Leicestershire & Rutland ALC

LRALC is a Limited Company. LRALC was originally formed roughly 75 years ago by local parish and town councils, and this makes us unique as we are fully controlled by our members and our priorities are mainly set in accordance with the priorities and needs of our members (other outcomes are set based on contracted work with principal authorities on parish and town council related matters; we are experts in local councils and our expertise is often in demand).

Whereas district, borough, and county councils usually have internal support services (e.g. HR, legal, finance, etc.) available to support their work, our parish and town councils do not. LRALC provides support in all of these areas (and more) for a modest membership fee, and member councils can save considerable amounts that they would otherwise have spent securing professional advice in these areas. A by-product of our work is the savings member councils make which in turn save hard working council tax payers money. Ultimately we do what we do for the benefit of those who live and work in Leicestershire and Rutland parishes.

LRALC provides information about the operation and powers of parish and town councils, and parish meetings. It works to enhance communication with everyone within the Parish Council network, ranging from the National Association (NALC), through our Association at county level, to all those parish councils, town councils and parish meetings who form the grass roots tier of local government. As a membership association it is unable to deal with queries from members of the public, but is happy to make general information available through this website.

Corporate membership is open to any parish or town council or parish meeting which pays an annual subscription to the Association. The subscription is calculated on an electoral roll basis. The council itself is the member of the Association (i.e. not individual councillors, or the clerk) and as such specific advice from LRALC and NALC is for the member body itself.

However, LRALC's mission is to "To champion and provide support and guidance to member local councils, their staff, and their councillors, for the benefit of those who live and work in their parishes", and as such we offer training and support to those individuals when their councils are members of LRALC.

Chief Executive: Jake Atkinson

Deputy Chief Executive: John Kilcoyne

Administrative Assistant: Kirstie Frost

LRALC has over 65 years experience in giving advice and guidance to its member parishes. It is constituted to support local councils and parish meetings in the delivery of services to their communities. As it is not a statutory body it has no powers or duties to intervene in the operation of individual councils.

• Advice and information to member councils for them to use as they deem appropriate, on a range if subjects including: Legal advice service; Employment advice service; Advice on council administration; Policy consultation and advice; National Circulars and Information Bulletins; Monthly LRALC Update
• Telephone helpline
• Opportunity to participate in branch meetings free legal, administrative and employment advice.
• Training - The Association runs an extensive programme of training courses to equip clerks and councillors.
• National affiliation - Membership of the Association can also provide affiliation to the National Association of Local Councils (NALC) which seeks to represent local councils at national level as well as providing advice on legal and procedural matters, national publications and regular information bulletins.
• Quality Councils - LRALC acts as lead partner for the Leicestershire and Rutland County Training Partnership (CTP) and administers the Leicestershire and Rutland Quality Council Accreditation Panel.

Services available to members at a cost include:

• Training Courses
• Consultancy
• NALC Publications
• Structural Review
• On site Councillor Development Programmes

All queries from member councils should initially be placed with LRALC by e-mail, telephone or post, and this should be done through the Chairman/Vice-Chairman or Clerk/Deputy Clerk (in line with the protocol set by the LRALC Executive Committee). LRALC staff are available to not only answer queries, but also to deliver training where their specialised knowledge is required.

LRALC is governed by a Board of 9 directors. The current Chair of the Association is Tony Hirons.

Funding
LRALC is a Limited Company. LRALC is funded by member council subscription, training fees and contracts with other organisations.

Membership
Almost 95% of parish councils in Leicestershire and Rutland are in membership of the Association. This means that their voice is heard on local issues and at national level. It is hoped that all local councils will join the Association to avail themselves of the support available to them in these changing times for local government.

LRALC sustains a positive working relationship with the Society of Local Council Clerks (SLCC) via regular joint meetings at Executive levels.