Personally speaking

The reason for the title is that I've just managed to complete half a century on this planet and felt compelled to share this fact with you...

More importantly though, the ChALC office is continuing to develop interesting and exciting links with your principal councils, our regional and national partnerships and are expanding the use of social media with a view to global dominance.

OK, that last part was a slight exaggeration, given that we haven't even reached dominance in the parish that we are based, nor would we want to. What we can say is that ChALC continues to lead the way in many aspects of Local Council development, with our Chairman, a clerk and a councillor accompanying yours truly to a Participatory Budgeting Community of Interest launch just last week.

The developing Community Engagement and Empowerment agenda throughout all tiers of local government is proving just how valuable Local Councils are. Firstly, the Cheshire West and Chester strategy that is being produced clearly recognises and values the contribution that can be made from good local councils. Next the Northwest Together We Can Network (a body that is driven by Principal Councils) is beginning to understand that Local Councils can - and frequently do - provide outstanding methods of engagement and empowerment, not only because the vast majority of Local Councillors live in their areas and work without Party Political agendas, but also the officer(s) of most Local Councils also have a genuine involvement in the community, hence they provide an unique perspective for the Principal Council Officers that have never benefited from working with the better Local Councils.

Whilst this rambling continues, it is important that we thank Justin Griggs for calling into the ChALC office last month, as he knows we believe that National Association of Local Councils officers are better when we see them! Good to see you Justin and thanks for your help.

Not quite sure why, but Jackie trusted me recently to deliver a training session on the new "Power of Well Being". It seems to have gone down well, although there is a truism that states the quality of the training is dependent on the quality of the trainees. Clearly I was fortunate to have high quality trainees. It is obviously downhill from here on in.

Other than these very important issues for Local Councils, there are very good indications that there will be some serious service devolution taking place over the coming months and years, thereby allowing those councils that are interested - and have the capacity to - in delivering services in partnership with the Principal Councils to do so.

To finish this one, it is onward and upward with the next important event a meeting at Reaseheath College to discuss the development of rural training, among other things...