parish-editors

The Parish Council Domains Helper Service has now allocated over 70% of the funding available for councils moving to a .gov.uk domain in this financial year. If your council is thinking about doing the same, they urge you to act soon to avoid missing out.

At the time of writing, projections show that they will reach 100% allocation of funds by mid February 2025. However, over the last few months they have seen an increased demand from councils which could mean reaching the full allocation sooner. As a reminder, it is highly unlikely that funding will be available in future financial years.

Who can claim funding and how

• The £100+VAT Government funding is available to councils that are:
• Moving to a .gov.uk domain
• Already have a .gov.uk domain but are purchasing additional services such as .gov.uk emails for the first time
• Funding is allocated on a first-come, first-served, once per council basis
• It can only be accessed via the Parish Council Domains Helper Service’s shortlist of Approved Registrars.

What to do next

• Talk to your council colleagues about the need to take action
• Register for one of the free, no obligation, online sessions and find out more about .gov.uk domains, how to progress an application and access available funding.

The aim is to communicate at each significant funding milestone – the next update will be when a 90% allocation is reached.

The Parish Council Domains Helper Service Team

Email: parish.helper@domains.gov.uk

A new vacancy has recently gone live with Alstonefield Parish Council for a Parish Council Clerk & Responsible Finance Officer. Please visit the vacancies page for further details.

This year, Stoptober is back with a new national campaign: ‘if you quit smoking for Stoptober (i.e. 31 days) you are five times more likely to quit for good.’

The latest data shows that using willpower alone remains the most common approach to quitting, despite being proven to be the least effective. Stoptober is a great opportunity to promote the range of national and local support available and, as a result, increase the number of successful quit attempts.

Please use the Partner Pack -Stoptober 2024 to find out more about the campaign with Everyone Health Staffordshire and how you can help promote local opportunities for people to stop smoking.

For further information and resources around health and wellbeing please visit the health and wellbeing page for town and parish councils.

SPCA has recruited a new County Officer, Robert Pritchard, who started in his role this month (September).

Introducing himself, Robert writes: I am delighted to take on the role of the new County Officer for SPCA. I have been involved in local government in Staffordshire for over 20 years and I am looking forward to supporting our parish and town council’s and the amazing work they do for their communities.

It has been a challenging time for the Association, having carried a vacancy of County Officer, however now we are back to full strength I hope to hit the ground running and ensure the Association continues to offer you the support and advice you need.

We have a busy training and development schedule for Clerks and members planned out by our Training Officer, Ian Cruse-Taylor, I would encourage you to share that with all your members. Training and refresher training is key to helping us all be better councillors. Andy Wheeler, our Health & Wellbeing Project Officer, has been busy speaking to our member authorities and helping them to improve their local communities. Please keep a look out for emails from Ian and Andy, as they will be of benefit to you, your council and your residents.

Going forward, I hope to have the chance to speak to you all and hear about the work you do in your towns and parishes. Your council plays a vital role in your community, and we want to support you as you serve your residents. Please do get in touch if you need any help or support.

Robert Pritchard – County Officer, Staffordshire Parish Councils’ Association

Tel: 01785 278640      Email: robert.pritchard1@staffordshire.gov.uk

A new vacancy has recently gone live with Kidsgrove Town Council for a Parish Council Clerk & Responsible Finance Officer. Please visit the vacancies page for further details. Closing date for applications 04 October 2024.

A new vacancy has recently gone live with Mavesyn Ridware Parish Council for a Parish Council Clerk & Responsible Finance Officer. Please visit the vacancies page for further details. Closing date for applications 06 October 2024.

The training and development programme for Autumn is now live on the training section of the website. All our regular courses are available at least once during this period, such as ‘Clerk’s Induction’ and ‘Councillor Induction’ and dependant on demand we have the ability to add further dates. Please visit the training and development page for further details on how to book on.

A new vacancy has recently gone live with Sandon and Burston Parish Council for a Parish Council Clerk & Responsible Finance Officer. Please visit the vacancies page for further details. Closing date for applications 27th September 2024.

A reminder that the SPCA Health and Wellbeing toolkit, a resource for Town & Parish Councils, is available via the SPCA website – direct link here

As part of the SPCA health & wellbeing (H&W) project, funded by Public Health, a web-based resource page, the ‘H&W toolkit’ has been created to support T/PC who require information on matters relating to H&W.

The site contains three main areas:

1. Partner Organisations and Resources. We have several partners who lead on health matters across the county, for example Everyone Health, who run the free health checks, healthy lifestyle programmes and making every contact count training. Their information, along with a number of other key organisations, is available via the toolkit. Also included in this section are relevant links to access data relating to your locality, which will support future activity around this theme.
2. Funding Opportunities. This section lists local and national funders who support H&W related initiatives.
3. Training. This section contains several training opportunities, including links to relevant webinars, all related to H&W.

The toolkit is continually being updated, so do check back from time to time as new information will likely have been added.

As a reminder, if your T/PC is enthused by improving the health and wellbeing of your local community, please do get in touch with the H&W project officer to share your thoughts, ideas and discuss opportunities, as we may be able to support with your endeavours. Contact Andy Wheeler – Health & Wellbeing Project Officer via andy.wheeler@staffordshire.gov.uk

A new vacancy has recently gone live with Brereton and Ravenhill Parish Council for a Parish Council Clerk & Responsible Finance Officer. Please visit the vacancies page for further details.