Leicestershire & Rutland Association of Local Councils 2016 Newsletter No. 1 All at LRALC were very sad to hear of the passing of Roger Begy following a short illness. In all LRALC's dealings with Roger we found a man who was dedicated to the people and parishes of Rutland, and we know all of our Rutland member councils will miss his presence, both professionally and personally. The LRALC Chairman, the LRALC Rutland Branch Chairman, and the LRALC Chief Officer all joined Roger for coffee a week before Christmas, and found him as focused and driven as ever. We are shocked at his passing, and pass our thoughts to his family and loved ones at this difficult time. 2016 is set to be another year of change for the sector, and the changes to external audit will impact on each and every parish and town council, including parish meetings. Every single one of these bodies will need to ensure that they are ready for the implementation date for the new regime (1st April 2017) by familiarising themselves with the new arrangements as further details become known as the year progresses. To assist in this, we have included in this Newsletter the FAQ we sent to all members before Christmas (see main body of Newsletter). I am attending a briefing for county officers on the new Sector Led Body (SLB) on February 12th; expect an update following this! LRALC will continue to develop its services and support during 2016, with plans for the development of a new Strategic Plan for the Association currently being made. Also falling due in 2016 is the third biennial LRALC Development and Member Support Questionnaire (basically a customer satisfaction survey!), an initiative I introduced when I started the job back in 2011, the results of which have been central to the development of the Association over the last few years, influencing the content of our 2013-16 Strategic Plan in particular. Next, a practical issue. As the range of funding sources which local councils are able to access grows we are seeing an increasing number of queries/issues locally around the incorrect treatment of grants, donations, and other non-precept income. In response to this, and direct requests for such training, we have commissioned a new LRALC course; “Finance for Councillors” (see here). In essence the proper practices (found in “Governance and Accountability for Local Councils”), statutory requirements (e.g. around contracts) and your council’s own Financial Regulations must still be applied properly even if the council is funding works/activities purely and fully through a grant it has received from an external body for that purpose. Please take advice if you are unsure. The Top Tip below relates to this general issue. Also relating to finance, the revised NALC Model Financial Regulations have finally been issued; see here for the briefing detailing the changes (which also contains the link to the Model Financial Regulations document itself). Please note that ALL councils must ensure that their Financial Regulations are compliant with the specific requirements of The Public Contracts Regulations 2015.

One final finance related matter; external audit and the Sector Led Body (SLB). The second communication from Smaller Authorities' Audit Appointments Limited (the SLB) has been issued and can be found here. This letter is intended to give you some more detailed information to help your authority to decide whether or not to opt out of the external audit arrangements that Smaller Authorities’ Audit Appointments Limited (SAAA) is putting in place. These arrangements will take effect from 1 April 2017. The first letter can be found here. Finally, we have also included a copy of the external audit FAQ email that we sent out to all member councils (15th January 2016) in this newsletter.

2016 Newsletter No.1 Contents Parish Council Matters Top Tip – Local council administered community funds from energy/landfill/etc. projects

which impact on the local area ....................................................................................... 2

LRALC Endorsed Parish Council Payroll Service .......................................................... 3

External Audit (copy of email sent to all member councils on 15th January 2016) .......... 6

Leicestershire County Council (also covering Rutland) Parish Council Website

Contract ........................................................................................................................ 10

LRALC Briefing: LAIS 1385 Public Service Ombudsman ............................................. 10

NALC Documents ......................................................................................................... 11

Other Items of Interest Invitation to the launch of a new Rural Watch scheme ................................................. 11

Communication from Cllr Ken Browse, NALC Chairman re HM Queen’s 90th Birthday

Celebrations ................................................................................................................. 12

Leicestershire County Council News (funded by LCC Project Funding) LCC Parish Clerk’s Highways Newsletter December 2015 .......................................... 13

Leicestershire County Council's £30,000 One-Off SHIRE Community Grants ............. 13

Donate and Make a Difference - It is easy to do and a good use for your preloveds ... 13

Supporting carers in Leicestershire .............................................................................. 14

Parish Council Matters

Top Tip – Local council administered community funds from energy/landfill/etc. projects which impact on the local area Many parishes benefit from community funds using monies provided by operators of projects such as windfarms, solar panel sites, etc. The community body which receives these payments on behalf of the community is often a parish council. These payments are often received annually for a fixed long-term period, and are usually substantial.

Although such monies can have a very positive impact on the community, delivering outcomes which otherwise would not be possible due to financial constraints, we are seeing a number of councils making potentially serious errors in how this money is treated. The bottom line is that if the body receiving the funds is the parish council then those funds are subject to exactly the same rules as precept monies, council tax support grant, etc. In other words, the funds cannot be treated as separate from other PC monies, it should be held and accounted for with all other PC monies (i.e. not held in a separate account) AND be included in the annual statement of accounts. Also, the PC should only be making grants where it knows it has a specific legal power to do so, and if that power is s137 then a council MUST ensure annual limits are being adhered to (some amounts received by local councils will exceed the annual s137 limit they have available to spend the money). In addition, the council's Financial Regulations must be followed in relation to these monies, and decisions on spending the money can only be taken in line with usual procedures (i.e. by councillors as part of a proper council or committee/sub-committee meeting, unless delegated to an officer of the authority or another local authority). Finally, we are also aware that some parish councils nationally are receiving such funds on behalf of a group of parish councils and then distributing them; this too causes legal and financial issues and should be avoided. If you are unsure how to show this in your accounts – seek advice.

LRALC Endorsed Parish Council Payroll Service Following a number of requests from member councils the LRALC Executive Committee considered endorsing a local council payroll provider at its meeting before Christmas. As a result of this LRALC now endorses the payroll service provided by DCK Beavers. Many of you will know that DCK Beavers hold the contract to provide the NALC Accounts and Audit service, and have worked with the sector for many years. LRALC has just outsourced its payroll to DCK Beavers (as from January 2016) and so you can be confident that we at LRALC are comfortable with the service we are endorsing. Please note, LRALC are not receiving any payment for this endorsement. Any council wishing to outsource their payroll in time for the start of the financial year (1st April 2016) is advised to make contact with DCK Beavers as soon as is possible to ensure the transfer can be undertaken in time. Please see below for full details of the service: Does calculating and processing your payroll tie up staff that could be spending their time more productively? Can you be sure that your payroll and pension returns are processed on time and that the online filing is submitted?

Are you able to assess each employee, at each payroll runtime, as to whether they need to be 'auto enrolled' into your pension scheme and if so, enroll them, and calculate their contributions? Do you receive clear reports detailed by departments/services? Administering your payroll can be a time-consuming and complicated process. With HMRC real time information (RTI) and the introduction of Auto Enrolment, the penalties for non-compliance are now even higher. It has never been more important to get it right first time. By outsourcing your payroll, we remove the headache of worrying about covering sickness or holidays, and your Tax Year End Processing will be carried out for you. We will ensure relevant staff are auto enrolled; produce the necessary auto enrolment communications for employees, correct contributions reported directly to your chosen pension provider and provide audit trail facilities as required by The Pension Regulator for compliance evidence. Clear pay slips are provided for each employee together with monthly reports and the cost is probably less than you might expect. The monthly cost is just £25 for up to four employees or £6.50 per person for five or more employees*. * Initial implementation fees are applicable as per our price list Let Accounting Solutions be your Payroll Solution. Payroll Price List

We offer a payroll processing service for monthly or quarterly payrolls for Councils.

Payrolls with up to 50 employees as follows:

Initial set up cost

Once only implementation fee £30.00

1 - 50 Employees

Once only implementation fee per employee £10.00

Monthly Payroll Provision

Fee including calculating and deducting Pension and Union contributions

1-4 Employees in the Tax Year

Monthly minimum charge per payroll £25.00

5 - 50 Employees in the Tax Year

Price per person on payroll £6.50

Tax Year End Charged as one additional pay run

● Councils with over 50 employees are subject to separate negotiation.

Additional Charges and Optional Services

● Masterfile Changes £5.00

● Payroll re-runs Half payroll fee

● Dealing with HMRC on clients behalf £25.00 per hour

● Checking pay scales, calculating salaries £25.00 per hour

● Other unspecified work as requested £25.00 per hour

● Postage of letters if email address not supplied £0.60 per letter

● If required to create a bespoke report for the

Pension Providers monthly return £99.00 Once only

● P9/P11D's if requested Subject to quote

All fees correct up to the financial year ending April 5th 2017.

Prices subject to VAT at Standard Rate

Reports: Payslips; Salary analysis including net pay and amount to pay to HMRC;

Payroll History and other reports available on request.

To ensure you remain compliant with regards to Auto Enrolment, we will:

● Assess the employees at payroll run time to see if they need to be enrolled into

a pension scheme

● Categorise the employees (Eligible Job holder, Non Eligible Job holder, Entitled

worker)

● Enrol employees into your designated fund and setup contributions during the

payroll run

● Defer employees based on the company setting

● Flag Qualifying Earnings and Pensionable Pay

● Keep employee records for 7 years

● Produce the required report that needs to be delivered to the designated

pension provider

● Produce relevant automatic enrolment communications for employees

● Provide 24/7 access for employees to view/print/save their letter/payslips on a

securely protected online portal

● Provide audit trail facilities required by the TPR for compliance evidence

Unit 1, Uffcott Farm, Uffcott, Swindon, Wiltshire, SN4 9NB

Tel: 01793 739110 Fax: 01793 731550 Web: www.dckbeavers.co.uk

DCK Beavers Limited, Registered office as above. Registered in England No.

3832919

External Audit (copy of email sent to all member councils on 15th January 2016)

We know that the communications from NALC on the issue of the forthcoming changes to external audit have caused some concern and confusion. We have raised the lack of clarity and the number of unanswered questions directly with NALC, as well as specific queries from some of our member councils.

We are aware that it is a complex situation that seems to be getting more complex by the week! This email (directly from LRALC) will attempt to clarify the situation with regards to external audit. Please be aware it effects every local council regardless of size. Your council needs to be aware of and understand this information and needs to take action on it before 31 March 2016.

Every parish and town council is subject to two audits each year, the internal audit and the external audit. This matter relates to external audit only (i.e. internal audit is unchanged).

The external audit of parish and town councils was carried out by the Audit Commission. In Leicestershire and Rutland the actual audit work was done by Grant Thornton (an audit, accounting and business services firm) acting as an agent for the Audit Commission.

I say “was” because legislation to abolish the Audit Commission was included in the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014, and the Commission was formally closed on 31 March 2015.

However, the contracts for parish and town council external audit carry through to the completion of the audit work for the year ending 31 March 2017. So all parish and town councils in the LRALC area will still complete an Annual Return and send it off to Grant Thornton two more times, i.e. for the year ending 31 March 2016 and for the year ending 31 March 2017.

So, what happens for the year 1 April 2017 – 31 March 2018 and beyond (I hear you ask!!)? All parish and town councils will still need to have an external auditor and the government in its wisdom and in the spirit of localism thought it would be a good idea for each parish and town council to be able to appoint its own. Clearly a more sensible and practical solution needed to be found and so the National Association of Local Councils (NALC), the Society of Local Council Clerks (SLCC) and the Association of Drainage Authorities got together to create a Sector Led Body (SLB) to procure external audit for parish and town councils (and drainage authorities).

The SLB, which is called Smaller Authorities’ Audit Appointments Ltd, will effectively carry out the function of the Audit Commission related to external audit for parish and town councils. It will procure external auditors (probably the likes of BDO, Grant Thornton, Mazzars etc.) and oversee external audit arrangements.

A parish or town council therefore has two options: 1) procure its own external auditor or 2) have an external auditor appointed to it via the SLB.

The default position (in law) is that all parish and town councils are opted in to the SLB arrangement unless they specifically choose to opt out.

The decision is of course for each council to make, but I am struggling to think of a situation in which a parish or town council would wish to opt out and procure external audit on its own. Procuring external audit is a complex statutory process which is probably beyond the capacity and/or capability of almost every parish council in the country. In addition, it is unlikely that a parish or town council acting alone would get very good terms from an audit provider. Can you imagine your council negotiating a good deal directly with BDO or Grant Thornton!?

It is never ideal to be opted in to an arrangement when to all intents and purposes there is no real choice, but that seems to be the position at the moment.

One of the reasons it is not ideal is that the exact cost of external audit through the SLB is not yet known. It’s a bit chicken and egg… the SLB can’t go out to tender until it knows how many parish and town councils will opt out, but until it goes out to tender it won’t know what the cost of external audit will be, which is key information parish and town councils need when deciding whether or not to opt out! The SLB is therefore asking parish and town councils to make that decision without knowing the exact cost.

As a guide, the cost of external audit for the year ending 31 March 2015 charged by Grant Thornton was:

Income/expenditure band (£)

(basic fee applies on whichever

is the higher)

Type of audit

Basic fee charged

(£)

0 – 10,000 Basic Nil

10,001 – 25,000 Basic 100

25,001 – 50,000 Basic 200

50,001 – 100,000 Basic 300

100,001 – 200,000 Basic 400

200,001 – 300,000 Intermediate 600

300,001 – 400,000 Intermediate 800

400,001 – 500,000 Intermediate 1,000

500,001 – 750,000 Intermediate 1,300

750,001 – 1,000,000 Intermediate 1,600

1,000,001 – 2,000,000 Intermediate 2,000

It is not yet known what the fees will be under the SLB arrangements. The SLB intends that for authorities with an annual turnover above £25,000 the fees will not exceed those detailed above. The SLB has not yet made a decision regarding fees for

councils with a turnover of less than £25,000 (i.e. those covered by the new Transparency Code). A separate communication will be issued for these councils.

What do you need to do?

Please put an item on your agenda before 31 March 2016 viz: “To confirm that the council will remain opted-in to the Sector Led Body arrangements for the procurement of external audit”.

If your council resolves to remain opted-in then it will be automatically included in the SLB arrangements and you don’t need to do anything further. If your council resolves to opt out you will need to write to the SLB by 31 March 2016 confirming that decision (slboptout@nalc.gov.uk) then your council will need to establish an Auditor Panel, follow the statutory procedure laid out in regulation, conduct a competitive tendering process and have an external auditor appointed by December 2016 to carry out the audit of the year 1 April 2017 – 31 March 2018. If your council decides to opt-out please contact LRALC and we will do our best to assist.

A letter is attached from the chairman of the SLB, which includes for information details of the new company’s three independent directors.

I have included below a list of what I think will be the Frequently Asked Questions, but if you think of anything I haven’t covered then please let me know.

External Audit – Frequently Asked Questions

1. I read somewhere that if we wanted to opt-out we had to do so by 31 December 2015, not 31 March 2016? The original deadline set by the SLB in October was 31 December 2015 until CALC officers pointed out that parish and town councils a) needed more information and b) would need at least two months’ notice. The deadline was put back to 31 January 2016 then put back again to 31 March 2016.

2. Who will be the auditor for the current financial year (y/e 31 March 2016)?

Grant Thornton. The current Grant Thornton contract continues until the completion of the audit of the year ending 31 March 2017, which will be around October 2017.

3. Do we have to have an external audit?

Yes. All parish and town councils regardless of size have an external audit now and will need to have an external auditor appointed for the year 1 April 2017 – 31 March 2018 and beyond.

4. Can’t we just appoint someone from the community to be the external auditor?

No. The specification for an external auditor can only be met by large professional audit and accountancy firms, such as BDO and Grant Thornton.

5. Do we still appoint an internal auditor?

Yes. The arrangements for internal audit remain exactly the same as they are now. The changes under discussion relate to external audit only.

6. What happens if we want to opt out of the Sector Led Body?

Any parish or town council can choose to opt out and would need to do so by 31 March 2016. It would then need to establish an Auditor Panel, follow the procedure laid out in regulations, conduct a competitive tendering process and have an external auditor appointed by December 2016 ready to carry out the external audit of the year 1 April 2017 – 31 March 2018. If your council would like to go down this route then the first step would be to download the 54-page guide to establishing an Auditor Panel, which has been produced by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA): http://www.cipfa.org/policy-and-guidance/publications/g/guide-to-auditor-panels-pdf

7. What happens if we ignore this or do nothing?

Your council is automatically opted in to the SLB arrangements and you’ll be informed who the external auditor is once the SLB has completed its tender process.

8. How much will external audit cost under the SLB arrangements?

We don’t know yet. We won’t know until the contracts have been awarded by the SLB but the intention is that the fees for councils with turnover above £25,000 will be no higher than they are at present.

9. What if we don’t opt out by 31 March 2016 but subsequently change our minds and want to leave the SLB arrangements?

Councils are automatically opted in unless they opt out. The initial opt-in period is five years. The SLB has not provided information on what would happen if a parish council notifies the SLB that it wishes to withdraw from the arrangement during the 5 years. Clarification on this point has been requested.

10. What if we opt out by 31 March 2016 but subsequently wish to be included in the SLB arrangements?

The SLB has not provided information on what would happen if a parish council notifies the SLB after 31 March 2016 that it wishes to be included in the arrangement. Clarification on this point has been requested.

11. My council has a turnover of less than £25,000 and I thought that meant we won’t have external audit in the future because we follow the Transparency Code?

All councils must have an external auditor, even after 2017. Councils below the £25,000 threshold are now covered by the Transparency Code and the intention is that those councils will not have a routine external audit from 2017/18 and will be exempt from making an Annual Return but will still need to have an external auditor appointed in case there are questions from electors to be resolved.

12. Is the SLB allowed to automatically opt-in councils without their specific permission?

Yes. The regulations (The Local Audit (Smaller Authorities) Regulations 2015) provide that all parish and town councils are opted in unless they specifically opt out. So opt in is the default position in law.

Leicestershire County Council (also covering Rutland) Parish Council Website Contract Please see below for an important communication from Thomas Barker at Leicestershire County Council regarding the recently awarded contract for a renewed Parish Council Website service:

“As you will be aware some work has been ongoing around the future offering for parish council websites. This work has involved representatives from Leicestershire County Council, LRALC and Parish Councils throughout the entire process. Supplier demonstrations took place throughout the start of January and we are pleased to announce that 2Commune won the contract for the new framework. Their bid offered the best value based on cost and quality over the life of the framework, as well as a product specifically designed for Parish Councils. This is their new product which offers benefits over the current product that you use. Other benefits for using the framework is that you are guaranteed a fixed cost for the lifetime of your contract and the contract that you would enter into with 2Commune has been reviewed by the legal department at the County Council. That said there is no requirement for you to use the framework. If you feel that it doesn’t work for your needs then you are free to make alternative arrangements. The current arrangement ends in August 2016 so you will need to have done something by that date. If you wish to discuss the framework and what it offers for you then please contact Tina or Ray at 2Commune on 0845 868 3975 or admin@2commune.com. They are also likely to be in contact with your Parish directly over the next few weeks to outline what they can offer you so you can then take an informed decision” Please note that the specification of the new framework differs in a number of areas to the current contracted service, i.e. additional functionality not currently available under the current agreement.

LRALC Briefing: LAIS 1385 Public Service Ombudsman Please see the link below for an LRALC commissioned briefing (LAIS 1385). http://www.leicestershireandrutlandalc.gov.uk/uploads/lais1385-public-service-ombudsman-lralc.pdf All LAIS briefings can be found by clicking here (these commissioned briefings cost LRALC £600 per annum, feedback on their benefit to member councils is welcomed):

http://www.leicestershireandrutlandalc.gov.uk/documents.html?letter=l&query=LAIS&tag=&sort=title&submit=Filter#item-636268-749811

NALC Documents Revised LTN on NALC’s website – LTN 79 Staff Pensions Legal Topic Note (LTN) 79: Staff Pensions has been updated. It includes reference to postponing/delaying implementation (paragraph 14), safeguarding individuals (paragraph 15) and re-enrolment (paragraph 17). The revised LTN can be found by following this link - http://www.nalc.gov.uk/library/members-library/legal-topic-notes/all-legal-topic-notes/1841-79-staff-pensions-december-2015/file Revised LTN on NALC’s website – LTN 87 Procurement Legal Topic Note 87 (Procurement) and L05 - 15 (Public Contracts Regulations 2015 - impact on the standing orders and financial regulations adopted by councils) have been updated because the financial thresholds in the Public Contracts Directive 2014/24/EU which apply to the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 were amended in November 2015 and take effect from 1 January 2016. The updated legal guidance can be found by following links http://www.nalc.gov.uk/library/members-library/legal-topic-notes/contract/1858-87-procurement-january-2016-1/file http://www.nalc.gov.uk/library/members-library/briefings/contract-1/1859-l05-15-public-contracts-regulations-2015-impact-on-standing-orders-adopted-by-councils-january-2016/file To view these documents you will need to log into NALC’s website. Other Items of Interest

Invitation to the launch of a new Rural Watch scheme Tuesday 23 February, 9am – 2pm (Presentation time 11am – 11.30am) Melton Cattle Market, Scalford Road, Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, LE13 1JY Leicestershire Police invites you to attend the launch of our new Rural Watch scheme for Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland This new scheme has been set up to support rural communities in the fight against crime, by working with villages, farmers and small businesses to address local issues and concerns. The scheme is open to anyone who lives, works or visits rural locations in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland. Aims of the scheme are to: • Increase communication between rural communities and the police • Help members avoid becoming a victim of crime

• Encourage reporting of crime • Hold organised events such as barn meets, tack marking and community contact

days for everyone to attend As a member of the scheme you can expect to receive: • Alerts by text or email advising you of incidents in the area where you live and

elsewhere in the county. • A gate sign stating that you are a member of a police approved watch scheme

(currently for farms, churches and businesses) • Farms, churches and rural businesses can make an appointment with their local

officer to have a crime prevention assessment and property security marked • Invites to events held by your local Dedicated Neighbourhood Team • Crime prevention advice to help you make your property or business more

secure Our launch event is your chance to find out more about the Rural Watch scheme. As well as having the opportunity to speak with your rural police officers, we have invited a number of specialist companies who are experts in rural crime prevention to exhibit at the event, including Trading Standards and Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Running order of event: 9–11am: Speak to police officers, sign up to Rural Watch, talk to exhibitors 11–11.30am: Presentation by Deputy Chief Constable Roger Bannister on rural crime 11.30am-1pm: More time to speak to exhibitors and sign up to Rural Watch Refreshments will be available at the event To attend the event please RSVP to rural.watch@leicestershire.pnn.police.uk by Friday 19th February

Communication from Cllr Ken Browse, NALC Chairman re HM Queen’s 90th Birthday Celebrations Dear Colleagues, Happy New Year and I hope you are all well. Please find attached a letter (see here: http://www.leicestershireandrutlandalc.gov.uk/uploads/kb---hm-queens-90th-birthday-celebrations.pdf ) and guide about how parish and town councils can be involved in the HM Queen’s 90th Birthday. On 21st April 2016, Her Majesty The Queen celebrates her 90th Birthday, and in celebration of this wonderful milestone, Beacons will be lit that night across the United Kingdom, Channel Islands, Isle of Man and the United Kingdom Overseas Territories, marking this unique moment in history. To open the guide please follow this link - http://www.nalc.gov.uk/library/news-stories/1861-queen-s-90th-birthday-beacons/file Regards

Cllr Ken Browse Leicestershire County Council News (funded by LCC Project Funding)

LCC Parish Clerk’s Highways Newsletter December 2015 Just a reminder that the link to this newsletter was sent by email on 23rd December 2015. See here if you missed it: http://www.leicestershireandrutlandalc.gov.uk/uploads/parish-clerks-highways-newsletter---december-2015.pdf

Leicestershire County Council's £30,000 One-Off SHIRE Community Grants Leicestershire County Council has launched a one-off SHIRE Community Grants programme, where they will be making 6 individual one-off grants of (up to) £30,000 each, for 6 different projects, to be delivered over a 12 month period during the 2016-17 financial year (i.e. April 2016 onwards). The objectives of the one-off grants are based closely on the strategic priorities of LCC's existing SHIRE Community Grant programmes. A single grant of (up to) £30,000 will be available to deliver each of the six individual outcomes. A deadline for applications has been set for Monday 15th February 2016, and decisions will be made by a Panel Committee in March, for projects to start in April 2016. For more information about the one-off grant programme, including application forms and guidance notes, please go to: https://www.leicestershireforums.org/shire-community-grants.html

Donate and Make a Difference - It is easy to do and a good use for your preloveds Leicestershire Rutland and Leicester have an easier way to Reuse. ‘Reuse’ is a word like Recycle. It sounds good but what does it mean? What should people actually do? Quite simply it means getting an extra life out of something that you no longer want, or you taking on board something that no longer fits for somebody else. It is not a new idea. People sell second-hand stuff all the time. But not everybody wants to get into online selling. Sometimes there is a carpet or washing machine or sofa that no longer fits for you and you don’t want to store it ‘just in case’. The councils might collect but once you leave it outside it is ruined isn’t it? Shame. You can ring around the Charity shops, and please do - especially if you have your favourite. But now, if you are in Rutland or anywhere in Leicestershire (including the City) it is easier. Reuse charities have banded together to form the Leicestershire and Rutland Reuse Network. You can ring one number or visit one website and make your donation of furniture or white goods. Easy as that. Charities have banded together to build the web site and create one local call line.

The charities will collect large items of working white goods or furniture in usable condition. Ring 0330 355 0707, the Leicestershire Reuse Line or visit one website www.LRRN.org or www.facebook.com/ReUseLeicestershire

Supporting carers in Leicestershire If you care for an adult living in Leicestershire and it is having an impact on your health or home life there is support available to help you with your caring role. Visit www.leicestershire.gov.uk/adult-social-care-and-health/information-for-carers for more information about the types of support and how to complete a carers assessment form. You are a carer if you are looking after a friend or family member who is not able to look after themselves and needs care because of a long-term illness; a disability; mental health problems; old age or alcohol or drug abuse. You must not be paid to do this or be doing the care as part of your work for a voluntary organisation. The county council also funds Support for Carers Leicestershire who offer a wide range of advice and support for carers in Leicestershire including the carers advice line on 0845 689 9510, visit www.supportforcarers.org for more details. Jake Atkinson Chief Officer January 2016 See next page for sponsored advert