Looking for Quality Council Status?

 

The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) is an association of approximately 8,500 independently elected community, parish and town councils in England.

The NALC introduced The Quality Parish and Town Council Scheme. As scheme which really rewards local councils for their efforts in the area of quality management and administration.

In order to achieve Quality Status, parish councils must demonstrate that they have reached the standard required by passing several tests. These tests can be found here: http://www.nalc.gov.uk/Toolkits/Quality_Status.aspx

One of these tests is “Communication and Community Engagement”.

A major requirement of Quality Status is that the council can demonstrate that it communicates, consults and actively involves its electorate, local organisations and members of the public. Good communications and community involvement is critical to earning and maintaining the good will of the community you serve. Community engagement is a significant factor in building local trust, improving the level of satisfaction of local residents and of providing your council with a greater understanding of the needs and views of the local community. Good community engagement also builds trust with the principal authority and can lead to better cooperative working.

One mandatory requirement is:

To have a website which provides;
- A list of council members and officers, together with details of how they can be contacted
- Access to your annual report
- Have an email address that is publicly available

This is something really simple, but without it your council can’t achieve Quality Status.

We have put together the following Parish Council web package which will help tick off over three of the Quality Status requirements needed to give your council the recognition it deserves.

An AtkinsBiz Parish Council Web Package includes:

1. A stylish but simple custom designed website all can use (required for QS)
2. A website name (or domain name) of your choice, for example: www.ickleshamparishcouncil.org.uk (required for QS)
3. Professional email addresses for all cllrs, chairman and clerk (required for QS)
4. An area to upload your annual report and any other documents – like planning, agendas, minutes (required for QS)
5. A dedicated page for visitors to find the councils annual report (required for QS)
6. A “parish gallery” of photos and illustrations
7. Monthly website revisions, such as changing text and images
8. Or – access to the easy-to-use admin section to update the website yourself
9. Full training provided if needed

Included in this package is the option to show a “subscribe” form. So visitors can submit their email address and receive updates and newsletters from the parish straight to their inbox. We can even help design this e-newsletter.  (required for QS - a newsletter)

If you are interested in getting your council ready for Quality Council status, please phone us on: 01424 755 574 or email info@atkinsbiz.com.