that if the conservators had a good working relationship with their local parish council then they could also have representation via them.
- East Sussex County Council highways contractor
Councillor Johnny Denis said given East Sussex County Council have a new contractor who is scheduled to begin in May, he suggested that ESALC reach out to parishes to encourage them to write to the lead member and director for transport and environment for East Sussex with a particular set of words which expressed their expectations for the new contractor. He reiterated that this related to pavements as well as potholes. He spoke of asset based programmes being used but stated people never seemed to be prioritised. He said that priorities that met people’s needs had to be taken into consideration and therefore a move away from an asset based strategy was necessary.
Board members also commented that SLR meetings were not taking place and that Highways Stewards seemed to be far and few at the moment.
Councillor David Young spoke of the ongoing issues and said the County Council did not have the funds to fix it. Through parish councils, he suggested that the electorate needed to be asked if a small percentage could be ringfenced to be spent purely on roads to get them to an acceptable standard.
Councillor John Barnes commented that drainage system issues also needed to be separated from pothole issues as too much water on the roads was destroying the surface of the roads.
It was suggested that Dale Poore and associates should be invited to a future ESALC board meeting to provide an update on the new contractor to which the Board agreed.
- District Associations
Councillor David Young reported on the Rother meeting and discussed the issue of holiday and caravan parks where residents were able live there for 50 weeks of the year. He said users of such parks used the local infrastructure but only paid business rates so did not contribute towards the council. He recognised this as a national problem and it was suggested that Councillor Keith Stevens raise this with NALC. Councillor John Barnes added that there seemed to be no definition of the term caravan so clarity on this would also be beneficial. Keith Councillor Stevens suggested that ESALC put a motion to the NALC policy committee to which the Board unanimously agreed and the CEO agreed to draft a motion.
There was no update regarding Lewes and Wealden DALC.
Dr MacGillivray said ESALC could help DALCs, such as Lewes, who were struggling. In the case of Lewes DALC, the CEO said there appeared to be a division between the coastal towns and the rural parishes and one suggestion would be for them to meet separately.
In Wealden, Councillor Keith Stevens advised that their association worked well because of the relationship between the district and the district association.
- Any other maters raised by Board members
Lord Abergavenny reported that over 100,000 trees had been planted in over 300 locations with regards to the Queen’s Green Canopy. Relating to the King’s Coronation, he also discussed the Big Help Out and suggested that local parishes could get involved here, whether it be litter picking or something on a larger scale. It was agreed that the administrator would remind all parish and town councils on how to get involved.
Councillor Keith Stevens advised that he had a meeting with the Forestry Commission next week.
The Board wished to formally place on record its thanks to Councillors Johnny Dennis and Ruth O’Keeffe for their support to ESALC.
- Date of next meeting
It was agreed the next meeting would be in early July; date to be agreed.
Action points from the meeting:
Share DHULUC responses from Steve Tilbury to the Board – done
ESALC to issue a response to CIL commentary: send Steve Tibury response – Emily to do
Write to ESCC re new contractor beginning in May – done
Invite Dale Poore and representatives to future ESALC meeting to report on new ESCC contractor – done
Respond to Ashdown Forest re not joining ESALC but having a couple of meetings a year to discuss common interests; Trevor to discuss at WSALC board meeting on Friday 21st April
A motion to the NALC policy committee re caravan and holiday parks and contributing towards the infrastructure etc –done
The Big Help Out – email local councils – done