Defra boosts funding for national initiatives

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs today announced funding of £300,000 to the National Association of Local Councils and Action with Communities in Rural England in recognition of the importance of local councils and community action in rural areas.

This investment, for a range of projects over the next two years, is aimed at supporting the empowerment agenda at the local level in rural areas, including:

• supporting and promoting the Quality Parishes Scheme and National Training Strategy to develop the capacity, capability and skills of local council clerks and councillors;
• facilitating the uptake of professional training by clerks to smaller sized local councils through a bursary fund;
• developing a quality standard for county associations of local councils to deliver improved effectiveness and improve joint working;
• undertaking a national survey of rural community-owned buildings to update information around facilities, use, management and sustainability;
• developing a guide and training resource pack for local councillors to support good employment practice;
• widening and strengthening participation in the national community led planning network, to take advantage of best practice and research from around the country;
• enhancing the pilot demonstration strand of the Capacitybuilders-funded Collaboration Benefits programme, to enable more local communities to participate in testing out the value of the parish partnership model of joint working.

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